Pat & Al's 60th Wedding Anniversary

Alex's grandparents on his dad's side are wonderful people and we are pretty close to them. While we were in Costa Rica, I was chatting with Pat and she revealed that she had NO PLANS to celebrate the big 60th wedding anniversary (which is Sept 12)! Well, as you can imagine, me being the planner that I am told her "Don't worry about it, we will do something fabulous for you! This cannot go uncelebrated!"

So the plans began. I decided I wanted the party to be special and different from the family gatherings we usually have, which take place at their house on Lido in Newport or at Ken and Solange's house in San Juan. Also, I didn't want her to have to lift a finger to set up, prepare, or clean up for this party. So we decided to have it at one of their favorite restaurants, Sabatinos in Newport.
We chose the date of Sept 22, which also happened to be Joe's 21st birthday and only a few days after Olivia's 21st birthday, so it was wonderful to all be together to celebrate so many milestones.
We decorated the room and arranged it so Pat and Al would remain in the dark about the whole thing, and they were surprised!
It was wonderful to celebrate them with the whole family, and dinner was delicious (even more so since nobody had to clean up!)

 

 

We went back to their house to celebrate Joe and Olivia's birthday with cake, and watch an amazing photo slideshow of photos from Pat and Al's life that Ken made (complete with music and impressive transitions!)

Pat surprised us all at the end of the evening by getting out her WEDDING DRESS! It was a blush pink lace, off the shoulder gown and still looked AMAZING! So incredible to see that after all these years.

All in all it was a wonderful evening spent with family to celebrate the matriarch and patriarch of the Klingensmith family. They are truly an inspiration of commitment and love and their kids, grand kids and now great grandkids, are beyond fortunate to have such an incredible example of what a marriage should be.