25th Wedding Anniversary SURPRISE!

Recently our church family celebrated our pastor's 25th wedding anniversary. We threw a surprise party!

The church family parked the cars out behind the church in hopes that they would be hidden from view when the pastor's family brought him over. Everyone set up the "Big Room" with tables and food and waited for Chuck and Ann to arrive. There were maybe 60-80 people there all hiding in the dark of the room, patiently and excitedly waiting.

Their teen daughter had planned the event and both their children were in on the plan to get the happy couple to the church for the big surprise.

The youth pastor, Cody, stood out front and called Chuck at home (which is very near the church) to come to the church because he had "accidently locked his keys in the church building". The plan was for Chuck to come let him in. The pastor's kids were planning "a family night out" and so it worked out that Chuck would just pop over to the church to let Cody in while the entire family was enroute to "dinner". The kids, then "decided" to follow Chuck into the building, and his wife, Ann, decided to go in to since everyone else was. It was classic to have an entire church family, a good 60-80 people, give a surprise party and literally, Chuck and Ann had NO CLUE!

Wish I could have been there to see their faces! (I had to work) The good news is that the moment was captured digitally! Yay! So I did get to see it HERE! Woohooo! A bit of an explanation is needed so you understand what you will see in the .mov file:
Chuck entered the church through the main doors and the church family was poised to received him and his wife through the main doors into The Big Room (main sanctuary). Chuck though, took a different route down the side hallway. In the video you'll see him pass the open side door while the hushed crowd starts to giggle. Chuck peeks in the ajar door and SURPRISE! What a blast!

Katie, a cake decorator, provided the cake. She decided a nice wedding cake, to celebrate 25 years of wedded bliss, was appropriate, and highlighted it with the traditional silver for this special day. I think her cake turned out beautiful! Sad part was, it was short lived. Soon, this beautiful edible sculpture was nothing but crumbs. Chuck and Ann loved the cake and now a few have offered to help Katie start a business!

Well, it was a wonderful celebration and it sure was a lot of fun surprising Chuck and Ann. You can see more pics on Flickr by clicking here. Enjoy!