Help with first wedding anniversery. Any ideas?

[Nate0072]

I got married last year, July the 4th and I would like to do something special but not costing a bundle.
I'm based in Belgium, so anyway further than Europe is a no no.
If you have any ideas, strange gifts, days out, good recipes, cheesy poems, etc, that would be great.
I love this forum and know that all of you are an intelligent, wise bunch that could help me in my quest.
Thanks a lot

[addicted2books]

Nate:

Congratulations on your 1st wedding anniversary!

I personally think that any kind of celebration that you plan to mark the occasion, even if it's small will be appreciated. I myself have been married for a very, very long time. I would suggest an item of jewelery, not expensive but just something to mark the occasion. I don't mean that for every anniversary you need jewelery but it's nice to mark those milestones in your married life. The first year I think is special, then 5th 10th etc. It's always nice to wear something and think, 'My hubby gave this to me on our (insert number here) anniversary or if someone comments on your jewelery. Take it from someone who knows, as long as you take the time and effort to mark the occasion, your wife will think you're pretty awesome.

[Elsi]

Traditionally, couples gave each other gifts of paper on the first anniversary. This same tradition prescribes gifts of silver for the 25th anniversary and of gold for the 50th.

(See http://marriage.about.com/od/anniver...nivhistory.htm for information on the traditions and a link to the list of gift traditions for all the other anniversaries.)

AT tokenz.com, they point out that the gift list escalates from inexpensive to more expensive as the number of years goes up. "The logic of presenting gifts was that stability deserves a reward and more the stability the greater should be the reward."

So -- a book would be a highly appropriate gift! I also agree with addicted2books that having a piece of jewelry (small or large -- doesn't matter) would be something tangible she could point to. One thought comes to mind: what about a charm bracelet? You could give her a bracelet with a single charm on it this year and dall it her "anniversary bracelet". Perhaps a charm of a book to go with an actual book. Then next year, add another charm. The charm could be based on the gift suggestions or maybe a memorable event that occurred during that year.

The tokenz.com site also lists jewel stones for each anniversary and you could work that list as well.

I'd also recommend a nice dinner out. The first couple of years, we went to the same restaurant on our anniversary -- one that we rarely, if ever, went to except on the anniversary. Sadly, the restaurant chain is no longer in business, and as we are approaching our 38th anniversary, we're a bit more casual except for the -5 and -0 ones. For #30, we went on a two-week tour of the Four Corners area, hitting the major National Parks. I think we need to start planning something memorable for #40.

[Moejoe]

Congrats on your anniversary. If it's paper you're after then why not a hand-crafted Haiku love poem? I'm thinking of getting one for my best friend's wedding, a marriage one. There's a seller on Ebay.co.uk who does these, and they're a pretty reasonable price. http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Ayakos-Fine...QQftidZ2QQtZkm

[Greg Anos]

Time to count the penny jar.....

[lilac_jive]

Don't ask me, I always say diamonds


In conjunction with Elsi's idea, maybe you could make a book of your memories of your first year of marriage? I think I'd like something like that.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by Nate0072

I got married last year, July the 4th and I would like to do something special but not costing a bundle.
I'm based in Belgium, so anyway further than Europe is a no no.
If you have any ideas, strange gifts, days out, good recipes, cheesy poems, etc, that would be great.
I love this forum and know that all of you are an intelligent, wise bunch that could help me in my quest.
Thanks a lot

Paper is traditional, but I would suggest doing something really romantic (if t she's the romantic type) or really practical (if she's more inclined that way).

On the romantic side we have:

1. Hot air balloon ride with champagne (not as expensive as you might think);
2. Picnic in the countryside (where you do all the prep work);
3. A certificate from you to her that allows her one or more days of "abject servitude" ... and then you really follow through and treat her like a freaking queen for one day asking nothing in return;
4. A spa day for the both of you, or just for her.

And, then, of course, you take lots of photos and stick them in a memory book for her that will consist of photos and memories from your first, and your next 75 anniversaries.

Me, I'm the practical type. All I would want is power tools, however, that's probably why I'm one of the few women who has never even been close to getting married to anyone.

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Congrats on the forthcoming anniversary

If you go for the charm bracelet idea, you could try to get a charm that matched that year's gift - so a paper charm for this year (the paper would need to be encased in resin or vanish or glass or similar to be durable, or wrapped tightly and bound with silver wire), and so on.

[krisk]

You know as a paper anniversary, money is paper....

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

Don't ask me, I always say diamonds

Deck of cards?
They're paper-ish.

[DixieGal]

Congrats! We celebrated our 20th yesterday.

Airline tix to someplace sunny and warm are made of paper.

[FizzyWater]

Ah, Nate,

A good answer to this question really does depend on who your wife is...

Is she practical or whimsical? Flightly or grounded? Overly serious or almost giddily silly? A collector of things or a gatherer of friends (or maybe even both)?

An answer that will mean "wow, what a great gift" to her, really depends on who she is...

[Sweetpea]

Hmm, I can't remember if we actually did something for our first anniversary...

I know we skipped our 5th, because we had just moved house and everything was as disorganized as could be (we had just finally had a decent working bathroom!). But I did give my hubby an electronic screwdriver...

But, we made up for our 5th during our 6th, as we went to one of the islands for a weekend. (and no, it wasn't sunny, or even warm, as we were married in February )

[lene1949]

I think this anniversary is long gone...

[Verencat]

Flower selling spam.