Marriage is a beautiful gift and always worth celebrating! Catherine and I share a few things in common, but one of them is that September is wedding anniversary month for both of us! Since anniversaries are on our mind, we are sharing our best-loved gifts and ways to celebrate each year. We hope this creates inspiration for your next anniversary celebration!
First Wedding Anniversary
Gifts
You have most likely heard of the traditional gifts for significant wedding anniversaries, like silver for the 25th and gold for the big 50th. Did you know that there are unique gifts attributed for each anniversary year? There are both traditional and modern takes on gift types for each year. We love the tradition of a paper gift for the first anniversary. Paper signifies a blank slate and fresh beginning as the story of your marriage journey is unfolding. Some thoughtful paper gifts to surprise your spouse include a framed print of your vows or first dance lyrics. So sweet to have these meaningful words on your walls! Or, a gift that you and your family and friends will enjoy: print your favorite wedding photos in a gorgeous album. You will never regret having those treasured photos to look at each year on your anniversary!
Ways to Celebrate
The first anniversary is the perfect time to create traditions! Watch your wedding video, flip through wedding pictures, and read through your guest book together each year as you relive your favorite day. We are certain these will be just as special twenty years from now as they are on the first anniversary. Don’t forget about the wedding cake you saved in your freezer and follow the tradition of eating it one year after your wedding!
-Sarah
We participated in the tradition of writing a letter for one another to read on our wedding day – we’ve continued to do this for each anniversary since! We keep these together in the decorative box we used for cards and gifts on our wedding day and it has been so fun to read the previous letters each year, with the addition of a new one! We love to reminisce and also see how life has unfolded over the years.
-Catherine
Second Wedding Anniversary
Gifts
Year two of marriage is signified by the gift of cotton. Lean into this tradition and gift your spouse a cozy throw blanket or upgrade your bedding with a set you have been eyeing for some time. Alternatively, you can skip the traditional gift ideas and gift something that will bring you and your spouse closer together. We love the unique dates in The Adventures Challenge Couples Edition, when you are ready for some fresh, fun ideas. The Anniversary Journal would be such a meaningful way to record memories together year after year.
Ways to Celebrate
We think an anniversary is a great reason to get away somewhere special with your spouse! You can plan a splurge trip for those significant anniversaries, but why not get away every year! Even if you are only able to plan staycation, book a night at a nice local hotel or cute bread and breakfast. Enjoy quality time as you unplug from work and other responsibilities to reflect on the past year and look ahead!
-Sarah
Something we’ve made an annual tradition is watching our wedding video by Visual Rose Films. We love reliving the joy and details of our wedding day that it captures so beautifully. We also love booking a dinner reservation at a local restaurant we’ve never been to! For our first anniversary, we coupled it with a baby moon to Charleston and ate at so many incredible places. For our second anniversary, we had an unforgettable experience dining at the highly acclaimed Pineapple & Pearls restaurant in D.C. Making new memories while sharing a memorable meal together and looking back on the previous year together is our ideal way to celebrate.
–Catherine
Third Wedding Anniversary
Gifts
Three years of marriage together has created a tough yet still flexible bond. For this reason, leather is the traditional third anniversary gift. Leather never goes out of style, so use this tradition as a great excuse to get something special yet practical for your spouse. It may be time for a new leather briefcase, purse, personalized passport holder, or watch. If your spouse loves to read, a personalized leather bookmark will be something they treasure day after day.
Ways to Celebrate
We love to do things together that bring back treasured memories together! An anniversary is the perfect excuse to re-create your first date or the day you got engaged! This year we celebrated by going back to the spot we were engaged in followed by dinner at the same restaurant we were at on our engagement night! If you are looking for something more low-key, cook a special dinner at home with your spouse. We love to cook meals together. It helps us slow down and enjoy creating something together.
-Sarah
This year, we are anticipating the arrival of our baby girl following our anniversary, so we are laying low and local! We have plans to go to a restaurant we’ve never been to in Old Town, Alexandria & we ordered a cake tasting box from Buttercream Bakeshop, who made our wedding cake, and plan to have that for dessert at home – perhaps with a little bubbly to celebrate!
-Catherine
We hope these anniversary ideas helps spark some creativity and ideas of ways you and your spouse can celebrate! And remember, you don’t have to wait for that annual anniversary – your marriage is worth celebrating every day! Some of the most romantic and memorable date nights can be a spontaneous weekday evening or weekend getaway. Cheers to celebrating you and yours!
Photography: @gipephotography, @hannahsmithphotography
