Wedding days are larger than life. There’s so much planning, excitement, organisation, preparation and love that goes into the leadup to it. On the day you barely have time to process it all coming together, then you settle back into your pre-wedding routine and things can seem pretty much the same as they did before (except you may be wearing an extra ring, and you may have to change your name on all your documents and bills…).
Part of our health and wellness as individuals should be regularly recognising and showing our appreciation for the people in our life who mean a lot to us. I personally love the ritual of celebrating my wedding anniversary and although my husband and I are always doing small things to show our love for each other on a daily basis, when that time rolls around each year it’s a special opportunity to place real emphasis on why we are so important to each other. And it’s not just because he helps out with the laundry, the dishes and the cooking.
Wedding anniversary present ideas
When it comes to wedding anniversaries I try to stick to the traditional and/or sentimental gifts while my husband tends to be more freestyle with his selections. It’s never about the money value spent.
For our first anniversary (paper) I got crafty and went all out. I bought a large picture frame, covered the backboard in hessian fabric and arranged a collage over it. The tree is shaped from a piece of paper with our wedding vows on it. Each block of text shows all the places we travelled to in our first year together, the things we did and what we saw. We had just arrived back from our honeymoon to Europe, so I printed selfie images we took in each location from our travels, and the fabric hearts hanging from the tree are made from the same material used in the bunting I made for our official wedding photos.
By our second wedding anniversary (cotton) we had a three-month-old baby and time was a little shorter so he received undies! Last year for our third anniversary (leather) I bought a pair of Adidas Originals shoes. This year is supposed to be linen or silk and I still need to put on my thinking cap for it, but when Megan from She Said Yes sent over one of her beautiful ‘I still do’ guided journals, I knew it would be a great addition to my gift. I still have around two months to put some real time and effort into filling out my answers, but here’s what I think so far!
REVIEW: She Said Yes ‘I Still Do’ journal – Remembering what matters most
Over the years even the most stable relationships can be affected by big events that happen in our lives. This can be further complicated as we are all so constantly busy trying to deal with the chaos of modern life that it can interrupt the relationship connections we would otherwise have with those who are close to us.
This book is something that will be treasured by us forever (and likely be pored over by our children and generations that follow). The prompts help you create a real in-depth time capsule of your relationship.
It includes the origins of your relationship, the details about your wedding day, what you appreciate about your spouse and what makes you work well together. How you deal with problems and conflicts, what your hopes and dreams are for your future, and how you have evolved from the people you were when you first met, along with much more.
These are real reminders of what’s taken place since that big day of commitment – the good, the bad and the ugly. For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health… and all that jazz. Even after just four years of marriage I had to go away and reflect, ask others, or research some things in order to answer them. A fantastic way of reminding you about why you are together and what makes you special as a couple.
Thanks to She Said Yes for providing the ‘I still do’ journal used in this post. If you would like to purchase one for yourself (RRP $69), head over to www.shesaidyes.co.nz.
Flatlay images / NZ Real Health
Wedding image / Angle Photo & Video Cook Islands