Celebrating Marriage Series: 1st Anniversary

When I first saw you, I saw love
And the first time you touched me, I felt love
And after all this time
You’re still the one I love, mmm, yeah

Looks like we made it
Look how far we’ve come my baby
We mighta took the long way
We knew we’d get there someday

They said, “I bet they’ll never make it”
But just look at us holding on
We’re still together still going strong

You’re still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You’re still the one I want for life
(You’re still the one)
You’re still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You’re still the one I kiss good night

Ain’t nothin’ better
We beat the odds together
I’m glad we didn’t listen
Look at what we would be missin’

They said, I bet they’ll never make it
But just look at us holding on
We’re still together, still going strong,.,,,

STILL THE ONE

-Shania Twain

To our newly married couples who hit their one-year milestone, CONGRATULATIONS! Cupid’s arrow is still going strong, the fairytale wedding extravaganza is still fresh, the honeymoon was true perfection and you are settling into the concept of being legally joined in matrimony. You have navigated the first 365-day stage of discovery. Learning your roles in being a team – balancing each other’s strengths and weaknesses, working through the merging of mine versus ours, starting to compromise for the good of the couple, learning each other’s daily habits. Time certainly does fly! So lovebirds, let’s celebrate this important 1^st marriage milestone!

Traditions of giving or exchanging specific anniversary gifts actually dates back to the Middle Ages where the major milestone anniversaries were celebrated solely among the wealthy class who could afford precious metals. A wife of nobility would receive a sliver wreath from her husband on the 25^th and a wreath of gold for the 50^th. More anniversary years were developed and added through the Victorian Age. Subsequently, during the early 20^th century, socialite and etiquette author, Emily Post published the lists, for the most part, are still used today (although the list was revised once more in the 1930s, by the American National Retail jeweler Association).

There are actually two lists for couples interested in following customs: the traditional list and the modern list. The traditional list records gifts for every year up to anniversary 15, then every five years after. The modern list is considered a catalog of more functional gifts and is listed every year up to the 50^th Anniversary, then adhering to the traditional schedule of every five years.

The comprehensive anniversary gift lists not only documents the corresponding anniversary gift, it also catalogs the colors, flowers and jewelry associated with the particular year. As expected, the longer a couple is together, gifts increase in worth rewarding stability of the marriage

Honoring your very first anniversary should be thoughtful and reflective of the past year, with the idea while exchanging gifts could incorporate a recording of your experiences as a married couple.

TRADITIONAL – PAPER

MODERN – CLOCKS

COLOR – YELLOW

FLOWER – CARNATIONS

GEMSTONE – MOTHER OF PEARL OR GOLD

For the 1^st anniversary, the traditional gift in the United States is paper which symbolizes new beginnings (cotton is first in the United Kingdom). A piece of blank paper really has no sense of value until used for recording information and thoughts, just as a new marriage begins with open possibilities that will eventually build a foundation over time. Paper, as a gift is simplistic, yet quite powerful with a little creativity.

Nacre or better known as the gemstone, Mother of Pearl origin is from certain mollusks whose shell material is described as strong, resilient and iridescent. The U.S. government allows Nacre to be imported and exported under stringent State and Foreign laws. Nacre or Mother of Pearl are used in clothing for functional or decorative purposes, as well as decorating musical instruments, watches, weapons, and jewelry. Mother of Pearl is also shaped into caviar spoon utensils, as to not spoil the taste of caviar resulting from metallic spoons. If the decision is to incorporate Mother of Pearl in your gift, and you and your spouse are caviar connoisseurs, this could be an alternative gift to jewelry. Certainly, the anniversary symbols allow for enough latitude to be creative with your beloved’s gift.

If the choice is to go with the contemporary gift of a clock (or a watch), representing time spent together, past and future. Why not consider an exceptional floor or desk grandfather or a Rolex?

For these gifts ideas, your digital gadgets, and electronics are unnecessary (well except for Google searching). These are “old school” suggestions that revolve around the concept of paper.

1. A most excellent gift within the paper theme would be a Beau Satchelle handcrafted bespoke leather Journal for note-taking or if wine is a hobby, a wine journal for detailed recording of tastings in addition to attaching the wine bottle labels that were sampled.

Staying on the theme of books, if you want to really blow your partner’s mind, we have the capability of also hand-binding a leather album for an intimate boudoir book incorporating your tantalizing but elegant photos of yourself for your spouse’s eyes only.

2. For a more indulgent anniversary treat, perhaps gifting a local experience in your hometown while using paper to deliver the gift – i.e. paper tickets to a musical concert, a sporting event, or a creative packet (boarding tickets, hotel and dinner reservations) for a weekend getaway.

3. Convert your personal wedding vows into a beautiful framed piece of art for your home or seek out vendors with the capability to use a wrapping method to form your vows into a canvas wall hanging.

4. Plan for your trips or special occasions with the first year to hire a photographer or a service like Localgrapher as a photo-journalist. Either your photographer has the capabilities to create in-house or hire a vendor to create a personalized first-anniversary docu-photo book. My research discovered two impressive photography companies who specializes in personalized photo print books: Christian Oth Studio or Asuka Books

5. Link to the site New York Magazine Best Personalize Stationary for a comprehensive list of companies that specialize in personalized stationery to print individual sets and one as a married couple.

6. Other ideas: Instead of binging on Netflix or some other streaming service, plan an evening of card games with a personalized deck of cards (blackjack or poker perhaps); a signed 1st Edition Book of your spouse’s favorite author; prepare a day of art gallery or local art fair browsing to purchase a painting or a print of an up and coming artist; buy a print magazine subscription of a particular vice (i.e. wine magazine with an accompanying bottle of wine or a cigar publication with a few favorite stogies ); purchase either a framed map of your city showing past stops meaningful to you both or a framed world map with future planned trips.

7. Last, but certainly not least, a handwritten love letter mailed to your spouse. Cost of stamp and paper, a couple of dollars, yet priceless in deeply sharing your unconditional love as you embark on year two. -AJ