Archive for the ‘Weddings’ Category

Your third anniversary is coming up and your mind is racing as you browse countless gift ideas, a new pair of shoes, a tie L, flowers, jewelry? Then just like last year and the year before your brain goes into full overload, shuts down and triggers “gift shopping procrastination” till the last minute when in desperation you grab a cheesy scarf or tie depending on the sex of the recipient.

• Keeping a marriage for three years can be a tough job. Surpassing every challenge and overcoming obstacles of married life can be quite difficult. Anyone who can reach this milestone should be able to get through finding a thoughtful gift.
   
  What gift are you going to choose for your loved one? In your mind, you probably think it must be expensive, or it must be unique. Well a gift need not always be expensive to be appreciated. Remember the old saying “It is the thought that counts“, While this is very true, we need to clear up one important point, the keyword in that saying is “thought“. This does NOT mean that you “thought” enough to get a gift, but instead refers to the thoughtfulness that went into the choosing of a gift whether it be homemade or outrageously expensive.
   
  Leather is the traditional 3rd year wedding anniversary. Leathers are known to be strong, warm, flexible and durable as well. it has strong qualities like that of the married couple who has stayed together three years. So with that in mind, lets look at some leather gift ideas.
• Leather clothing – you should check your spouses’ closet before buying leather clothes. Leather jackets can be appealing to almost everyone.
• Leather shoes & bags / handbags – check your spouses’ shoe size before buying new leather shoes, be extra careful in choosing handbags, because wives are choosy when it comes to their accessories. You might want to enlist the help of one of her friends in choosing a gift like this.
• Leather wallets – be careful with choosing the wallet for your hubby. Like wives, they can also be meticulous about it.
• Leather roses – yes you read that right, and yes they are available, just search leather roses on any search engine.
• Leather belts – this is a practical gift. Check out the size of your spouse before buying one.
• Leather gloves – there are many type of gloves that you can choose. This is great for areas with cold temperature.
• Leather desk accessories – check your spouses’ deck, is it organized? Give him/her a leather desk set to organize his/her desk.
• Leather briefcase – this is the right gift for people on the go or for executives and lawyers.
• Leather sporting goods – Is your spouse a sports fanatic? Footballs, baseball gloves and a lot of other sports equipment is made from leather.
• Leather luggage – plan to have a romantic out of the country trip? Surprise him / her with a new luggage bag.

People love to celebrate anniversaries, being together another year shows that they truly love each other and they continue to strengthen the bonds and celebrate their union year after year. A lot of couples celebrate this special occasion by giving gifts to each other that symbolizes their anniversary, like “paper” for the 1st year and “leather” for the 5th year. Although following the “Traditional Anniversary Gift List” can sound easy at first, but it can be very difficult and frustrating trying to follow the list for some years.

Sure the Silver, Golden and Diamond anniversaries are easy, its pretty well spelled out. But what about anniversaries like the “Paper” (1st) anniversary or “Steel” (11th) anniversary? These can be difficult for a woman and almost impossible for a man shopping for the perfect gift that will show their love and appreciation of their partner. So with the summer months which are the busy season for weddings and anniversaries approaching fast I thought this would be a good time to start covering each of the years and their symbolic gift.

“Paper” is the traditional symbol of the first year wedding anniversary.

Since the traditional symbol for the 1st wedding anniversary gift is paper, you’ll need to start “thinking outside the box” if you’re going to follow this list successfully.

Some cheaper but very thoughtful gifts of paper would be homemade coupons good for a massage or breakfast in bed, poetry or love letters hand written on nice stationary, homemade greeting cards.

In the moderate price range could be books that would be of interest to the recipient, photographs, you can order a copy of the newspaper from the wedding date that shows what was going on the day of your wedding, tickets to a show or sporting event, posters, board games, puzzles, gift certificates to their favorite stores, stationary, tickets to concerts, or my favorite – paper roses.

While gift cards and gift certificates are acceptable gifts for a couple, I would NOT recommend this as a gift to a spouse, this is your first anniversary together and you need to put a little more thought into it than giving something as impersonal as money.

I personally think that “paper roses” are one of the best first year anniversary gifts available, for two reasons, one – you have the romance and intimacy of roses, two – your able to stay with the “traditional” list of anniversary gifts. A bonus to this idea is that unlike real roses this gift can last forever. I am not talking about artificial flowers here, these are paper roses that are hand made especially for first year anniversaries, you can even have them personalized.

On the more expensive end would be airline tickets to a dream vacation, an oil painting from your wedding photograph, fine art prints.

Just remember, you can express your love and feelings without giving expensive gifts, just put a little thought into it. Love is still the best gift, it is costless yet so pure and irrevocable.

Next week I’ll cover the 2nd/Cotton anniversary.

Almost two years have passed since you both said “I do” and now your 2nd wedding anniversary is coming up, and as so many times before on occasions that etiquette requires the exchanging of gifts, you get stuck in a gift tunnel vision. An example is the spouse who buys flowers for every birthday, anniversary or holiday. Now don’t get me wrong, flowers are great, and so is filet mignon but I don’t want it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Get the point? Mix it up, put a little thought into it. It’s not as hard as you might think and you might even have fun, your spouse will appreciate a gift that shows you put some thought and consideration into its purchase.

Traditionally, cotton is the symbol for the 2nd year wedding anniversary. Cotton symbolizes the sweet and smooth flowing of the couples’ relationship. When the couple celebrates their 2nd year of being together, they are closer to one another. They are sweeter than the last year. Time may change them for the better. It is right to make the cotton the right gift idea suggestion for this wedding anniversary.

Cotton is a durable, versatile and highly flexible material. These are the qualities of the couple in a successful marriage. Moreover, cotton symbolizes great prosperity.

O.K. now we know that we need to put some thought into this gift and it should probably be made of cotton, I can hear you saying “How am I going to find a thoughtful gift made out of cotton?” Well don’t freak out just yet. Through the miracle of internet shopping and speedy home delivery gone are the days of having to settle for what the local stores had to offer, now the world is at your finger tips, literally.

Here’s a few tips to get you started

• Personalized cotton wedding throw.
• Personalized cotton towels.
• Personalized cotton briefs and underwear.
• Cotton Roses
• Cotton hammock big enough for two.
• Embroidered Quilts
• Embroidered cotton t-shirts or jackets
• Personalized Photo Pillows
• Personalized Photo t-shirts

My favorite would have to be the Cotton Roses, why? Simple, the roses say “I love you” and the cotton says you loved your spouse enough to find roses made of cotton. Just do a search for any of the items above on your favorite search engine and you’ll have your perfect gift before you know it.

Next week we’ll tackle the third year wedding anniversary.