Anniversary traditions?

I noticed a lady at work that had the number 30 painted on her ring finger nail. I asked her about it. She said it was her 30th anniversary with her husband and every year she has the year painted on her nail.

Back when I was married, my wife and I went out to eat every year for our anniversary, and we made a habit of listing each restaurant where we’d celebrated our anniversaries. It was quite enjoyable to remember all the places.

And congratulations!

Well, on Easter, in the Czech Republic, it is tradition for men and children to beat women with wicker branches.
It is supposed to keep them young.
Perhaps you could incorporate that into your festivities.

Our first anniversary was the Paper Anniversary, so I bought tickets to Tony and Tina’s Wedding…a play with lots of audience participation. It was a hoot.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
We discovered a Jazz Festival that is held every year on our anniversary, so we spend a four day weekend there every year.

We don’t have a tradition that we make sure we do every year, but we often give each other cards on our anniversary. Sometimes made from scratch, but always some really nice handwritten words to go along with whatever is printed if anything is printed. I do keep cards my husband has given me in a shoebox. I looked up one year anniversary, and the traditional gift is paper, maybe that could be the paper?! A box for you both to put keepsakes in? Cards, theatre tickets, printed photo, whatever you want that you would want to see 20 years from now. I know everything can be electronic now, but one box of things in print, similar to a time capsule, can be really fun and meaningful to go through. My shoe box has cards and post cards, and letters from my husband, sister, parents, etc. I love it.

Another thing my husband has done some years that I really like is he looks up the traditional or modern gifts, and sometimes does something funny with it. Like our 15th anniversary he went out of his way on a snowy day to buy me Krystal burgers. It was one of my favorites, because we weren’t going to buy gifts, but then someone he works with was flabbergasted he wasn’t going to buy me anything, so they came up with this funny thing to do since 15 years is Crystal on the traditional list. It only works because I truly don’t care if he buys me nothing on our anniversary, some women have high expectations and would get bent out of shape. I thought it was hilarious and thoughtful.

I just googled and 1st year is paper for traditional or a clock for modern. I read that young people can’t even read analog clocks anymore, I don’t know if that true, and I don’t know how old you are, but there are some beautiful clocks out there. I usually still with the traditional list though, if I bother with anything.

We go out to dinner usually also, but we go out to dinner anyway once or twice a week, so that to me isn’t a big deal.

I say be creative. I also like @YARNLADY’s festival. That sounds really nice. You might not find something like that the first year your married though. Traditions sometimes start when you don’t expect it.

Are you trying to surprise her? Or, are you two going to discuss it? Some people are freaks about having to receive a gift and it has to be a good enough gift, blah blah, or a more expensive restaurant than your usual, etc. I think It’s good to know the other person’s expectation, so they aren’t let down.

We put all of our wedding cards into a binder with the thought that we would read the sweet messages from our loved ones each year on our anniversary. I don’t think we have so far, but our 10th is coming up…

This year, we will be celebrating by renting a few condos on the beach and about 15 family members are joining us for a kind of family reunion/anniversary weekend at the beach. Maybe we’ll bring our wedding cards to read. :)

We just do whatever we want. Usually a nice meal, sometimes at home. Sometimes with kids, sometimes without. It’s different each year. I think for our first anniversary, my husband bought me new sheets. Sounds like a drag… but they were very nice sheets (to me, anyway) and I would never have spent >$20 on sheets. They are my favorite sheets ever and I appreciate them every single time I encounter them (they no longer fit our new bed).