To celebrate your first year of marriage, here are ten paper gift ideas to mark the milestone
Your first year of marriage is one of the most special anniversary milestones. So much can happen in the first 12 months that it should be suitably celebrated when your wedding date comes around once again.
Paper is the material which commemorates the first wedding anniversary, symbolising modest beginnings and the potential to grow into something far richer. Indeed, as the years go by the anniversary material becomes more expensive and luxurious...and we all hope for diamonds on our 60th anniversary.
Paper also represents natural growth and the first page of your future together, one that we hope is filled with health, happiness and prosperity.
There are many ways you can get creative with paper to turn it into something meaningful as a gift for your partner. Here are 10 ideas to get you started...
1. Your wedding reading or vows
Remind your partner of the day that you committed yourselves to one another with a print-out of your selected wedding reading or personal vows.
2. Your first dance song
Another way that you can reflect on your wedding day on your first anniversary is to have the lyrics or music sheet of your first dance song printed and framed.
3. A poem in your own words
Put pen to paper and write a heartfelt poem or verse that really shows your other half how much you care. You could base it on your love story - from the moment you met to the present day, or focus on your first year as a wedded couple, detailing the achievements you have enjoyed together along the way.
4. A personalised photo book
Choose your favourite photos, from your first date to your wedding day and beyond, and compile them into a scrap book or professionally printed album.
5. Tickets or boarding passes
Surprise your husband or wife with tickets to a show or sporting event. If your budget can stretch further, whisk them away for a long weekend or week abroad and present them with their boarding pass or e-ticket.
6. Paper planes
Symbolic of both the 'paper' aspect and the journey you continue together, a paper plane allows you to be creative. You could buy a necklace with a paper plane pendant or cufflinks depicting the same, or simply gift the other a paper plane made by yours truly.
7. Date night cards
Keep the romance alive and create a set of 52 handwritten date night cards with ideas for the next day, evening or weekend spent together. When selected at random, this adds an element of surprise and should (hopefully) ensure you commit to at least one date night a week for the rest of the year.
8. Travel map
Avid travellers? You could buy a 'scratch the world' travel map or create your own by attaching a world map to a pin board and pinning the locations you have visited as a couple - perfect for planning your next destination.
9. Reasons I Love You jar
Create a 'Reasons I Love You' jar by decorating an empty jam jar and filling it with 20+ handwritten reasons why you adore your husband or wife. If you're not an overly romantic sort, this gesture is sure to surprise them.
10. Your baby scan
Expecting a baby within the first year of marriage? A paper print of your baby scan mounted and framed will serve as a beautiful reminder of just how much your lives have changed (and are changing) for the better.
