Wedding anniversary gifts

By Sarah

Mine and my husband's second wedding anniversary is in a few days and to celebrate, we're heading up north for a long weekend of rest, relaxation and food (always food). Since we're springing for the trip, we're not buying one another any gifts -- at least I'm not buying my husband anything; if he gets something for me, I'm going to feel like a major jerk -- but I thought it might be fun to pick out some traditional second wedding anniversary gifts.

Unfortunately fun isn't really on the agenda, as the traditional second wedding anniversary gift is ... cotton. I know, why couldn't it be diamonds, right? In all seriousness, cotton as a second wedding anniversary present perplexes me. Two years isn't nearly enough time to burn through all the towels and sheets we received from our wedding registry, so what am I supposed to buy my husband? A t-shirt? Socks? A jumbo pack of sterile cotton balls? I honestly do not know.

Luckily we have something to look forward to next year; the traditional third wedding anniversary present is leather and I can think of plenty of leather items I'd like: handbags, boots, many leather-bound books, a saddle, chaps, oh wait, now this is getting out of hand.

What about you? How do you celebrate significant anniversaries with your loved one? Does anyone really stick to the "traditional" gift-buying guidelines? And since I'm asking so many questions already, what is the best gift you've given/received?

Comments

[Janet]

My husband and I take a trip to Santa Barbara each year for our wedding anniversary. Instead of buying each other gifts in advance, we each just get to pick something while we are there. My husband usually just gets some books, but I try to find something fun from a local artist or specialty boutique.

[Nora]

Today is my 4 year anniversary! We have never done the traditional gifts, and this year we probably won't even get a real chance to celebrate because there's a baby in the picture now. However, tonight I am posting up lists around the house of "4 things" (in honor of our 4 years) related to our marriage that make me happy. Plus, i'm trying to get a recreation of the cake we had during our honeymoon. I think the gifts that evoke memories are the best!

[Kaleigha]

I have a contest going on over at my blog b/c we couldn't decide what to do for OUR second anniversary! Crazy.

[K]

My friends who got married last year are doing the traditional wedding gift route. They thought it would be fun to try to be creative with it. I forgot what they got each other this year. I think the first year is paper.

[Mermanda]

For our first year anniversary, we are going with the modern clock theme. We decided to find a beautiful mantle clock as our gift to each other. We still haven't found one that we love, but we still have a few more weeks to shop.

[Mrs. Priss]

Today is our 4 year anniversary (congrats to you today too, Nora!) and I honestly have NO clue what to do for my husband. We're going to a Giants game in a few weeks and he likes to say that it's for our anniversary, but umm... how romantic is that? lol.

The year's gift is fruit/flowers. Not the most exciting! I'll be happy with whatever comes my way, but he just better not get me prunes, that's all I have to say.

[J]

We like trips together, and things like exchanging cheesy cards, flowers, a nice dinner, and some thing that we want but are sort of splurging on (like a new TV, a GPS, etc.). This year is our third; on our 1st we went and drove the Pacific Coast highway from Seattle to San Francisco. Not sure what we're doing this year, but mostly we like randomly saying, "Happy anniversary!" any time something happy or fun happens that day. Our anniversary is St. Patrick's Day, so that adds a layer of fun too. :)

[Jennie]

We do the traditional gifts. I got him a couple fun, graphic tees for his gift on our second anniversary, and he got me pjs. Not nearly as much fun as the leather one (heels, whoo!), that's true.