Are you like me and struggle every time it gets to your anniversary? Buying those anniversary gifts is one thing, but getting it wrong can be a disaster!
My wife and I will often joke when it comes to our anniversary, often declaring the whole period of time as a time of regret. In truth, well at least on my part, I am still madly in love and am still enjoying almost every minute of my time with her.
I say “almost” because as with any relationship it has its ups and downs, that is married life. All being told though, it has been a good marriage thus far.
We have been together for eleven years now, though in truth it sometimes feels like twenty. Life is fairly good and we have a couple of beautiful but painfully testing children now who are both in primary school, which has given us both joy and stress all at the same time.
Anniversary Time Again!
The only problem I usually suffer with at this time of year is trying to decide what kind of anniversary gifts to get her. No matter what I get, it seems to be wrong.
I cannot get away with flowers and chocolates anymore, as much as I wish I could. I think if she saw me coming up the driveway with a bouquet and a box of chocolates, I would be made to eat the flowers and smell the chocolates…after she had trodden all over them.
This has led me to having quite a few dilemmas over the past few years, as I have never really been very creative when it comes to buying anniversary gifts. She already has loads of jewellery, her perfume collection is also massive and if I ever attempt to buy her clothes my fashion sense is way off.
Then if I try to buy her lingerie I get accused of buying something for myself rather than for her, which in many ways is actually true. She certainly is a fussy one!
However, I have since learnt that there are many sites online that specifically sell anniversary gifts, they have done the work for us, whilst being sweet and creative with their thoughts at the same time. You could opt for a romantic weekend away, an engraved locket or something simple such as a personalised bottle of bubbly.
A Smile…Result!
With our anniversary just gone I actually did opt for using one of these sites to get her some small anniversary gifts, which to be honest were not as expensive as I thought they might be. She was certainly much happier this year than last, which is my only true barometer; as long as I improve on the previous year I am doing well.
I actually got a kiss and a smile once I gave her a rather ingenious little anniversary message plate where I was actually allowed to customise it online before they delivered it to me. I simply gave them the date of our anniversary and how long we have been together, they then personalised it and added lots of cute little hand written messages. I added to this with an experience day that the site offers, I bought her a spa day where she can relax and take her mind of things. She can use this whenever she wants and simply has to call and let them know she is coming.
On top of that I bought personalized bubbly, took her out for a meal at a swanky restaurant and ended the night with a few hours snuggled up on the couch watching a romantic DVD. Ok that’s not really my ideal kind of movie, but whatever makers her happy!
She loved it all, each and every anniversary gift I bought her, so the whole day was a complete success. It has taken me over ten years of attempts but I have finally got it right on our anniversary. I just hope I can keep it going next year; I am already having new ideas already. One thing is for sure though, that site I used for the little personalised items has been safely bookmarked on my laptop.
So if you are struggling for anniversary gifts like me, hopefully you now have a good couple of ideas on how to be more successful in the future.