First Anniversary Idea

One of our favorite stationers, Ting, just celebrated her first wedding anniversary and since the first anniversary is paper she bought this adorable print on etsy which is modeled after her and her husband- all the way down to the tattoo on her foot! I think it is so cute! Be sure to check out her Facebook page to find out how to order one.

Wedding/Anniversary Gift

Being a small business ourselves, we love buying gifts from small retailers and helping them grow, AND it's always an added bonus when we are so smitten with their products, like these! Wouldn't these be a great wedding gift, first anniversary (which is paper) gift or Christmas gift for a new couple? You can personalize them with names and dates- so unique and so cute!

images via sarah&bedndrix

Happy Valentine's Day!

Perhaps your significant other is one of those people who doesn't like chocolate or maybe they want to stay on track with their New Year's resolution, whatever the reason just image the smile on your partner's face when they hurriedly grab a piece of fruit and then later discover these adorable DIY stickers! I can't wait to make these myself! Click here for the printable templates.



images via Twig & Thistle



Vintage Wedding Posters

I know, I know, I said I was going to lay off the First Anniversary gift ideas, but these vintage posters by Alexander & Company. are too cool not to share! Each one can be personalized with the bride and groom's names and also their wedding date. I have put the wine one (since my husband and I were married at a winery) on my Christmas list, let's see if I get it.

                        

           

                    

2nd Anniversary Idea

I know, I know I’m on this anniversary idea kick lately, but just think it will help many of you in the coming years! But I promise I will take a hiatus from anniversaries and start focusing on weddings after this post; this idea was just too cool not to share!

Many people may not know that the traditional second anniversary gift is cotton. This gift stumped me and I have to say my husband did not get something made of cotton on our anniversary; but hey you win some, you lose some. However, if I had found this super cool Brooklyn based quilt maker, Haptic Lab, sooner I might have been able to get him an appropriate gift. Haptic Lab makes “one-of-a-kind custom Soft-Maps that can be commissioned for any place on earth, at any scale: the small town you grew up in, the city or country you're lonely for, or the college campus where you met your mate. These functional art pieces make unforgettable wedding and anniversary gifts and are heirlooms meant to last for generations. Each custom quilt is crafted entirely by hand in Brooklyn and takes 200+ hours to complete. Lead times for custom orders run between six and twelve weeks.”

Wouldn’t it be amazing to order a quilt based on where you were married or where you went on your honeymoon? And with the contrasting stitching and interesting details it certainly does not look like something your grandma would have made. These beauties are a bit pricey so start saving now even if you’re not engaged!

Images via Haptic Lab

Anniversary Photos

Think about this, after your wedding but before kids there is a lull of taking professional photos, but why? Wouldn’t it be nice to continue chronicling your life year after year to see how things change and to show your kids and grandkids one day?! I think so, which is why I implemented a new tradition for my husband and I: we will be taking professional photos once a year no matter what is going on in our lives. Eventually, when we start having kids these photos will turn into our yearly family photo but until that day I will call these professional photo shoots, “anniversary photos.”

With this mindset, I ask Jennie from JenniferAnne Photography (the genius behind all our website photos!) to take our yearly anniversary photos and I am obsessed with the outcome! I LOVE them all! I’m going to choose a few to put on my photo wall and the rest will go into my ever growing photo album. Below are my some of my favorites, click on the link below to see them all! Thanks again Jennie!

http://jenniferannephotography.zenfolio.com/p1022990774/slideshow

PS- An "anniversary shoot" would also work great as a first anniversary gift since prints are made of paper!

First Anniversary Idea

My husband and I are closing in on our second wedding anniversary and if I want to follow the traditional anniversary present I should be focusing on buying him a present with cotton incorporated into it. But for some reason I keep stumbling upon creative and interesting first anniversary gifts for paper! Below is one such example. How cool is this fingerprint cut- paper art?! I think it would be very fun to frame one and have it hang in our bedroom on bright paper. Maybe I could ask the artist to put mine on cotton paper?! 

art by Lori Danelle via Design Mom via Family Style

Wedding Advice

I saw this post the other day and it really hit home:

As brides we spend so much time planning for our weddings to ensure the day is perfect, but what about planning for our marriages to ensure those are perfect too- or as close to perfect as we can get. I think sometimes we need to take a step back and think about the person we are marrying and how to make that person happy long after the wedding cake has been eaten and all the guests have gone home. Craig Nova an author and Professor in the Humanities at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro wrote this article for his daughter on her wedding day. He describes how politeness, small gifts on a regular basis, knowing yours and your partner’s strengths and weaknesses, and keeping the magic of matrimony alive can all attribute to a healthy strong marriage. Click here to read the entire article of Dr. Nova’s Matrimonial Checklist.

First Anniversary Gift Idea: The (Comic) Story of Us

Paper is the traditional first wedding anniversary gift, but what does that mean? For my first anniversary gift, many people told me to buy tickets to a play or concert, but there were none we wanted to see, others told me to get tickets for a destination vacation, but we didn’t want to spend the money on a vacation, so what was a girl to do? Well as I was pursuing my favorite blogs  and I came across this-a personalized, hand drawn comic strip- it’s quirky and fun but it also has meaning! Mark Weber, who has done work for the New York Times and Rolling Stone, takes your story and turns it into a six panel comic; all you need to do is supply him with pictures for inspiration. And it comes on acid free paper. Perfect.

~ Rebecca

First Anniversary Gift Idea: Paper Art

Although my husband and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary last September, I still find myself hunting for a traditional first anniversary gift of paper. This paper art by Made by Julene would be a great way to commemorate a first year of marriage. Think of all the memories that could be incorporated into this piece of art: your wedding vows, your wedding date, a monogram, your names, the possibilities are endless. I plan on buying one of Julene’s pieces as a Christmas gift for my husband and me! Check out Julene’s website to see all her masterpieces!

~ Rebecca