The months of planning… the dreaming, the decisions, the anxiety, then the elated whirlwind of the wedding itself. So much effort goes into the day of the wedding, only for it to be over all too soon. In this blog post, we cover how to make the most out of your wedding by reliving the memories.
The first anniversary is an opportunity not just to celebrate an important milestone in your relationship, but also to relive that special day when you started your lives together. Here are some ways you can revisit that day, and in doing so, cement in your minds the memories that you want to keep for years to come.
Eat cake: It’s a wedding tradition to save the top of the cake and eat it on your first anniversary, but saving cake for a year is not always possible (or appetizing!). As another option, order a miniature version of the cake from the same bakery, this time created just for two. Alternatively, there are shops on Etsy that will create (non-edible) miniature replicas of your cake from a picture to use as a tree ornament or fridge magnet, so that every time you go to grab something from the fridge, you’ll have a little reminder of how your cake looked just before you cut into it with your new spouse.
Celebrate with friends and family: Host a dinner or party to celebrate the anniversary. Pepper in elements from your wedding theme, such as paper plates in the colors from your wedding, or put out a vase of the same flowers. Ask people for their memories of the day from their perspective (chances are, yours are mostly a happy blur!). This event can also serve as a “thank you” to the people who were a particularly big help.
Go through the relics: Grab a glass of wine and take a seat on the couch with your spouse to go through the photos, guest book, and any items that you saved from the wedding day. Take your time on the photos and share what was going through your mind when each picture was taken. Hearing how each other experienced the day can have the effect of bringing you closer together, while also helping you hold onto the memory of how you felt on your wedding day. This is also a perfect time to watch your wedding video guestbook, if you have one, or the messages that others left you on SpeechBooth.
For many people, the wedding day is a frenetic, emotional, fantastic, once-in-a-lifetime event that is over all too soon. But by spending time to relive the event through memories, we can hold onto the experience of the day, and carry that experience with us for many years to come. Anniversaries are a chance to remind and relive all the things that made our wedding one of the best days of our lives.