Those who have have been reading Nashville Wife since its birth last spring may remember that Mr. Handsome and I married in mid June. We just celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary, and I have to say that it was my favorite “holiday” ever.Mr. Handsome had to work that day, so we decided to do a romantic dinner at home. I made one of our favorite dishes…homemade Chipotle burritos (click here for the recipe). We drank sparkling grape juice and later enjoyed ice cream left over from our wedding (still delicious).
We only have one set of dishes, but we have a few fancy glasses that we inherited from my grandparents. To make the table look extra fancy, I bleached a white bed sheet instead of splurging for a tablecloth. LOL.
Mr. Handsome gave me a card, a bouquet of pink tulips, and a beautiful painting of one of our engagement photos. I wrote him a love note and bought him a new fishing tackle box.
As a tradition that we hope to continue through the years, we recited our wedding vows, which are displayed over our bed. We also looked through our Shutterfly engagement and wedding albums. Do you have any anniversary traditions?
Happy Anniversary! This year my husband and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary on June 21st. We celebrated by visiting where we got married and took a picture under the trellis where we were married. Except this year, we had one more person in that picture. We had our first child, a son in April. We too also recited our wedding vows. Afterwards, we went to dinner where we had our rehearsal dinner. We were unable to do this last year since we were away on vacation but we plan to do it every year going forward.
Happy anniversary, Stephanie! Sounds like a wonderful celebration. I love the idea of eating at the same place where you had your rehearsal dinner.
Congratulations on the birth of your son!
Ellie
Thanks for sharing this beautiful post, Ellie! Congratulations to you and Mr. Handsome on this special occasion!!!! My husband and I recite our wedding vows each anniversary (this July 13th will be our 3rd anniversary!), and we try to make personal, thoughtful gifts for one another. But other than that, there are no traditions really, although we do always try to do something very special! I love your gifts to one another!! May God continue to bless you both most abundantly as you begin your second year of marriage! I am looking forward to seeing pictures from your brother's wedding. Your blog always brings a smile to my face! 🙂 ~Regina
Happy early anniversary, Regina! I'm planning to make a first year Shutterfly book, too. Have you ever made one of those?
I'm thrilled to hear that my blog makes you smile. If you have any suggestions/post ideas, feel free to let me know. 🙂
Ellie
Happy Anniversary!! Wishing you a lifetime of blessings and joy. Seems like you had a special and romantic celebration. One thing my husband and I have done almost every year is look at our wedding srapbook I made. We also also try to take an anniversary picture.
Thank you, Shela! How many years have you been married?
Ellie
We have been married 7 years😃 we both were older. I was 36 my husband was 43. We had both waited so long for each other. It was a very special blessing when the Lord brought us together.
Shela my parents were older too when they got married my Mom was 35 and my Dad was 47
Sorry, I have to ask: leftover ice-cream from a year ago?
I admit I was a little hesitant, but it tasted just as good as it did a year ago. 🙂
Ellie
I'm not married but I saw a couple who had a great tradition: on their first anniversary they took a picture of themselves holding their wedding picture, then on the second anniversary the took a photo holding the first anniversary picture, and so on and so forth. They always frame the photos to have that memory and to be able to hold them the following year.
I thought this was so cool, especially because you could see the family growing: on the first anniversary the wife was pregnant, then on the second and third one they had one daughter, then came their son…
Oh yes, I just saw the same thing recently and thought it was a really fun idea!!!
I love that idea! After reading your comment, we decided to take a picture like that last night. Better late than never, right? LOL
Ellie
Yeah, I don't think it's essential to take the photo on the exact day of the anniversary, as long as they are more or less a year apart. 🙂
I think this is a really cute tradition, because it shows you how time changes you, you have the memory of that day and also it's so cool to have a photo in a photo in a photo…. 😀
Your blog brings a smile to my face too Ellie! (just as Regina said). I am unmarried so I don't have anything to add there but was going to say those are sweet gifts to one another and thank you for sharing your special time with us readers! I really hope you have relief with your wrists!~~ Stacey
Thank you, Stacey! I'm blessed to have you as a reader, and I appreciate your well wishes for my wrists. 🙂
Blessings,
Ellie
My husband was in the military when we married, so there was no such thing as spending anniversaries together on the proper calendar day. Our first anniversary was spent with him thousands of miles away and me visiting my parents. Those were the days before computers or e-mail or cell phones or Skype. The Best Man from our wedding stopped in and we all had some of the (frozen after the reception) wedding cake. Such is the life of a military wife. You do what you have to do and you make sacrifices. Mine were small compared to my mother-in-law's. She was married 3 weeks before my father-in-law went off to war for 3 years. She had no idea if he would come home or not…
My husband is a civilian now, so anniversaries are more organized. To everyone: Enjoy your days together, but remember those who can't because of duty.
Now I'm really intrigued by this keeping cake frozen for a long time thing. I'm not pointing it out to criticize, just because it's so ou of the ordinary for me that I would have never thought about it. Like, how can food still be good after a year? Are you sure it's healthy?
Thank you for the sacrifice your family made for our country!
It's an old tradition to freeze the top tier of the wedding cake for the first anniversary. With so much sugar, it keeps OK frozen for that long, well-wrapped. Fruitcakes or dense cakes like pound cake freeze the best. A very sugary buttercream icing does better than some other icings that can separate when defrosted. Years ago, buttercream was more common on wedding cakes than it is today. If in doubt, ask a baker, or have a special tier made to be frozen if you want. You can also have a baker recreate the top tier for your anniversary.
Thank you, 4:38PM. I'm not going to fib…it was hard. Goodbyes, especially. Even the weeks before the goodbyes were stressful. You knew what was coming. Then you counted the days til the emotional homecoming. To this day, I can't watch homecomings on TV without bursting into tears. But what we went through pales by comparison to what some sacrifice for our country……
It is a common tradition to freeze the top tier of your wedding cake, and to eat it on your first anniversary. I've never heard of doing so with leftover ice cream, but it's the same idea.
Cake and ice cream are unhealthy even freshly made, one year in the freezer doesn't make much difference.
Wow, I'm speechless… Thank you so much for all your family has done to keep our country safe. I truly think that most of our nation does not fully understand the sacrifices that military families make for us. Please thank your in-laws for their great sacrifice, as well. 🙂
During a reporting internship that I completed during college, I watched a military dad on his way home from active duty surprise his daughter at preschool. I didn't even know the family, and I started to cry. I can't imagine how emotional it would be if that was my husband returning home.
God bless you!
Ellie
Thank you, and the best thing you can do is make sure you elect officials who fully support the military and their families, not just say they do for the sake of election. Look at their service records or their family's service records or what they have already done to help.
Military pay back then was absolutely dismal, and the wait for base housing could be a year long, forcing you to find off-base housing at the going rate for the area. Health care was substandard (still is – VA health care system is a disaster). We would have qualified for food stamps if we hadn't owned a car and had a little savings in the bank. We were that close, even though my husband was serving the country. Pay has improved since then, but it's like any service job, police, fire, EMS, even teaching – they're not paid nearly what they're worth for what they do. If you want to retain the best & brightest for any of those jobs, your tax money must go towards the salaries, and any increases in salaries (or taxes) must go through.
Ellie, I will admit to having my knees literally go weak a few times when I saw my husband again after he had been gone, knowing that he had been safely delivered back to me. It's an incredible experience. Some wives and husbands cannot endure the stress of separation, not to mention the stress of being active duty & deployed. It's sad but true.
Congratulations! I just wanted to comment on the 1-yr.old ice cream! That is so funny, and kind of gross, but you said it was still delicious. Ice cream does not stand a chance in my house; it's a miracle if there is any the next day!
Ours too!
LOL. I'm actually surprised that it survived in my in-laws' house. My sweet my mother-in-law hid it well!
Ellie
If you keep food wrapped tightly in freezer bags it's still healthy for 1 year after wedding date.
I call my ice cream store and they said it was still healthy 1 year after date of wedding just as long as their was no power outages.
I still have ice cream in my freezer from last July and it still looks good.
When was your Anniversary Ellie?
Two weeks ago. 🙂
Ellie
When was the Date of your Anniversary so we can remember it for next year.
Happy anniversary to you and Mr. Handsome, Ellie!
Thank you, Alicia!
Ellie
Just curious, does your religion forbid you from drinking alcohol?
Good question. 🙂 I wouldn't say the Bible forbids drinking, but drunkenness is most certainly forbidden. There are plenty of strong Christian people who drink from time to time, while others abstain completely. As Christians, it is wrong for us to judge either of those groups of people because only God can determine someone's heart motivation. Does that answer your question? 🙂
Ellie
I have a silly question, hahaha! If I'm right, Mr. Handsome and you choose not to drink alcohol. But do you allow yourself to cook with alcohol, like wine? Since when it's cook, you get a very nice flavor without alcohol? I know you love to cook so I'm curious, but you don't have to answer that if you don't want to.
a bed sheet for a tablecloth? hillarious!!! i had the same thought but wouldnt admit to it if i had done it lol
It is pretty hilarious, isn't it? Maybe I shouldn't have admitted to it. LOL
Ellie
Happy belated anniversary! I guess I sort of remembered, but knew you weren't blogging awhile, and got busy with planning a vacation. Just got back. Hope you have a great summer
Congratulations!!