Often the biggest day in most people’s lives, weddings are a significant event with years often spent planning and saving for the momentous day. Although the wedding is generally a one-off occurrence, the love and unity it symbols gets celebrated each year.
Every year of marriage is a milestone and an achievement that should be commemorated. Traditionally, each wedding anniversary was marked with a specific element or flower as a symbol of the stalwart effort and dedication necessary to sustain a marriage. While the list of anniversary gifts has evolved over the years, the idea has remained the same: to praise the happy couple and to celebrate with them, while wishing them many years of sustained happiness.
We have taken a look at some of the suggested anniversary gifts and given them a sustainable and unique makeover. Here’s how to find the most perfect special anniversary gifts for a first, fourth or fifth wedding anniversary gift.
First Anniversary: Paper
It can be argued that Shakespeare’s sonnets are the most romantic things ever to be put on paper, but since we’re not all poets and may not be a dab hand at penning sonnets or love letters, another way of making paper a romantic anniversary gift is in the form of a paper birch tree. Also called a silver birch, this tree is graceful and attractive with heart-shaped leaves. A silver birch tree gift would make a thoughtful wedding anniversary gift as it symbolises love and fertility.
Fourth Anniversary Gifts: Fruit or flowers
The words fruit and romance typically conjure up images of chocolate-dipped strawberries fed to lovers by candlelight, but strawberries are not the only romantic fruits! Fruits are good sources of natural sugars, they tend to be sweet, juicy and succulent and when it comes to romantic foods, they’re top banana. (See what we did there?) In terms of romance, cherries rank high on the list of foods to nibble with your sweetie. Beneath its glistening sheen is a fruit ripe with the necessary nutrients and organic chemicals for natural passion, making it one of the world’s favourite aphrodisiacs. Served up as a fourth wedding anniversary gift, a cherry tree is a thoughtful and unique gift for reigniting the passion and celebrating the last four fantastic years of your marriage.
don't send deadwood, send a tree!Fifth Anniversary Gifts: Wood
Wood is prized for its durability and versatility—two traits that are essential for making a marriage last to its fifth-year mark and beyond. Traditional fifth wedding anniversary gifts include wooden picture frames, serving spoons and decorative boxes, but we say, why kill a tree for its wood? A living tree gift would symbolise a fifth wedding anniversary perfectly! It conjures thoughts that the marriage is still alive and breathing, just like the tree, and that it needs attention and gentle looking after if it is to survive. Now, isn’t that a lovelier thought than a plain hunk of wood?
Everybody is different and every marriage is different, which is why celebrating your anniversary with a unique, thoughtful tree gift is so important. Say goodbye to boring, predictable gifts and say I love you with an inimitable, sustainable gift.
