With so many special memories of your wedding day, you'll want to remember and celebrate it for years to come
The culmination of months if not years of meticulous planning, your wedding day will be the biggest event you've ever organised. Yet when the day is over and the thank you cards sent out, you'll be left with just the memories to look back on.
That's why it's important that your special day is remembered at any given opportunity, and your anniversary is the perfect chance to celebrate. While it's customary to go for dinner at a fancy restaurant and give gifts which mark the anniversary milestone, there are several ways your wedding can be incorporated into the proceedings. Here are five ways you can reflect on your wedding day each year.
1. Pay a visit to your wedding venue
One of the most popular ways to revisit your wedding day is to book a night's stay or go for dinner at your wedding venue. Many wedding venues even offer their couples celebrating their first anniversary a discount on their stay.
If staying overnight, request to stay in the bridal suite or the room you stayed in on your wedding night and allow all the happy memories to come flooding back.
2. Give your other half a wedding-inspired gift
Gifts are the perfect way to pay homage to your big day and with various options available online and on the high street, you'll be spoilt for choice. Personalisation is key, so consider having your first dance song, ceremony music or a reading printed and framed, or a photo album of your wedding day compiled.
You can even use the senses to transport one another back to the day by buying the bride the same bouquet she carried down the aisle, or the same wedding perfume or aftershave he/she wore.
3. Eat a slice of wedding cake
The top tier of a wedding cake is traditionally saved for the happy couple's first anniversary, so don't forget to defrost it in time. Learn how to best preserve your wedding cake before your special day, so that you're well prepared in the days that ensue.
If you didn't save the top tier of your wedding cake, you could ask your wedding cake maker to replicate the top tier with the same design and flavours inside... the perfect way to remember just how delicious your wedding cake really was.
4. Recreate your wedding menu
If you enjoy cooking, why not recreate your wedding breakfast menu for your other half? Ask your venue or caterers for the menu you chose, if you can't remember, along with the wine choices and treat your husband or wife to a culinary feast to reminisce over.
You could even set up your table at home in the same way as your wedding tables with place cards, a centrepiece, cutlery, glassware and crockery to match. Dine in style while watching your wedding video or a slideshow of your wedding photos and evoke the same emotions you felt on your wedding day.
5. Recite or renew your wedding vows
For those celebrating their first few years of anniversaries, you could simply recite your vows to one another and remind yourselves of the promises you made.
A few years down the line, when your wedding is but a distant memory, consider renewing your vows and reaffirming your love and commitment to one another. You could use the same vows you exchanged on your wedding day and/or the same venue as your wedding ceremony or reception, revisiting treasured moments when you first said "I do".
