The celebration of making it to a year!!

July 16, 2018 marked our first wedding anniversary. Yes!  365 days had passed since my title changed from Miss to Mrs. Although it seems only yesterday that I was in that beautiful wedding gown, walking down the aisle holding my father’s hands…

Completing the first 365 days of married life is an accomplishment. It means we’ve passed the test. We are sure we could live with each other , live with our goodness and flaws for the rest our lives. It is like receiving a certificate of completion! And what do we do when we get a prize?? Of course it is to be celebrated and in this case – it calls for a grand celebration!

Like many, my husband had also given me a fair warning that he is not going to remember our special date. And I know from past experiences that he is not like a K-drama lover to be lying about this so as to give me a huge surprise on our anniversary date. So, unlike many who would cry about it, I decided to take this into my hands as I didn’t want our first anniversary to be like any other day. It had to be special, a day that would always bring back fond memories. So I started planning for it; a little too early since I wanted the date to be etched into his mind.

This blog post would let you know how to plan for the perfect anniversary celebration- especially if you have an “‘I-am-not-one-who-remembers-all-the-dates” husband.

• Step :1 – The constant reminders.

Aim:  To pin the date to his mind.

Pre-requisite knowledge:  Get information from past experiences like birthdays and valentines.

Materials required: Phone password, Reminders.

Procedure : Start Early. Like in my case; I began as early as November 2017.For instance, on 16 November 2017 I told him ” Did you know in 8 months we would be celebrating our first anniversary?? Sometimes just casually I ask him ” Do you remember our wedding date??” Also keep a reminder on his phone just to be on the safer side!

Result : Mission accomplished

• Step 2 – Making him believe anniversary is incomplete without gifts

Aim: Getting him to buy you a gift so that you can flaunt it in front of your friends.

Materials Required : Shameless begging and constant reminders.

Procedure:  From the beginning make him believe that a gift is a must for anniversary. And that not doing so could have serious implications in future.  If you want it to the next level and get him to buy the exact gift you hoped for, then this might help.

me : ” have you bought me an anniversary gift yet ? There is only a week left!

him: “Gift?? Why? I am not buying anything”

me:  “Stop kidding, It is our first anniversary, I know you’ll buy me something”

him: “I don’t know what to buy. You tell me what should I get you”

me: ” How can I tell  you, that’s not right! Whatever you give me, I’ll accept with love!”

him: “Ok, then shall I buy you jewellery?”

me:  “jewellery?? No, I don’t want that, Get me something I can use …frequently”

him: “Utility…hmm, (starts thinking)… Yes! I know what to buy!!”

Result:  Tadaa! here is my gift…A tab with stylus for me to blog on the go!

the gift

• step-3- How to celebrate?

Aim: To decide a mutually agreed upon way of celebration.

Pre-requisite knowledge: Get a clear understanding of your partner’s likes and interest’s.

Materials required:  Finding time to spend together

Procedure:  In todays busy lifestyle, often it gets hard to find time for each other, especially if both are working. However busy your schedule is, find time. To talk and not for mobile texts. Next step is to agree upon a mutually loved way of celebration. For us, this was not that difficult since both of us had always wanted to go on a dinner date. Like the ones that we see in movies, where you reserve a table, dress up , go out and enjoy food in a fancy restaurant. where you’ve got to eat with knife and fork

• How to find out the perfect restaurant that could set out the ‘anniversary’ mood ?

About two weeks before our big day, I started searching for restaurants. I knew it had to be a fancy one and that it had to have a romantic ambience. So I surfed the internet, read reviews , asked my friends and ended up making a list of three to four restaurants. Each of these offered a different cuisine – North Indian, Thai, European or Chinese  I emailed them , enquired on how could they make our day memorable and so on. Finally I decided upon Pai Thai.

The thing that attracted me the most was that they offered an Abra ride to the restaurant. A boat ride under the moonlit sky is tempting , Right? Further I arranged with them a cake (a surprise gift for my love) and a table with rose petals on it. And thus the restaurant and dinner reservation for 8:00PM was set.

The restaurant view from Abra

When the Abra driver was excited to take pictures for us!

• The Dress.

The Restaurant had a dress code, which was smart casuals. Like I said a perfect dinner date had been my long term dream and whenever I dreamt of it, I used to picture myself in a red dress. So red dress it was for me. We went anniversary shopping and bought a red dress for me  and for him we bought formal wear.

My ‘Lady in Red’ moment.

All dressed up

• step-4 – The big day

On Monday,16th of July, I left office early. He came to pick me up and we went home. There he gave me my gift and I worked with it, just like a kid with a new toy.

Just like a kid with new toy

Then we got ready, took pictures and headed to the restaurant. The rest is bliss! We loved every minute of the Abra ride, took pictures. The restaurant was amazing . Our first trial of Thai food was great! We ate till our tummies were full and after having a wonderful time , headed back home. And just like that our big day got over!

The ambience was just Wow!!

The surprise cake for him

There, while leaving the restaurant, he told me ” We should do this again, not very soon, but for our next anniversary, because days like these are meant to be celebrated and not just forgotten!”

Result:  Passed and promoted to the second year of married life.

So what do you folks say? Did I pass or fail the anniversary test?!!