Our Day by Design

I wrote a post ages ago about anniversaries and what each one is supposed to mean*. For each of our anniversaries I want to try and stick to it and get gifts for each other that would also mean something. For our 1st anniversary we decided to buy something together which incorporated paper and also one of our favourite things; seeing the world. We have been wanting to make a travel map for ages and ages so we decided this was the perfect time to make it happen! Having already visited four new countries since we got married {Sri Lanka, Maldives, Slovakia & Austria}, and our planned trip to Morocco which will make five, we hope to add to it in the coming years. Graham thinks we should aim to visit 100+ countries. I can probably count 29 at the moment so there is still a long way to go! We bought the FUTURE Map in blue, emerald, pink & yellow from The Future Mapping Company {which I first saw in Conversation Pieces Scotland on Sunday piece and knew we had to have it} as we...

Although I revealed what I was going to use for my old, new borrow & blue here , I wanted to show you the actual items from the day. Something old... My Grandmothers sapphire ring. {My sister is also going to wear it at her wedding, which is just 46 days away!} Something new... My dress. Something borrowed... My mums wedding garter. {My sister is also going to borrow it.} (Garter images by me) Something blue... 'I Do' rhinestones on the bottom of my shoes. and a silver sixpence in your shoe. My aunt gave me a sixpence at my hen weekend, which came in a little box with the traditional rhyme on it. I stuck it inside my shoe with sellotape so it wouldn't move around. {My friend Helen used it at her wedding in Italy in August too, as her something borrowed.} (Sixpence images by me) (All images by Craig & Eva Sanders , unless otherwise noted)

I did a post about this tradition ages ago but thought it was time for an update since I now have everything sorted! Old - My Grandmothers sapphire ring {she left me this ring when she died so I really wanted to wear it; I got the jewellers to clean it for me this week and it looks lovely & sparkly again}. New - My dress; Although I could use almost everything im wearing; shoes, jewellery, veil, tiara etc! Borrowed - The garter my mum wore at her wedding. Blue - The sapphire ring would also count but my sister got me blue I Do rhinestones that can go on the bottom of my shoes. ...and I also have a sixpence for my shoe which my aunt gave me at my hen weekend!

At work the other day me and my colleagues were discussing weddings {my friend at work is getting married in 2 weeks so this is a regular occurrence just now} and my boss, whose 5 year wedding anniversary was on Friday, was telling us how him and his wife had kept to the traditional anniversary gifts every year. This year, since the gift was wood, he had got her a wooden penguin from dcuk, The Duck Company , and he was given a wooden cocktail muddler. I thought it was a great idea and something we would love to do in the future, although given that we aren't even married yet, it will be quite a while until we have to worry about it! I dug out my birthdays + anniversaries book from Paperchase which lists each anniversary to see what they are {UK ones anyway}: 1st - Paper 2nd - Cotton 3rd - Leather 4th - Fruit & Flowers 5th - Wood 6th - Sugar/Iron 7th - Wool 8th - Bronze 9th - Copper/Pottery 10th - Tin 11th - Steel 12th - Silk & Linen 13th - Lace 14th - Ivory 15th - Crystal ...

Following my last post, another traditional rhyme: Something old, Something new, Something borrowed, Something blue, And a silver sixpence in your shoe. I definitely plan to have one of each and so far I'm thinking the following: Old - Vintage brooch on dress (will make sense when you see dress) or Grandmothers sapphire ring New - Dress Borrowed - Jewellery Blue - Grandmothers sapphire ring (she left me this ring when she died so would be a lovely way of including it but can I use the same thing twice if its also my something old?)

I've seen this rhyme on a few other wedding forums and blogs so thought it would be nice to add it to mine. Apparently the legend below describes how each month could have some bearing on the fate of the marriage: Married when the year is new, he'll be loving, kind and true, When February birds do mate, you wed nor dread your fate, If you wed when March winds blow, joy and sorrow both you'll know, Marry in April when you can, joy for Maiden and for Man, Marry in the month of May, and you'll surely rue the day, Marry when June roses grow, over land and sea you will go, Those who in July do wed, must labor for their daily bred, Whoever wed in August be, many a change is sure to see, Marry in September's shrine, your living will be rich and fine, If in October you do marry, love will come but riches tarry, If you wed in bleak November, only joys will come, remember, When December snows fall fast, marry and true love will last. Seems we made a good choice with our weddi...