Gift for Husband: Year's Worth of Dates

A Whole Year of Dates

For the first year of marriage, the traditional gift is paper. So although, I wasn't really thinking I'd get him a paper gift I thought this idea fit in nicely with the tradition. Here's what I did:

On first wedding anniversary was in July last year so starting that month until June of this year I planned 12 dates for us to look forward to. I mixed purchased items (gift cards, tickets) with things we could do for free either at home or around the local community. I created a word document to write a detailed page to explain each date and added pictures/clipart of what we would be doing. I put each printed date along with the tickets/gift cards, etc. and some cute items that went along with the date into a large envelope.

I placed all the envelopes into a nice box along with this note explaining everything to my hubby:

"Happy Anniversary Dex!

For our first wedding anniversary I want to give you the gift of time- just you and me. Here are 12 envelopes, one for each month over the next year. Each envelope contains a pre-planned, (mostly) pre-paid date just for us.  Some of the dates will take place in the comfort of home, some are planned for the local area, and some will take us out of town.  All 12 dates are different.

The plan is to open the envelope together at the beginning of the month, look at the calendar and decide on a date.  So right from the beginning of the month, we’ll have a fun date on the calendar to look forward to.

I love you and can’t wait to spend all this time with you!"

Here's a pic of all the items I used:

An example of the January Date: Bowling, Movies, & Ice cream:

October Date: Haunted Happenings Tour

September:Recreate First Date

Geeky Fun Date: Museum of Science

August: Mead Tour & Hike

July: Paint Nite

Here’s the breakdown of the dates I thought of:

1.     July-Tickets to Paint Nite. Included a paint by number set.

2.     August-Mead Tour & Tasting in NH. We went to a great Meadery in Londonderry, NH called Moonlight Meadery. check them out here! 
I included a map of a local mountain that we could visit to go for a hike and snacks and hiking stuff.

3.     September-1^st date site- Gift card to the Cheesecake Factory. It's where we went on our very first date.

4.     October-Tickets to a ghost tour in Salem, Ma. I inncluded a gooey spider for the Halloween theme.

5.     November- Geeky fun date. Trip to the Museum of Science
 I added a menu from restaurant near the museum that we could visit after.

6.     December- Restaurant Crawl. A night of exploring our local neighborhood. We will plan to go somewhere for drinks, then somewhere else for apps, and then again somewhere else for dinner and dessert.

7.     January- Movies, Bowling, and Ice cream. Included gift cards to the movies, bowling, and our favorite ice cream spot J.P. Licks along with some movie treats

8.     February- Recreate our engagement weekend. Stay in the same Bed & Breakfast we did when we got engaged in Newport RI. Included some bubble bath.

9.     March-Home spa. I listed fun stuff he could choose from: foot rub, back massage, etc. Included massage oils and bath petals.

10. April- Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum visit. FREE from library. I added a map of the museum along with a menu from a pizzeria near the museum.

11. May-Revisit the Scene of the Crime- Gift card to the restaurant where we first met: Ruby Tuesday

12. June-Bike ride along Minuteman Trail near our house. Included trail mix and a map of the routes.

My hubby loves that we have something fun to look forward to on the calendar each month!

My cousin gave my idea to her male friend for his wife for their 1st anniversary and she loved it too of course, so anyone can get creative with this idea! 

All the envelopes ready to go!

Here's a link with the idea that inspired me: click here!

If your interested I could send you the word documents I created to make the pages for these dates!

:)