This year my husband and I celebrated 10 years of marriage. And we celebrated, in part, by attending SIX weddings. That’s a LOT of weddings in a year! I actually love to attend weddings. It’s a fun, usually kid-free, date night out with my husband. There’s dinner, dancing, drinks, and of course, cake.
With that many weddings though, I wanted to come up with a unique gift. And I’ll be honest, I love gift-giving – it’s one of my favorite things. I love picking out the perfect gift, something I’d love to receive myself. While all gifts are appreciated, the unique or special ones are usually what you remember: I can tell you exactly what glasses my best friend gave me at my wedding, and every time my mother-in-law uses a somewhat vintage-looking kitchen gadget, it’s sure to be a gift she received at her wedding. The sentiment means it usually sticks around for quite a while.
I scoured Pinterest looking for unique ideas and came across the idea for an anniversary book from The Dating Divas. Each year, on their anniversary, the couple takes a photo for the anniversary book. It’s a cute little keepsake album. I loved the idea and found a cute little scrapbook type album that is perfect for these special pictures. The anniversary book inspired me to create an entire gift basket out of books -what I call The Newlywed Essentials Library.
I started thinking about books that would be helpful for newly married couples. Library essentials, if you will:
1. A book on money management. One of the most important things in a marriage, and life in general, is money management. I personally love Dave Ramsey’s book The Total Money Makeover, so this was an easy choice.
2. A devotional. Because marriages are based on faith, I searched Amazon for a couples devotional. I also added one to my cart for myself!
3. A cookbook – because isn’t the key to everyone’s heart really through their stomach? I chose Magnolia Table since it was the most recent one I purchased for myself, and I thought the couples I was purchasing it for would love it.
4. Keepsake anniversary album.
Once you have your essentials together, all that’s left is the pretty packaging. Please tell me I’m not the only one who hates to just toss things in a gift bag? It’s WAY more fun in a basket. Or a pretty storage bin. Something that is functional and can be used as décor in the couple’s home. For this basket, I also added bookends, perfect to display their new collection!
