Every year we like to celebrate our “I Do”s by doing stuff, like recreating our wedding menu, taking a day trip near our engagement spot, cooking up one of our favorite honeymoon meals or even taking a big ol’ trip to Hawaii. This year was no different as we continued some of our anniversary traditions (like our annual picture, which a bunch of you asked about) and we threw in a couple of new celebrations too, like showing our wedding video to Clara for the first time.
It was kind of comical because we realized we had no other way to watch it than on the miniscule screen of John’s old camcorder, so we were all huddled around it and pressed play. We probably hadn’t seen it ourselves for the past five years, so there were a few moments we completely forgot about that had us cracking up. Clara seemed to like seeing some of her cousins as kids instead of teens, and really loved Burger’s cameo, so it was a nice little (pun intended) trip down memory lane.
One thing we always talk about from our wedding planning days is how we never got to do that fun cake-tasting thing. While we love the sweet Ukrop’s cupcakes that we had for our backyard shindig, sitting down at a table and sampling a bunch of cake flavors and icings and fillers kind of sounds like the best part of planning a wedding. So we always laugh about how two dessert loving fools like ourselves missed out on that.
And then John went and did one of the most romantic things he has ever done. He surprised me by coordinating a better-late-than-never cake tasting with an amazing local baker who was happy to have one for us for a little more than she usually charges (since we weren’t actually ordering a cake in the end).
John debated selecting the flavors himself so he could surprise me at the tasting, but thought it would be more fun to pore over the options together beforehand, like we would have for our wedding. So he told me about it on our actual anniversary and then we got to make our flavor picks and taste them at the end of last week (once Amanda at Sweet Fix had whipped them up).
She bakes cupcakes instead of cakes as a way for people to sample the flavors, so it was pretty perfect. Sort of like smashing our original wedding cupcakes and the experience of a cake tasting together. Picking flavors was no easy task (OH, THE OPTIONS!) but we ultimately landed on: chocolate with peanut butter buttercream, princess white with green tea buttercream (princess white is like angel-food cake, this one was John’s favorite), almond with maple buttercream (my favorite – it tasted like a gourmet waffle) and vanilla with strawberry jam filling and strawberry buttercream (Clara’s favorite).
We each got to taste all of the flavors, plus take home a box of extras to enjoy and share with friends. We also took home this less than stellar family picture, thanks to Lady Blurs-a-lot. Don’t mind Teddy, he was just checking out the sample cakes.
Speaking of not-so-perfect family pictures… as some of you remembered, we try to get a family photo along with a photostrip each year on our actual anniversary, so last Monday we made the obligatory trip to the New York Deli (a restaurant here that has an old timey photobooth in the back) with pretty laughable results. One of the funniest things about this booth is that the prints tend to vary wildly. One year they’re super clear, sometimes they’re dark and spotty, and this year we ended up resembling a family of ghosts.
It’s kind of a bummer, but the sign on the machine gives you fair warning…
Gotta love those elves who live in the booth. And as a side note, if any locals know of other real photobooths in RVA, we’d love to hear about them.
We did manage to get one decent family picture on the 7th, thanks to our tripod and the camera remote. We attempted some with Burger but he was all “Um, I’ll sit this one out, weirdos.” (our sweet mild-mannered dog wigs out every year that we try to squeeze him into the picture, so I guess that’s an anniversary tradition too). Teddy’s still working on the whole “smile at camera” thing, but Clara’s not blurry so that’s a victory (and she even managed to work her 4th of July tattoo into the mix). Come to think of it, maybe Teddy’s just checking out her tatt.
In our last house we had all of our anniversary pictures framed together by the bathroom mirror (remember this?), so this latest picture was the kick in the pants that we finally needed to hang them up here. We used a sliver of wall space in the sink nook off of our bedroom, which is nice because it’s something we walk by at the beginning and the end of every day. They start with our first anniversary in the circle frame and go chronologically from top-to-bottom in each column. I didn’t even realize how much I missed seeing those annual photos until we had them back up on the wall.
And last but not least, those who follow us on Instagram saw that we tried to cap off our anniversary with a little romantic dinner (at a place called Wild Ginger). Clara went with Grammy & Tom Tom to her cousin’s swim meet and we brought Teddy with us because “he’ll just sleep.” Well, sleeping didn’t happen at all, but he was a pretty adorable third wheel.
So there you have it. Seven years of being married to my cake-tasting partner in crime, and seven years of sharing what we did for each anniversary on this here blog. What kind of wedding traditions do you guys have? Day trips? Dinners? Dessert binges?
Marcy says
What a fun anniversary! I would LOVE to recreate our cake tasting.
My mom would say congrats on surviving your 7th year of marriage seemingly without any major difficulties. She has this thing about the 7th year being particularly hard for many couples. I guess she believes there’s some truth to the 7 year itch.
Laura @ Rather Square says
Sounds like a lot of great traditions and some new ones too! Have you thought about getting your wedding video put on DVD so you can watch it on a big screen?
We’ve been married three years, and just got around to framing exactly one (!) of our wedding photos recently. Our daughter is a honeymoon baby, so we’ve been a little busy since we got married. :)
YoungHouseLove says
So funny! My best friend Cat’s daughter was a honeymoon baby. I think she got some photos up when she turned two. As for the DVD conversion, we’d love to do that!
xo
s
tricia says
We have been married 14 years. Every July 1st we go to Chili’s and have burgers, fries and a milkshake- just like we did on our first date 14 1/2 years ago. Happy Anniversary y’all!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so sweet!
xo
s
Meagan B. says
How ironic that you posted this today which just happens to be my anniversary! I have to say that you and the hubs have some pretty sweet traditions!
Chelsea says
Happy now-belated 7th anniversary! The cake tasting idea is so adorable! My husband and I didn’t end up doing a cake tasting either, because we decided sight unseen we wanted red velvet, a favorite of both of ours, and I too often lamented not being able to polish off a tray of cake in the name of research. I’m going to try to think of how to drop hints to him that we ought to do this for an anniversary ourselves.
Johanna says
I love that cake testing party! So sweet :)
Kelly says
Happy anniversary! Love those less than perfect family photos, those are the best kind. :)
Emily says
Did you add convert your wedding video to DVD to your to-do list for next year? Your 8th anniversary could be you showing Clara and Teddy your wedding video on a big screen in your bonus room that is now a media room! Whoa!
YoungHouseLove says
Gotta get on that!
xo
s
Julia H says
Sweetfix and Amanda are our FAVORITE!!! Blush on Berry is so wonderful!! Happy Anniversary, Petersiks!
Sarah @ An Inviting Home says
I love that you guys do something unique each year and celebrate with traditions as well that document your family growth. We do the same thing and it makes this whole crazy, awesome, hard marriage thing pretty rockin’! Congrats on seven years together!
~Sarah
Nikki H says
I love your anniversary pictures! I wish we had done this all the years we’ve been married. We did it on our first, and I think we have one for the twenty-fifth, and maybe one for this year–our fortieth. Sweet memories.
Michelle | Birds of Berwick says
Happy Anniversary! That was so sweet of John! Cake tasting was totally my favorite part of wedding planning!!! e went to our local bakery that is our favorite and tried slivers of about 15 flavors with different icings. Red Velvet is always a winner for us. For our 1st anniversary last year we picked up a small cake and put our topper on it again, which was supposed to be a replica of our wedding “logo” I created (a golf bag, top hat, and birds) but ended up looking like a Santa sack of woods! We still have that in the freezer for this year and it cracks us up!
http://www.birdsofberwick.com/2013/11/07/our-first-anniversary/
YoungHouseLove says
So sweet!
xo
s
Rebecca says
Check out this website that shows you where ALL of the photobooths are located! Would be great for your next book tour :)
http://www.photobooth.net/
YoungHouseLove says
SO AWESOME! Looks like the one we use is the only one in Richmond! Someone should corner that market ;)
xo
s
Jenny says
I was just going to post this! :) It’s the best!
Theresa W says
What a great post! I LOVE the mix of real-life, family photos, and a little DIY gallery wall. Thanks so much for sharing!
John – way to go! Your anniversary surprise was incredibly romantic :)
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Theresa! Gotta keep the anniversary blog post tradition alive. I think we fell off last year, but every other year is covered in our archives. So funny that we started this blog right after we got married so it’s all there!
xo
s
Julia [Chris Loves Julia] says
What?! So sweet of John to think of that. We actually never did cake-tasting either. Our wedding was in the beginning of November and the whole meal was very fall (butternut soup, autumn salad, etc.) so we opted for wedding pie (??) instead. It would be so fun to do something like that.
Blair says
There is a photobooth at Regency Square Mall. I’m not sure exatly where, but our nanny takes pictures with my little one there all the time! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Blair!
xo
s
Jeannine says
The last time I was at that huge movie theater in Short Pump (kind of behind the Barnes & Noble), they had one. It wasn’t an old fashioned one, of course.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Jeannine!
xo
s
Samantha says
There’s also a digital photo booth inside Urban Outfitters @ Short Pump Town Center. As for the old fashioned kind, New York Deli is your only option.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Samantha!
xo
s
kk says
That’s so sweet!! My hubby of 5 years doesn’t really do much. All he will say “I forgot” and leave it at that.
tashamonster says
We do the traditional anniversary gifts. Lasy year was our forth so it was fruit/chocolate. I was 6 months pregnate so we chose to go have dessert at a fancy resturant (The Trellis).
This year is the wood anniversary so we are thinking about going to some breweries in charlottesville!
Shellie says
Got the survey pop up ad an screen-shotted it, where should I send it?
YoungHouseLove says
Argh! So sorry Shellie! You can send it to youngsters at younghouselove.com.
xo
s
Laura says
Congratulations on your Anniversary! I just spent the last few days with Sweet Fix owner, Amanda, in Baltimore at a conference for catering and event professionals. She was so honored to have helped in your celebration. Her cakes and sweets displays (think- all the best desserts you’ve ever had in your life on one buffet table!) are amazing and beautiful. Check out a feature in the new edition of The Knot’s regional (DC, Maryland, and VA) magazing for a “Secret Garden” themed set-up she did on a suspended farm table. -Laura
YoungHouseLove says
So cool Laura! We’ll have to check that out. Amanda couldn’t have been nicer and her cakes are DELICIOUS!
xo
s
Mindy says
So sweet! Love the cake tasting!
Kara says
Happy Anniversary! :) Love how it was all full of sweet sentimental activities and mementos!
Amanda says
This is such a cute date thing to do. And very sweet of John to think of it. Loved this post :)
Kate says
Awe, congrats guys! We watch our wedding video every year and our daughters are obsessed with it! They get more excited to see it than we do! Love it!
Starr @ The Kiefer Cottage says
Our 5th anniversary is in a month (well, our legal one is. Our wedding was unofficial about 10 days later). We usually don’t do much special. Maybe a dinner. Babysitting is a big challenge for us to find fo-free, so many of our celebrations involve our three children.
This year, though, we’re thinking of taking a family trip up to Mt. Rushmore around the time of our anniversary (which falls around Labor Day).
Stephanie says
Happy Anniversary! Those pictures are wonderful-all those different stages of life should be celebrated!
We will celebrated our 10th Anniversary this July 31st and last weekend we bought our anniversary gift-a 24′ airstream Argosy! She is a 1975 beauty and while she was mint inside, we are putting some final touches on her and adding a page about our adventures to our blog~!! Tonight I am picking out curtain material-so excited and also hoping that my wine consumption/swearing at my sewing machine can be kept to a minimum ;) (does sewing make anyone else want to drink -which by the way really is not helpful to sewing:)
Congrats again on 7 years and lots of success! And cheers to many more adventures~! That John and his great gifts-he is a keeper! Maybe we’ll have our art studio make a VA sticker and head toward your coast next summer in the camper :)
PS-you guys should really check these vintage RVs out-you could work magic inside one! and if you would ever like a camper tour I would be honored ;)
YoungHouseLove says
SO EXCITED ABOUT THE AIRSTREAM! Send pics for sure.
xo
s
Rachael says
Funny story. I’m at a work reading this post. A co-worker comes over to have a meeting and sees the site up. She says, “omg! is that young house love?!! i LOOVEEE them!” and then we had a competition to see who has been reading the longest. Haha. So- you have fans in Atlanta at our ad agency ;)
YoungHouseLove says
No way, that’s hilarious!
xo
s
Ashley@AttemptsAtDomestication says
Props to John! That was an adorable idea! Happy Anniversary!
Sara says
Every year for our anniversary we take turns planning a surprise overnight trip. We decided from the very first to not buy one another anything but to always make time no matter kids or craziness to go away for the weekend. This year is 13 years and my husband’s turn to plan. Somehow the picture we take every year of just the two of us he ends up wearing a Virginia Tech shirt, and while I love the Hokies, the fact that 8 of the 13 years the shirt is exactly the same, makes me think this year I should give him an extra gift of a new shirt to wear on our trip :)
Karen Thompson says
Love the cake testing! What a sweet idea. Haha. One of my friends has a tradition of going to Burger King on their Anniversary. Not romantic you say? Well they are both social butterflies and had so much fun at their lovely wedding that they realized in the limo at the end of the night that neither of them had eaten hardly anything and they were starving! So they went to BK in their fancy duds late at night, and now it’s a tradition she looks forward to every year. :-)
YoungHouseLove says
So funny!
xo
s
em says
I never got to do a cake tasting because my wedding was in a different state (on the other coast, actually) so I went out there for a few days to scout locations and talk to the florist and then my husband went another week to visit his family and do the food and cake tasting with my future mother-in-law. And then I never even got to eat the food or cake at the wedding (except the bit that was smashed into my face). Someone please send a link to this post to my husband . . .
YoungHouseLove says
I say you leave it up on his computer and act all “how did that get there?”
xo
s
jaclyn says
Every year for our anniversary, my husband and I visit a different Shabu Shabu restaurant and then we go get a slice of the cake from our wedding at our favorite bakery.
We also love a good photobooth strip. We even hunted one down in Vienna, Austria. I framed a bunch of them in a floating frame.
YoungHouseLove says
LOVE that!
xo
s
Leah says
Aww that is the sweetest thing. What a fun tradition.
Lane says
Happy anniversary! Today is my 4th wedding anniversary too. I’m going to surprise my husband with fried chicken sandwiches from a local restaurant that we served at our own tiny wedding 4 years ago. Might even take them down to the beach to eat. It’s the little things.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so sweet!
xo
s
Isabel says
So cool to see all your anniversary traditions! So sweet of John to arrange the tasting. My husband bless his soul is a closet romantic! We had 2 weddings, a civil one in the US and a religious one in Mexico where my husband is from. We celebrate the civil one and usually forget about the religious one… oops! Interestingly enough, our families always remember the religious one. We can’t even see our wedding videos anymore, they are VHS and we haven’t yet converted them… oh the shame!
Catherine says
Well now it is official. The Egg Chair is a part of your family.
Happy anniversary!
YoungHouseLove says
Hahaha, it’s true!
xo
s
sara says
Oh my gosh Clara just keeps getting prettier and prettier! That family pic is gorgeous!!
DP says
So cool. About 14 years ago our cake tasting was free and our baker gave us a layer cake to bring home. This was my husband’s favorite wedding planning task. I wonder if our baker is still living and making cakes.
YoungHouseLove says
Holy cow, that’s awesome!
xo
s
kristen says
*drools*
looooove wild ginger!
Jess @ Little House. Big Heart. says
Oh, I love the cake tasting idea! That would be so much fun since our wedding cake never materialized! I had intended to make my own wedding cake, but in the hustle and bustle of catering my own wedding, it somehow never got made and we ended up using a carrot cake my grandmother had made for our dessert table. It was pretty, but I really, really hate carrot cake! When we did the cutting, Kevin only got icing for me so I didn’t have to eat the cake! :)
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so cute Jess!
xo
s
Leesha says
I love all the traditions you guys seem to have. Wish I could do the same! What amazes me if you have the foresight to plan them AND you follow through! (I suffer the follow through part ;) )
YoungHouseLove says
The secret is to keep up with something for those first few years. Then you say in your head “well, we did it for the last — years, so it would be a waste if we stopped now” – haha! The longer you go, the more motivation there is not to drop the ball ;)
xo
s
Melissa @ Loving Here says
I have the same problem! We managed to take a photo on our anniversary every year so far, but this is the first year it didn’t feel like an after thought. (I can’t even find the photo we took last year…I think it might have gotten lost in my phone transition…boo!) Anyway, we just celebrated 3 years. Congrats to you, and good job for sticking with your photo tradition!
http://lovinghere.com/three-years-later/
Crystal says
I looked at that cupcake list and now I’m dying for one!!! We got married at the courthouse so other than scouting out a few potential venues (which was when we realized we couldn’t have the wedding of our dreams (at least dreams at the time)) we didn’t do any of the typical wedding planning.
I’m thinking every year from here on out we either do a cupcake testing or try a new fancy cupcake recipe at home together!
Anele @ Success Along the Weigh says
Aww, such great pics and I know it’s weird but there’s something kinda charming about the ghosty strip pics. :-) What a wonderful surprise with a belated cake tasting. Hubby points!
I think we come and go in spurts. We’re usually in Hawaii or on some kind of vacation for our anniversary. On our 14th, I made him do a scavenger hunt around the island with the prize being I had his Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) CD sleeve autographed after talking with his production manager. He was pretty psyched! The following year I booked us a balloon ride over Napa Valley. I figured after that, why bother because nothing was going to beat that. :) The Mr gave me a great memory book for our 16 year anniversary and since I’m mushy like that, it was perfect!
Rebecca W says
We just did the photo booth for our 3rd anniversary (it’s a tradition that started with our save the dates) and it easy my daughter’s first experience, 10 months old. She was deer in headlights in every picture so props to Teddy for pulling off a decent look.
Beks says
That sounds like an awesome way to celebrate your anniversary! I’m not married (or anywhere near it), but I’m a romantic. I love hearing about sweet things that strangers do for each other (however, friends and family, it’s nauseating, and go flaunt your happiness away from me! lol).
Lily says
Congrats, you two!! here’s to so many more!
x Lily
http://whilemyboyfriendsaway.blogspot.com/
Megan says
Any activity involving cake is a winner! The husband and I have been married three years now and have separately created our own traditions with the gift giving. He’ll write me a lovely letter and I’ll get him something small in the vein of traditional anniversary gifts. Last year I got him socks (2nd year is cotton) and this year I made him a card with a bunch of pictures of fuzzy cows on it (3rd year is leather).
Amber says
Your family is the cutest! Cake tasting because you missed out is such a great idea! I would have never thought of that!
Wendy says
You guys need to diy something like this: http://www.girlinair.com/2012/04/how-to-make-giant-photo-booth-style.html
YoungHouseLove says
Amazing.
xo
s
Tracy says
Happy Anniversary! So sweet that John planned the cake tasting! We have been lucky enough to go on vacation for our anniversary (which we hope to continue at least until kids arrive). For our first anniverary we went to Europe so the husband could meet my extended family, and this year (second anniversary) we just got back from Jamaica where we had a re-do of our honeymoon! Same resort and everything – it was amazing!
Here’s to many more years of wedded bliss guys :) xo
Ashley says
That’s so fun you re-did your honeymoon! We went to Jamaica for our honeymoon in February (our wedding was last October). We absolutely loved the island and hope to go back next winter (are looking at a different resort but can’t beat the wonderful non-stop flight from Indianapolis in the middle of winter!) :)