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?
Amanda Robinson says
It was such a pleasure meeting with you guys and thank you for the wonderful shout out. I am so glad that you both (and your little one) enjoyed the tasting and I hope to have an opportunity to work with you guys again! Warm wishes and keep up the great work! Amanda http://www.sweetfixrva.com
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much Amanda! We had a blast!
xo
s
Lesley says
We started with a bunch of traditions, we took a picture every year, I would put on my wedding dress at some point throughout the day and came trouncing up from the basement to surprise my husband. But as we hit 5 then 6 years with just the two of us in the same picture on the corner of our sofa, and no new family members to add to the mix, we tired of them.
Once our kids joined the family (year 7), anniversary dinners/lunches/breakfasts became the norm as an opportunity for a date. Now that we moved, I re-found some of the pictures and dislodged my dress from the back of a basement closet… I might bring those old traditions to life again.
YoungHouseLove says
So funny! I love the wedding dress trouncing tradition!
xo
s
Diana says
I put back on my wedding dress for our first anniversaries too! But never flouncing to surprise my husband because I always needed his help getting it on!
DCWJes says
That’s funny!! I love that Teddy was an anniversary crasher! Our anniversary is the 9th of July and we celebrated 4 years. Last year, I had a different baker recreate our cake and my husband attempted to buy my flowers, but he forgot the color or type. I don’t remember. We are always late on the traditions bandwagon. We try to go out for dinner at least.
Anne says
Random thought: Have you noticed John wears a blue shirt/top in almost all the pictures?
Sounds like a great anniversary!
YoungHouseLove says
So funny!
xo
s
Bethany says
…and Sherry is wearing black in most of them. Stick to what you like! Haha :)
Keisha F. says
Happy Anniversary!
Emily says
Sherry – A couple years ago the owner of NYD sold me his extra photobooth. He’d had it in storage for a few years and it was a hot mess. My husband and I set out to restore it for our wedding, but alas, we bit off more than we could chew ( only an 8 month engagement, while also renovating a house, what were we thinking?! )… anyhow – we are still renovating said house and need to part with our beloved photobooth. it’s about halfway fixed up… shoot me an email if you’re interested in working a barter, or buying !
YoungHouseLove says
Oh my gosh, you should put that on craigslist! I bet a local restaurant would snatch it up! At least I selfishly hope so. Haha!
xo
s
Manda Wolf says
Congrats on the 7 years guys! Way to go John on the cake tasting, you get tons on hubby brownie points, and I’m sure a few guys at home in trouble for not thinking about that. We didn’t do much for our 3rd wedding anniversary last year, but a few months before that we made a 15 hour drive to VA (Colonial Williamsburg, the beach, Air and Space Museum, and Williamsburg Pottery for this Army Brat who grow up in Fort Eustis) to celebrate our 5th anniversary of being a couple. We just turned in our vacation cards so we know we will get to spend our anniversary together this year, I am thinking of going back to the wine trail we honeymooned on.
Lauren B says
you may want to try the free iphone app Pocketbooth — basically turns your iphone into a photo booth, shooting 4 photos in a row and making a picture strip!
YoungHouseLove says
Love that!
xo
s
Alex says
Happy anniversary you two!!!! You two are the reason why we had a small backyard wedding. Three years ago, we didn’t want to spend a bunch of money on our wedding so when I saw pictures of your wedding, it was a done deal. We had around 30 family members at my father-in-laws backyard and had good southern pulled pork and partied the night away. Thank you for showing me that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to have such a special day!!!
YoungHouseLove says
That sounds awesome Alex!
xo
s
Lynda says
I saw you and your painted baskets in Real Simple. Always fun to see you in national magazines. And the baskets look great!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Lynda! We had tons of fun working with them! So honored to be asked :)
xo
s
ErinEvelyn says
I married my husband at a courthouse one May weekend (’02) on our way to go camping with friends. We did a ceremony/celebration with friends & family 4 months late in Sept. The May “anniversary” date often goes passes without realizing it since always agreed we’d observe the Sept daye. But it frequently we don’t go beyond getting cards and remembering to wish each other a “Happy Anniversary”. Last year though, my in-laws were in from out of town visiting us (and our 8yo twin sons) and we ordered pizza from our favorite place as our “fancy anniversary dinner”. When my husband and his dad went to pick up our order, a reckless driver caused a fender-bender in the lot and my husbands car ended up a bit smashed. After waiting to make statements to the police & whatnot, they brought home cold pizza. This year we’ll reach 12 years, and ANYTHING will be better than last year. Lol!
Heather D. says
How has it already been 7 years?! I still remember following you on the initial “Backyard Wedding” blog — congrats and cheers (with a cupcake in hand) to many more happy years!
Myra says
Congrats on 7 years! I’ve been following you guys since pre-Clara days and I love your updates. You’re pretty much my fav blogger family to follow (I hope that’s not creepy!)
I really wish the hubbs and I did anniversary photos, amazing idea :)
Cheers to many more fabulous years!
Eliesa @ Pinterest Addict says
Love the traditions you guys keep! Wish we had thought about starting something like that when we got married 13 years ago. Maybe we will start a new tradition next anniversary – never too late, right? Just wanted to add that every time I see a pic of Clara, she is prettier and prettier, with the most beautiful smile. Here’s to the next seventy years for you guys – may you always be happy, healthy and in love.
Roxanne M says
I’m so glad you got to do the cake tasting! That was my favorite part of planning our reception. We did buttercream cakes here in Minneapolis, and they are amazing! My husband has purchased a sheet cake a time or two for my birthday after our reception and they are pretty reasonable in price. I’m currently expecting our first child and I’m hoping we get another of their cakes for a welcome baby party or something :) Happy anniversary! Your cupcakes looked amazing and I love your picture tradition :)
Kait says
Congrats!
For our 5th anniversary last year, my husband bought 5 bottles of wine all from 2008 (our wedding year). Then he bought another 2008 wine that is being saved for our 15th year of marriage. The clerks at the wine store apparently had a blast helping my dear hubby.
Cheers!
Lori says
Today is mine and my husband’s 17th wedding anniversary. I’m not at all sure how that happened since I’m only 29… :)
We will celebrate by going to dinner tonight (with our 15 year old daughter) and catching a Detroit Tigers game on Sunday.
Congrats and happy (belated) anniversary to the two of you!
hjc says
So you were only 12 when you were married – it happens! I’m only 29 as well and we’ll celebrate our 26th anniversary in August – talk about robbing the cradle! :-)
Lizzie says
Happy anniversary guys! It’s so fun to read about everyone’s celebration ideas. Since my husband and I got married on a Ferris wheel, for our first anniversary we recreated it: dinner at the restaurant next to the wheel (where we’d met with our officiant to handwrite the ceremony on scratch paper), followed by a ride on the wheel. We wore our wedding outfits for it too: business casual for him, cocktail dress for me. I stashed a tiny bottle of wine in my purse and we sipped from it when we were out of sight of the wheel attendant. We’ve only had the one anniversary so far, but it was so fun that we intend to keep it up for our future ones.
Lori says
Teddy is precious! Congrats on seven years! My what you guys have accomplished! We have been married 22 years and no traditions! Wish we would have started right from start! Is it too late? Imagine our photo wall!!!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s never too late!
xo
s
Carly says
There is a fancy cupcakery here. LOVE choc with pb cream frosting!!! I might have to go this weekend.
Love the traditions.
Sarah @ Sarah's Daybook says
Adorable! Clara and Teddy are growing by the second!
Random, but have you guys ever been to the Newseum in DC? It has a great photo booth and I think Clara would love the place. If not, I would love to also give you a tour of the Capitol building. My mom worked at the Senate for 32 years and she knows her stuff. :) you have my email!
Sarah
http://Www.sarahsdaybook.com
YoungHouseLove says
John has been to the Newseum (growing up in NOVA) but we haven’t taken Clara – I bet she’d love it! Such a sweet idea. And you’re too kind about the Capitol building tour. Sounds awesome.
xo
s
Sarah Miller says
What a great idea John had! My equally sweet husband bought me an engagement ring for our 13th anniversary on June 9th this year. We couldn’t afford one when we got engaged, and though I really didn’t mind, he’s always wanted to get me one. So this year he did. I am so touched!
Happy anniversary to both of you!
YoungHouseLove says
So sweet.
xo
s
Darcy says
I love your anniversary traditions! So sweet! And John — you’ve done it again…..Made every husband across the globe look bad with your incredibly sweet anniversary gift! I’m sure when I get home and tell my Hubs about this, he will curse you!! LOL! J/K (sort of!) :-)
I love the family picture — I think Teddy is definitely checking out Clara’s tatt and thinking, how old do I have to be to get one of those!!
I just checked out his weekly pix — I can’t believe he is already 3 months old!! Is he babbling? — I think it definitely tells you what you are in for (talkative or not) — I’ve got one of each — my 2nd talks when he’s got something to say — my first — nonstop! Just like when they were babies! LOL!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so interesting! I never knew if there was a correlation between babbling a lot and chatting a lot but it makes sense! He loves to say squeak and babble with us (Burger and Clara are his favorite conversation partners) so it’ll be fun to see them talk someday!
xo
s
Darcy says
Well — its my completely un-scientific research with my 2 kiddos and my nephews! So, I can’t wait to see what your take on it is!
It is so cute seeing your 2 kids playing and talking! Last night, my oldest was trying to teach the little one a new word — and he broke it down like I used to do for him: “L say Fire Truck — FFF-fire ttt-truck fire truck!! say it like me!” So adorable!
YoungHouseLove says
Adorable!
xo
s
amber says
Happy anniversary!
you should check out Weird Al’s new song “Handy” which is a parody of “Fancy”. you will love it!
YoungHouseLove says
Someone just emailed it to me. So funny! I also loved the Word Crimes one. Weird Al is keeping it weird.
xo
s
Autumn Beach says
Well, oh my goodness…as if y’all weren’t the cutest family ever to start with! I’m not even southern, and this post just forced a “y’all” out of me! Seriously. This is all. Things. Good. Warmed my heart. I didn’t know you guys did the anniversary pics. Love that idea. And looking at them made my eyes a little watery. I think it’s because I’m thinking of my own family and how quickly life has changed for us in the past five years. Thanks for filling my cup. Happy anniversary!
Brenna says
TOO. FLIPPIN. CUTE. Yep – you got a winner there, Sherry =) congratulations to you both and your beautiful family! Makes us single folk want to settle down someday, too!
<3, Brenna
Gunilla says
Your post took me down memory lane for a hot second – I worked at New York Deli ages ago (summer of 1996) while I was in school at VCU! I am not recalling a photo booth so I wonder if it was there then? I live in Charlotte, NC now and don’t get many opportunities to get back to my college town so it’s fun hearing about some of my old stomping grounds in your blog posts. Happy Anniversary to you both!
YoungHouseLove says
So funny! It has been there for a while, but we weren’t here in 1996! It’s back by the DJ booth in the back right corner.
xo
s
Amanda L. says
I saw this idea on pinterest, and so far we’ve done it every year (all two of them). The first year, we brought a wedding photo out to a park, and had a friend take a picture.
This year, we printed an 8×10 of the 1st anniversary picture, went to the spot where we got married, and had a picture taken there. This is the result!
http://i59.tinypic.com/1zyar1d.jpg
Kim says
Our wedding anniversaries seem to get more and more laid back as our kids get older. First year, I think we got a beach house in Orange County. The next year, went on a trip to Arizona. The following year we went to Mexico. The year after that, we went out to see Star Wars and Wolverine and go out to dinner. Ever since then, it’s been a date night, but that’s about it. However, 10 years later, we went to England without the kids to celebrate (although we went in March and our wedding was in May.) However, we did do a nice set of family photos for our 10th anniversary.
Meredith says
Sweet tradition with the photo booth. There was at one time a photo booth in Virginia center commons (I think it’s a Simon owned mall), you could call and see. And while you are there about 3 miles down the road on Rt. 1 is an awesome place called Trash to Class. It’s a treasure trove of salvaged materials, furniture, junk, and everything you could think of. Two floors of goodies AND the outside is full of stuff too. I love that place and the owners are so nice and will bargain with you.
YoungHouseLove says
Love that place! Thanks Meredith!
xo
s
Sally says
What a sweet surprise:) Teddy is the cutest wedding anniversary crasher…his coo’s and smiles melt me!! I love the picture tradition as well. Happy Anniversary:)
Patti McHugh says
Happy Anniversary! We’ve been married for two years. Since we didn’t go on a honeymoon right after our wedding, we decided to go on vacation every year on our anniversary. For our one year we went to Richmond, VA! It was awesome. Our anniversary is June 30th, so we were there during the 4th of July.
This year we went to San Diego. Our vacation was more of a house hunting trip than a vacation, but we managed to squeeze in a day at Disney California Adventure park and paddle boarding in the Bay on the 4th of July. We’re moving to San Diego next month to start the next phase in our lives. Yay!
Cheers to your future!
Ilse says
Seriously John? A baseballcap for your anniversary picture?
YoungHouseLove says
Well he did break out a a t-shirt tuxedo at the wedding. I think it’s safe to say that we like to keep it casual ;)
xo
s
Jess says
Just read about Party!Party!, a photobooth app by A Beautiful Mess… looks like great fun. It also does stop motion video and gifs. http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2014/07/the-partypartyapp-is-in-the-app-store.html
YoungHouseLove says
Looks like so much fun!
xo
s
Michelle says
I’m sure you’ve already gotten plenty of suggestions for finding a photo booth, but just in case…all the Regal theaters around me have them. They aren’t truly vintage, but the black and white photos they spit out still have a vintage feel to them.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much Michelle! Never thought about those!
xo
s
Mary | Lemon Grove Blog says
Happy Anniversary, you guys!! Hope the next 7 years are just as great as the first!
Colyn says
Hey there, Happy Couple. Seriously, have you considered doing your own photo booth? Google “photo booth software.” My hubby found it and we’ve been doing a photo booth for our annual backyard tiki party for a few years now — even took it on the road for a charity event. People love having souvenirs! And the best part is that you have the original images on your computer that you can use later. John, I bet you wouldn’t resist something like this. Imagine all the kids squealing with delight with fun pictures to take home after all the birthday parties you’ll be having. Worth every penny.
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds like something John would love! Thanks for the tip Colyn!
xo
s
Colyn says
FYI, my hubby highly recommends Breeze Systems photo booth software (it’s what we have). He’s a techie and he likes that it’s easy to personalize and set up. You can also do a green screen with it — we did that a few times with various online scenes in the background and it’s lots of fun. Good luck!
http://www.breezesys.com/
YoungHouseLove says
Fun!
xo
s
Patsy Ledbetter says
I can’t believe how cute you all are!! Sweet. You there is a photo booth in Chesterfield Town Ctr. I think it’s near Old Navy or in that mall somewhere. I’ve gotten pics of me and Sofia there. Good quality and you get 2copies. Now I have 3 grand kiddies now. I think we need to make an annual out of this too.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Patsy!
xo
s
Marissa says
Such great traditions! I wish I would have started something like the picture taking every year! ha I love John’s “scruffy” look this year! Guess that lucky 7 is changing his looks!
YoungHouseLove says
Beard-y John is my favorite John ;)
xo
s
Avi says
Sherry,
I will tell you, if it would have been anything like our cake tasting experience, you didn’t miss much. After going to 3 tasting for “Real” wedding cake bakers, we wound up going and doing a tasting at one of our favorite cupcake shops, they didn’t make wedding cakes at the time, though they do now, but we got 3 round cakes, and put it on a wilton tiered platter from Michaels.
My wife made the flowers to put on the cake herself.
All the “Wedding cake places” had horribly dry, not very flavorful cakes. We are very happy with out decision to go with delicious over beautiful. Though Adria definitely accomplished that.
-Avi
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds delicious!
xo
s
Jenny B. says
LOVE the photos from each year! I really wish we had thought to do that. We’ve been married for 14 years now, so I’m thinking it’s too late. ;) Love the better-late-than-never cake tasting too! We didn’t get to do that either. You guys are so cute!
Jenny B. says
P.S. Have you figured out what do do with your old videos to preserve them for posterity? We have several also (possibly from a very similar camcorder). I had big ideas to transfer them all to my computer a couple of years ago, but gave up because it was taking forever, and my firewire cable kept losing its connection. Since they’re analog, you have to basically record the video onto your computer. Like, if it’s an hour long, it takes an hour to transfer it. No zippy digital file transfer. Anyway, a post on that if you ever get it figured out would be super! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Never even thought about DIYing it! I think shops can make the conversion for you. Not sure how much though. Has anyone done it themselves?
xo
s
Sharon says
We never did the cake tasting thing. Never even crossed my mind to do so. Our wedding was pretty low key (read: inexpensive) and we got a delicious cake from King Soopers.
Sarah says
On an unrelated note….Sherry, do you still have bangs?? ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Nah, I always pinned them back except for maybe ten special occasions, so I just grew them out.
xo
s
Sharon says
P.S. I forgot to say, I didn’t know there was a charge for cake tasting.
Ashley says
We didn’t have a charge for ours. :) Maybe it depends on the region?
Plein Jane says
We were married 30 years ago, but we still talk about one aspect of our wedding cake. On the way back to my in-laws’ house after the reception, the relative in charge of holding the boxed top of the cake fell asleep — smashing our cake top on the floor of the car.
We were already off on our honeymoon, and my mother-in-law didn’t have the heart to tell us about the cake top. So while we were gone, she had the top remade at considerable expense and gave it to us when we came back. The drowsy relative is always a fun story in our family!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh my gosh, no way! How sweet of her to have it remade!
xo
s
Heidi says
What a great idea to do a cake testing!! We celebrated 10 years this year and were originally going to go on a big trip but bought our house instead so we had to shrink the trip to a 3 day get away to Chicago :)
Rakel says
Love your traditions.
Me and my husband actually got married on the same date as you guys.
We try to go out to dinner or do at least something special each year. I think from now on I’ll steal your family photo idea and do that. We said once that on our tenth anniversary we would go to Las Vegas and renew our wows, we’ll see i three years if we can make that a reality.
I’ve never commented before but read your blog regularly, and I am a big fan :)
Kindest regards from Iceland
Rakel
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Rakel!
xo
s
Sherri Eakin says
GUH! Yall are so stinkin cute! Happy Anniversary, and thanks for the cool ideas!
Sarah says
I have to laugh at the elves in the photo booth…I work with a variety of scientific instrumentation (everything is a different vintage) and I always blame the quirks and oddities on “the elves.”
One time, “the elves” made an instrument catch fire. It was a very tiny fire, but still pretty memorable!
YoungHouseLove says
Those wiley elves!
xo
s
Leah says
I love that in your photo strip from the 4 yr anniversary, in one photo is a Teddy and now you have a real one :) Nice foreshadowing!
YoungHouseLove says
So funny!
xo
s