Marriage Checklist - suggestions

[mathias1979]

Hey everyone,

Well my big day is officially less than 1 week away. Eek So anxious for it to get here, but I'm sure this week will fly by.

Anyway, I need some suggestions. I am trying to save money so I didn't want to go overboard with a gift for a wedding gift for my fiance. So I decided on this: I'll get a scrapbook, then a box of index cards. On each card will be something that we want to accomplish in our married life together. Anything from small (taking a dance class together) to big (having our children). Then everytime we complete something from the box we put the index card along with something to remember it by in the scrapbook. I like to think of it as a sort of marriage checklist for lack of a better description.

So I'm looking for suggestions for things we could do together as a couple in the future. I already have our big life goals down...but I'd like to get some random romantic things in there as well. So suggestions?

-Matt

 

[nenners]

Have a date night set, every week, month whatever is good for you two.

 

[Mayzoo]

First "date" as a married couple

First function attended as a married couple

Each anniversary and how you celebrated

First vacation together

First movie at a theatre

Weddings of friends attended

first car purchased

Firsts for each holiday

I'll try to be back with more.....

 

[desi]

Isn't the wedding ring gift enough?

 

[Melody Joy]

lol^^Desi, its tradition for the bride and groom to exchange meaningful (doesn't have to be expensive) gifts for the wedding

Congratulations, Mathias1979. I will be married in 5 weeks. I don't really have much to add just wanted to say congrats and God Bless!!

 

[selune]

If you like to travel, have a list of places you two want to go to. Each could be a separate card.

First house.

1st kid to college.

for that matter, 1st kid (and any following) to kindergarten.

 

[mathias1979]

Isn't the wedding ring gift enough?

This is why I'm not going out and buying her something expensive...just sticking with something of a bit more sentimental value.

Thanks for the suggestions so far...there were a few in there I hadn't thought of yet.

And just a note...I notice a lot of "first time...". These don't need to be first time things. They can just be some random thing. For instance...one of my cards is "Pick fresh strawberries together." Another is "take a dance class together." I just want to be sure I get a good mix of the large goals and just small romantic things (that will be a lot more feasible in the first few years of marriage)

-Matt

 

[selune]

take a walk in the rain

sit by a fire after a snowy walk

have a campout in the middle of your living room (with a tent of course!)

I'll try to think of more later, this is fun

 

[kayanne]

how about:

1. cook her favorite dinner for her
2. plant a garden (flower or veg) together
3. serve together in some ministry for the Lord (teaching a children's sun school class, or visiting an elderly person to help with yardwork, etc)
4. pick a saturday (or whatever day works for you), where the entire day, you do things for herr....breakfast in bed, massage from head to toe, rent her favorite movie, put on her favorite music, fix a picnic lunch and go somewhere she loves, you get the idea. she'll do the same for you on some unexpected saturday too. the key is, the person whose special day it is, cannot do any work or have any reasonable request denied. total pampering!
5. include a few activities that you haven't tried before, but maybe you'd enjoy: horseback riding, hiking up a mountain, a camping trip, ice skating, visiting a particular historical site or other site of interest, snorkeling, go to the the symphony, take a carriage ride, go christmas caroling with friends, write a song or poem for each other.

i think your idea is absolutely beautiful. i'm sure she will find it incredibly romantic, yet also very practical in that you are pledging to create these special memories with her. sound like good medicine for a happy marriage!!

 

[HeatherJay]

Stay up late and watch a meteor shower together (don't forget to share the wishes you make with each other).

Cook something gourmet together...complete with a ridiculously difficult recipe and hard-to-find ingredients.

Paint your first baby's nusery together.

Wake up at 3 AM, pack a little breakfast picnic, grab a blanket, and watch the sunrise together (sunsets are overdone, don't you think? )

Stay up all night watching cheesy 80's movies...whoever falls asleep first is subject to whatever prank the 'last man standing' deems fitting...the possibilities are endless.



That's all I got right now, but I'll add more later if I can. I think this is such a sweet idea. She's really going to love it. Congratulations.

 

[HeatherJay]

First 2nd honeymoon.

Adopt a pet together...preferably something very cute and homeless that would be lost without you.

Paint portraits of each other...artistic talent not required.

Hunt for and cut down your own Christmas tree together...then string popcorn and cranberries to decorate it (don't forget the Christmas music and hot apple cider).

Go to the playground and push each other on the swings.


Okay, now I'm on a roll but I'll give it a rest for awhile.

 

[charligirl]

lol^^Desi, its tradition for the bride and groom to exchange meaningful (doesn't have to be expensive) gifts for the wedding
QUOTE]

It is? I didn't know that, my husband just got me

 

[EmSchmem]

Isn't the wedding ring gift enough?

Didn't think I'd ever agreew/Desi but I do! Though my husband and I ended up buying a couple things on our honeymoon. There was actually a keychain with his named spelled right! Never happens!

 

[Cright]

for the orginial poster -
row boating trip (many state parks, depending on the state your in, will have them for much cheaper rental prices than private places).
picnic
candle lit dinner, made together or ordered in
have a game night w/ guests invited from both families

This is an awesome idea for a wedding gift!

Desi and EmSchmem - I agree that nothing more is needed than each other... but I do like the idea of exchanging "gifts" from the heart too.. how romantic to get a poem on your wedding day written by your hubby to be ment only for you to read from him! So... romantic.. or and adventure scrapbook like the one in this thread! I love the gift exchange.. in the weddings I've seen this done it.. the gifts were exchanged in the church. The best man takes the sealed/wraped gift to the bride for her to open alone, and the maid/matron of honor drops off the gift from the bride to the groom! How fun!

Carina

 

[mathias1979]

Desi and EmSchmem - I agree that nothing more is needed than each other... but I do like the idea of exchanging "gifts" from the heart too.. how romantic to get a poem on your wedding day written by your hubby to be ment only for you to read from him! So... romantic.. or and adventure scrapbook like the one in this thread! I love the gift exchange.. in the weddings I've seen this done it.. the gifts were exchanged in the church. The best man takes the sealed/wraped gift to the bride for her to open alone, and the maid/matron of honor drops off the gift from the bride to the groom! How fun!

Carina

Thank you. I'm glad some people in this thread see this for what it is, and not as something I feel pressured into doing by my wife. If I was here soliciting ideas for a $200-$300 wedding gift because I knew my fiance would kill me if I didn't get her something big...well then I could see the problem.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I've got about 50 ideas written down now. I'm gonna see if I can get it up to 100, then of course I'll have lots of blank cards to so we can brainstorm some ideas together. Oh...in fact, that could be another card "brainstorm ideas for the marriage adventure box."

-Matt

 

[herev]

remind yourself (without her knowing, yet) to recite the wedding vows again to her as a surprise after you have been married a while. Say them in an imaginative way, but mean every word, all over again.
celebrate your first fight as a married couple--seriously!
and congratulations

 

[mathias1979]

Again...thanks for the suggestions. I used several of them...and some of the others were really helpful in helping me brainstorm new ones. I ended up with an even 100...and put in a bunch of blank ones too. The last few were tough! I'm actually frustrated because I tried to decorate the little black box with some glitter glue pens...but it all just fell off when it dried. I gotta come up with a better decorating idea. Oh well. Thanks again everyone...it was a big help.

-Matt

 

[Ashlynn]

Have a midnight picnic in your back yard.

Keep a journal together- even if only for a week a month.

Wash the dishes together while dancing around to your favorite fun song

Spend some time together without talking to one another at all- whether it be a train ride or an entire evening- just communicate through touch and sight.

Take a road trip together (share the driving)

I think this is a wonderful idea Mathias- If my future husband ever gave me something like that I would cry my eyes out . Good Luck and God bless you and your fiancee.

 

[pegatha]

I think the scrapbook is a wonderful idea! My husband and I never gave each other wedding gifts; we never knew we were supposed to, and besides, we figured we had (God willing) a lifetime together to give each other gifts for anniversaries, birthdays, and Christmas. But if we had wanted to give each other wedding gifts, I don't think we could have thought of anything better than what you're doing. Congratulations on your upcoming marriage, and may you achieve everything on your checklist.

 

[Pope Gonzo]

That's an awesome gift! (Steph told me she already figured out what she's gonna get me... even though we're not even engaged yet

)

I really like the travel destinations thing. You could even list it on cards as "See three oceans" or "Visit four foreign national capitols".

How about "Giving the kids the Talk"?

Sending kids to college

Retirement