At one stage before we got together, faced with Cliff’s abnormal skyrocketing liver lab results and grappling with a future filled with hope and uncertainty, I remember it was then that the brevity and value of life struck me. We both decided, even if we only had a few years of marriage together in God’s will, it would well be worth it.
Last weekend, as we celebrated our first anniversary together, we were filled with awe, gratitude and thanksgiving at what God has blessed us with. Because we just never know how much time we have left together, Cliff and I went all out to make the week-long celebrations a blast, even in the midst of this trying season where tears, clenched hands in prayer and deep reflection mark each day.
As we said before, if there’s one thing you can feel free to go over-the-top for, it’s showing your spouse how much you love him/her, in any circumstance. Here’s sharing 10 ways we made this anniversary special and absolutely memorable for each other, and I hope it sparks some ideas for you to bless a special someone too!
Ten 1st Anniversary Celebration Ideas:
1. Show up unannounced.
Showing support to someone you love can come in many forms, but I find none as powerful as a physical presence. As Cliff delivered a “Focus on the Family” talk on relationships on the week leading up to our anniversary, I showed up unannounced to hear him share, teach and impact youth at a junior college.
Is there an important event in which your loved one might need an extra dose of encouragement? Be it writing a card or taking time off work, find ways to show you care. It was wonderful to see Cliff’s expression when he saw me! And it was a romantic reward for me to hear him share about our relationship story to the youths too.
Cliff, sharing about the meaning and value of Commitment
2. Make up a past promise.
This requires a lot of listening, but definitely pays off.
Sometimes, our loved ones may share a little something to us at a random moment which may not seem like a lot. But carefully remembering it, jotting it down and then surprising them with your acute listening really does wonders for a relationship.
Some time back, Cliff had shared with me how he had wanted to go to “Chomp Chomp”, a famous local hawker centre in Singapore that is somewhat of a tourist attraction. His friends from Canada had visited it, and he mentioned it in passing. The last time we wanted to go, I deferred because we were too far away and were too hungry. This time, to celebrate his very well-delivered talk, we hopped onto a bus to what I told him was “a faraway place” and was he surprised!
It wasn’t a fancy restaurant, mind you. It was a hot, aromatic, sweaty, tasty Singaporean experience. But he relished every moment (and every bite!) of it.
A famous local dish, barbecued stingray blanketed with the best sambal chilli ever
A rare treat! A crispy, greasy, chewy, tasty Oyster-Egg dish. Yes one-of-a-kind.
(Just overlook the fact that it’s filled with literal heart-stopping yumminess).
The Husband enjoying a plate of Satay Beehoon, another authentic local dish and
soaking up the sweaty Singaporean experience.
More importantly, he was touched that I had remembered a “promise” that we had chucked aside for a while. This was sacrilege for my health-promoting “doctor-ly” self, but worth all the effort to see him enjoy the treat.
So look up your “past promise” book and find a reason to spoil your spouse rotten!
3. Declare it!
If there’s one thing a girl can’t resist, it’s a man who isn’t afraid to show how much he loves her, even in public.
I had returned from my lunchtime class to my office cubicle with a big shock on my face.
Was this my cubicle?!
One of my favorite flowers
When I called Cliff to ask about the surprise, he denied every bit of it. “It isn’t you?” I asked.
“Now I’m jealous,” he said, implying that it might have been one of my colleagues who was a secret admirer!
It was only when he heard the tint of disappointment and hurt in my voice that he burst out laughing and told me it was him indeed!
The man had taken the pains to text 4 of my colleagues, find out when I’d be out for lunch, skip his own lunch to trudge through the malls to buy a bunch of flowers and balloons in our wedding theme colours, get past the security door at my office and tie the colourful happiness-filled helium balloons to my office chair. It was a loud declaration of love to everyone at the office, and so many colleagues dropped by to ask what the occasion was.
A male colleague who was trying to be funny said the surprise was an utter waste of money, which made me appreciate Cliff even more, when I learnt from my husband that for a man, buying flowers is truly like writing with one’s left hand. (Cliff’s analogy is like a girl buying a computer gadget for a man.)
But as everyone else oohed and aahed and the ladies asked if there was more of such men where Cliff came from, I couldn’t help but be filled with gratitude and thanksgiving for an expressive husband.
Still rather stunned by how he managed to gang up with my colleagues to get through the door.
It was absolutely timely, since it was a difficult and teary day.
4. Split your surprises.
For our anniversary weekend, Cliff and I divided the time such that we each could reserve “timeslots” to surprise each other. Shh…. Make sure you hide your surprises well!
5. Pack a Picnic
Knowing how Cliff loves the park, Saturday began with a morning walk to the beach with a simple picnic breakfast packed by myself- memories don’t have to be expensive!
A simple and wholesome breakfast- our favourite PB&J sandwiches!
A table cloth doubled up as our picnic mat.
5. Ask Around!
Neither Cliff and I are food adventurers and hence we have a limited repertoire of places to dine at. Sometimes, asking around helps a lot! You wouldn’t believe it- but when we decided it was my turn to surprise him with a dinner place on Saturday and his turn on Sunday, we actually picked the same place we both had never mentioned to each other before! And no, we did our research separately and didn’t ask the same people!
Talk about being soul-mates, ha!
6. Keep a Box of Memories.
It was the hopeless romantic, Cliff, who, over dinner, suggested keeping the snow-man dessert anniversary momento, “so that we can put them in a box and give them as a gift to our children when it’s time for them to enter a relationship”.
Sounds too mushy? It sounds like a great gift though, even to each other, in the anniversaries to come!
Our dinner ended on an extra-sweet note because of a thoughtful waitress who added a special touch!
7. Get Away.
All credit goes to Cliff for this brilliant surprise. We thought it’d be too expensive to go on a holiday. But with all the stresses and tears that we had been struggling through together over the past few months, he decided we needed to set aside time, pretend to be tourists and go on a make-believe holiday!
When he said he had booked a place overnight, I was imagining a backpacker’s lodge of some sort. You can imagine my jaw drop when I saw this stunning view, which the hotel staff had bumped us up to when they heard of the occasion we were celebrating.
But that wasn’t it. When I came out of the bathrooms, this was what I saw…
Perhaps what touched me the most was knowing how much effort Cliff had put into planning the surprise, hiding it so well, going to great lengths to buy and pump the balloons and light the candles to make it a night to remember. Yes, I cried more when I saw this!
It was an amazing surprise, and a beautiful memory to treasure and keep.
8. Take a day off. Be tourists!
Monday was my turn to plan surprises. Since the Canadian husband had never been to the Singapore Zoo before (Asia’s best!), I decided to take him there.
He absolutely loved it!
At the rainforest animal show, they asked for a “strong and macho man” and guess who they picked from the crowd!
We had a brilliant time walking in the sunshine, admiring the animals in their naturalized, open-concept homes (there’re hardly any cages), running under a shared poncho in a sudden downpour and shivering in the rain eating ice-cream. Seeing Cliff so happy and goofing around was a great present for me.
After that, I took him to eat our famous local dish (another food he had briefly talked about before on several occasions)- Chilli Crab!
It was a new place for the both of us- again a recommendation from a friend.
Being tourists (or a tour-guide in my case) can be great fun!
A spicy and messy delight
10. Start a Tradition
We ended off the night filling up a fun, self-made questionnaire, and decided to make this a yearly tradition. Cliff also suggested we write each other a letter which we could only read next year on our anniversary.
What a great idea!
So here’re 10 Anniversary Surprises we did on our 1st Anniversary.
We hope they spark off some great creative ideas for you!
Cheers to many more to spend with you, Cliff.
Photo of us by Sandra Bossher, taken in Missisaauga, Canada where Cliff grew up in
Love.