Ladies! My tenth anniversary is tomorrow! How cool is that? I know it’s cliché but I seriously cannot believe how quickly time flies.
Mr. Beguiles and I thought about lining up a babysitter and going out but in the end decided that a Stay-at-Home Date Night would be the most enjoyable thing for us right now. The baby is just in one of those phases that makes going out more stressful than it’s worth. I know you you know what I’m talking about.
Anyway, since we’re staying in I want to make an extra effort to make this the Stay-at-Home Date Night to end all Date Nights. I really want to pull out all the stops. That’s where you come in. Would you please, please, please help me brainstorm? What little touches can I add to make it extra special?
Here’s what I have so far:
- We’re going to feast on a picnic chock full of items purchased from the ridiculously expensive but oh-so delicious market around the corner.
- I’m going to try to recreate the cake we had at our wedding.
- We’ll have a bottle of bubbly.
- I’m going to buy a couple yummy Fall scented candles to light. Hello, you pretty Yankee candle, you.
- We’ve been saving the finale of the 3rd season of The Mentalist (one of our all-time favorite shows) for the occasion so we’ll watch that.
I don’t have any cool romantic ideas, but I am a pastry chef and I do lots of weddings, so if you have any cake questions maybe I can help:0) I luv this blog, btw;)
Thank you, Maggie! Our wedding cake was a butter cake with a cream cheese and pecan filling and white fondant on top. I don’t think I’m going to worry about the fondant, though. I hear it’s pretty challenging to do fondant well.
Sounds like a delicious cake:0) You can buy fondant pre-made at walmart, but who really likes it anyways? It looks lovely, but the taste is not my favorite!
Well, you could always give each other a gift. The kind of gift that is free but you might have to name 9 months later :)
Now why didn’t I think of that? ;)
Dress up for dinner and then get into something comfy and snuggle during tv time. :)
I find the thing that makes a special night go well is my own resolve to have a really cheerful and flexible attitude. Sometimes little things put me in a grouchy mood, so it’s hard for me to stay upbeat if something goes askew. So whenever we have a really special night, I really firmly resolve NOT to let little things get to me, like if one of the kids willNOTfallasleepnomatterwhatIdo. Makes things more fun for everyone! And take lots of pictures…so you don’t forget your special night. :-)
Christmas lights. Everything is better when lit by Christmas lights.
How fun! Congrats on the 10th, and share pictures of that cake please! A picnic sounds delightful (we love to do takeout sushi and spring rolls for date nights in, or clear out the cheese counter at our cute little deli).
We had a local baker do our wedding cake, and her bakery is still in business, so we always would pick up a couple of pieces of cake from her. We’d always tell her why we were getting the cake, and she’d ooh and aah and make sure it looked extra pretty. (On our 10th, she gave us half a cake for free!) But right after our 10th I stopped eating gluten. *sigh*
Have a wonderful evening!
Remind each other of all the reasons why you married each other – why you still love each other. Make it a point to let each other know all the special things about you and what you appreciate the most. It’s the little things, words, deeds, looks, that mean the most in the end. Say it while you can. Don’t wait until it’s too late!
Haha… Colleen already stole my suggestion!
How about looking at wedding photos or a wedding video if you have one? It’s always fun to look back and remember those happy moments. Just think about how far you have come and the lessons you’ve learned and how much more in love you are today!!!
Do you have wedding pictures or a video? Or pictures from when you were dating? Take a peek at those together too! You could even look at them with your kids. I am sure they would love it as well.
I thought I was the only one who likes The Mentalist!:) Have a beautiful anniversary…Congrats! Looks like you have plenty of suggestions.:) I’m sure it will be great.
Im not sure of the ages of your older kiddos but do all that you can to have them occupied. A fun, easy to clean up dinner, Mac N Cheese that is taken care of before your night begins? Get them a fun movie that they can watch while you attempt to dine alone. How about music? Know any musicians that can come and play? An older child of a friend who plays well? Just a song or two . How about writing 10 reasons why you are glad that you are married to him and reading it to him? We do fun date nights at home often and dine in the formal living room where the coffee table becomes the dining table. It looks lovely with nice table linens, and candles. Do you have fine china or silver? Use it!
I probably dont need to tell you this but dress up (as if you were going out to a nice dinner) jewels and all!
Ad multos annos!
PS: Just a caveat: While I think the Dating Divas have great ideas and are very pro-marriage, and tasteful about suggestions for intimacy, not everything they suggest (bedroom-wise) is necessarily entirely within Catholic principles… just want to be clear on that. Still, it’s a minimal part of their site, so I still recommend them.
Congratulations on your 10 yr anniversary! Do you happen to still have all those love notes, cards, poems, songs, etc that were exchanged between the two of you while dating? Or perhaps something from your marriage preparations? I still have all of the cards Eddie gave me from when we were dating and the notebooks we kept during our Engaged Encounter Retreat weekend— it’s fun to pull them out every now and then and see just how much we have grown since that time, and also funny to see what ways have remained the same! Whatever you do, enjoy your special night together!
How about burning a playlist to play during dinner – 10 years of songs that mean something to the both of you, or that capture something significant?
Oh! Oh! (waving hand madly in the air so that you will notice my enthusiasm). . . how about a list of what you think life will be like in 10 more years and have the kids create a little time capsule to be opened in 2021? Just put it somewhere that you will remember!
Make a “time capsule” that you can open on your 20th anniversary. Put things in there that represent that past 10 years (or more) and write something up that tells what things are like now. Include pictures, descriptions of what the kids are up to, etc. Then both of you (separately?) write what you hope the next 10 years will bring. Make predictions, goals, etc. On your 20th, it’ll be fun to read all that has changed…or hasn’t. :) Happy Anniversary!
I got nothing. But I wanted to wish you a Happy Anniversary nonetheless!
I love all the ideas! For my husband I try to do the following: steak, dessert, scotch, no fighting/bickering, start the show early enough so I’m not too tired for some whoopie. Or even better is steak, dessert, whoopie, scotch and the show. Just saying.
Was that tmi? ;)
Congratulations! Our anniversary is tommorrow too!!! It will be 21 years for us, and boy have they gone fast. Life passes by in a flash! We spent the weekend in Duluth, while our two college kids babysat the three youngsters. Tommorrow, I’m making steak and lobster for the my husband and I and the three kids at home.
Like Jen Ambrose, I’ve got nothing, but I am so happy for you!! It’s gonna be great! Congrats!!
It sounds like you have it all planned out, have a lovely evening!
You guys are the best! Thank you all for your warm wishes and great ideas! :)
I made a slideshow with pictures of our wedding and then each child, from birth until now, and pictures of us on our anniversary trips. I put a good song to it and hooked the apple laptop to the tv to play it on there. The pictures then became our screensaver and my husband sometimes would sit and just watch the memories float by.
I love all these ideas! I’m going to borrow some. Happy Anniversary! We also celebrated out 10th this year and too can’t believe how quickly the years go by. Time does fly when you’re having fun. My two cents: Don’t underestimate the power of the written word. If might be a heart felt note in a card, a list of the top ten memories or thing you love about him, a thank you note for being the perfect husband for you, or a sappy poem. You can’t buy the love of a wife and a written reminder of that love irreplaceable.
Temporary tattoos.
This made me snort AND giggle….good job Simcha. Hilare. I second this….temporary tattoos are a super fun idea!
Aww!! Happy anniversary and good luck with the plans — they all sound lovely!