Linen

This year Mr W and I celebrate four years of marriage. 

We’ve become pretty traditional in our approach to our celebrations. At Christmas we have quite a few traditions that we have created and observe every year. It feels like a real familial bond for him and I. Our own mini special touches. I was thinking about our impending anniversary last night and realised that we have nurtured a tradition without really thinking about it. 

On our first anniversary, ‘Paper’, we booked a night’s stay in London and spent a rainy day sampling a beautiful afternoon tea by Marco Pierre White, wandering the Kyoto garden in Holland Park, walking to the top of the dome in St Paul’s Cathedral and watching the NFL in the pub to be found in the arches of Tower Gateway’s station. We visited rooftop gardens, had breakfast with a view of Tower Bridge at the Coppa Club and a fantastic dinner at Bodean’s BBQ in Tower Hill. Everything we did (other than watching the NFL) was brand new that day and it was excellent. We didn’t exchange gifts and reasoned that the money we had paid out for the hotel room would be our gift to each other and that the ‘paper’ reservation I had printed off would symbolise the anniversary tradition.

We found ourselves unexpectedly in Florence, Italy on our second anniversary, Italy after rebooking a cancelled trip due to the pandemic. Year two is ‘Cotton’, I bought Mr W two t-shirts from Florence and Venice’s Hard Rock Cafe’s. It was a combination of booking the restaurants to fulfil another little tradition of going to any new ‘Rock’ when we are near one and buying him a cotton gift. In return he gave me a braided cotton bracelet. I remember opening it and wondering ‘what on earth?’. And laughing at his face. He explained that it had taken him hours and my heart swelled. I wore it for a month until it broke and I still keep it in my nightstand. I tell the story now and laugh at the comparison of gifts but underneath I am massively grateful for the thought and time that went into it. It is honestly so sweet. 

Fast forward to our third anniversary and we spent a long weekend in Northumberland national park. Having loved it so much just four weeks before we rapidly booked a return trip and spent our anniversary hiking huge waterfalls and enjoying a beautiful Italian meal. We upped our game with the gifts and after joking what ‘Leather’ gifts I could have gotten him, he opened a personalised leather camera bag and he spoiled me with a leather purse. It was another beautiful day doing something completely new. 

This year, we’ll be in Scotland for our fourth anniversary. We have both said that ‘Linen’ is near impossible to get right. I was tempted to buy him a linen suit and ask him for some beautiful bed sheets but something inside me just cracked. We haven’t bought needless gifts just to fulfil the anniversary tradition. So far, we’ve had amazing anniversaries that have been so much more than the gifts given and I have no doubts this year will be the same. 

It seems that our anniversary tradition is to be away and exploring somewhere new. I do know we have been exceptionally blessed to do so four years in a row and should we be away next year too we’ll again be exceptionally lucky. What I have started to enjoy is how inventive the gifts have become and how if it isn’t feasible we aren’t too hard on ourselves. I am proud that we aren’t filling up our house with needless stuff. I don’t want to spend money on ‘stuff’ that sits on a shelf. We’ve taken a dramatic turn in recent years in our approach to spending money. Before the pandemic a mini shopping spree was the call of the day if we had had a bad week. This was ramped up, by me, during the pandemic when all I could do to cure boredom was look at interior design as a hobby and amazon was my best friend. 

However since our budget busting trip to Italy in late 2020, I find that we have come to appreciate experiences over belongings so much more. Having been locked away from the world during the pandemic made us appreciate our freedom and we have since spent more time than ever exploring the UK and planning big budget-stretching trips. We have found it to be a breath of fresh air when making the most of every penny too. 

It’s more ecologically and financially friendly to stitch-fix a pair of jeans than throw them away. 

It makes for perfect photos to get up before the birds to be ahead of the crowds in Central London and nab a free parking spot. 

We save our supermarket points so we can book a free hotel for a weekend away. 

There is something very satisfying about making memories while stretching the pennies. So last night, as I sat contemplating our next anniversary I realised that our tradition is ever changing and evolving. Travel or gifts, who knows? The one constant is us. And that’s all that will ever matter.  

Next year, our fifth anniversary is ‘Wood’…