Best First Wedding Anni Gift Ever. Seriously.

As I discussed in my Friday blog post, the hubby and I recently celebrated our first wedding anniversary. Now, as momentous an occasion as this was for us, I really didn't expect anyone but our parents to remember and celebrate the date. I never remember any of my friends' wedding anniversaries - except a very dear friend of mine who got married on the 4th of July (a date that is, you know, fairly memorable).

So it was a HUGE surprise that brought a smile to my face and tears to my eyes when I received a Royal Mail packet from London today, and inside was this:

(I won't go into detail about why I am lifting my right leg at the entrance of Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge, where I received my MBA - and where you'll see me on the homepage if you click the link, by the way - that's a story for another blog.)

The humble piece of posterboard pictured above is actually one of the table cards from our wedding! The hubby and I decided to name tables for places that are special to us, and include a photo of one or both of us in each place. My very thoughtful friend Alex swiped the table card from the wedding so that she could send it to us to mark our first - or "paper" - anniversary.

In the card accompanying the gift, Alex explains that she has started a "little tradition" of sending "a surprise item from the wedding on the first anniversary" to her newlywed girlfriends. Needless to say, as both a bride adviser and a gift recipient, I think this is a FABULOUS idea!

Opening a package to find an item from one's wedding is akin to eating the top tier of the wedding cake - you are instantly brought back to the best day of your life. And that is a wonderful, wonderful feeling.

A table card in situ (Photo by Snap!)

What's more, our photographers took detail shots of a mere handful of table cards (lesson learned: if you're going to obsess about not having it for the next year of your life, put it on your shot list!), and I somehow got just three of them back. I have no idea what happened to the others, and a year later it still makes me a wee bit sad to have no record of them. But now I can add one more to the scrapbook, courtesy of a very thoughtful and inspiring friend.

A friend who I'm sure wouldn't mind if we all mooched off of her fantastic idea. Right, Alex?

Cheers,