Mr Anniversary Gift

The First Wedding Anniversary is “paper” and is what inspired the creation of our business (read more in the About Us section). You’ve barely recovered from your Wedding and now you’re facing your very first Anniversary. The year has been good, adjusting to a new life together, mostly ups and hopefully very few if any downs. For the most part you’ve not had a chance to save much money, so a trip to Hawaii is out of the question. It’s your first time trying to think of anniversary gift ideas for your spouse, and the pressure is on…it’s gotta be good! You’re in luck, because paper is all around you. Our offering as an anniversary gift idea is our flagship product, JustPaperRoses® (do not water!), the variation of JustPhotoRoses™, or our unique Origami Orchids. We make everything here in our Florida location (made by hand in the USA !). We start with white paper so we can print any color with any words, clipart, or photos. We can print 12 different things on 12 different JustPaperRoses. Often we see themes of “…12 things I love about you…” or “…things we did during our first 12 months (January, skiing in…, etc.)…”. A bouquet of paper roses personalized with your names, “1^st Anniversary”, and date make the perfect anniversary flower gift. Most often ordered (85% of our orders) is traditional romantic red. Have a paper weekend! Did you save a local newspaper from your wedding day? If not you can get one now. Theater or movie tickets are paper. Photos are paper. A handwritten romantic love note is paper. Money is paper. Get creative!

The Second Wedding Anniversary is “cotton”. There’s lots of cotton around you. We created JustCottonRoses™ in April 2003. First we thought we’d offer real cotton bolls right from the farm, but first, they’re seasonal, and second, they’re dirty and nasty. So we had fun creating our own versions of cotton roses. We make JustCottonRoses here in our Florida location (made by hand in the USA!). Being both romantic following tradition, and humorous because you found cotton roses they’re the perfect second anniversary flower gift. Go cotton crazy. Cozy cotton bathrobes, monogrammed if you have time are perfect. Underwear can be cotton. Clothes can be cotton. Sheets and towels can be cotton. Buy many bags of cotton balls and let your imagination run wild!

The Third Wedding Anniversary is “leather”. Leather can be beautiful and elegant. Leather can be kinky (or so we’ve been told…). We offer JustLeatherRoses™ made for us by MapleLeather.com (made by hand in the USA!). Romantic red leather JustLeatherRoses for the perfect anniversary flower gift can set the mood for an all leather weekend. Lots of leather to be found – wallets, purses, belts, shoes, jewelry boxes, and more. For the adventurous among you, step into the XXX-rated store near you.

The Fourth Wedding Anniversary is “fruit”. Yes, you might be taking a trip to your local supermarket! We offer JustFruitRoses™ made with artificial (do not eat!) strawberries, apples and/or pears, created here in our Florida location (created by hand in the USA!). As an anniversary flower gift, they make for a whimsical presentation. Fruit baskets are as near as your local gift basket store, but many of them can be boring. You might find an EdibleArrangements.com franchise nearby – check out their website – their work is almost too beautiful to eat! Have a fruity weekend! Get a few boxes of raisins and spell out a love poem on your bed! If you at least R-rated enjoyed leather last year, then this could be your year for feeding strawberries and whipped cream to each other. Have a food fight!

The Fifth Wedding Anniversary is “wood”. Go chop down a tree! We offer JustWoodRoses™ along with a wood vase. We have the wooden rose heads carved just for us in Indonesia and then we create them here in our Florida location by attaching them to our rose stems (carved by hand in Indonesia, assembled in the USA!). Our wood vases are made for us in Wisconsin by AGiftOfWood.com and are the natural complement to add on to an order of JustWoodRoses. Got wood? There’s lots of wood gifts locally to you – jewelry, jewelry boxes, art, crafts, furniture, picture frames, pencils, pens. Get boxes of wooden toothpicks and spell out “I Love You” or “Wood You Be Mine?” on the bed. On your own property, carve your initials into one of your trees. Think wood!

The Sixth Wedding Anniversary is “candy”. If you’ve made it to 6 years of marriage and can’t figure out a candy gift then you are hereby inducted into the “clueless spouse hall of shame”. We offer JustCandyRoses™ made from strips of candy buttons – real cute, made right here in our Florida location (made by hand in the USA!) – what a sweet anniversary flower gift! Have a 10,000 calorie weekend. Buy bags of M&M’s and spell out “You’re So Sweet” on the bed. Feed each other candy. Create a chocolate fondue for dessert. Sugar, sugar,…

The Seventh Wedding Anniversary is “wool”. Go sheep shearing! OK, we’ll divulge our secret ingredient. Our JustWoolRoses™ are made from 100% lambs wool that comes from the drug store as wool padding intended to provide cushioning and pain relief between the toes – lots of dancers use wool padding. JustWoolRoses are made right here in our Florida location (made by hand in the USA!) and for your anniversary flower gift will bring a chuckle. Wool gifts are somewhat narrowly confined to clothing and blankets, especially in northern climates. If you’re anniversary is in the winter, a cozy anniversary spent in front of a fireplace snuggling under a wool blanket can create a memorable wedding anniversary night.

The Eighth Wedding Anniversary is “bronze”. Bring out your bronze baby shoes! Our JustBronzeRoses™ start out as sheets of copper which we cut and then dip in bronzing solution. We then form JustBronzeRoses by hand right here in our Florida location (made by hand in the USA!). An anniversary flower of bronze is a unique gift. Bronze gifts are not too easy to find. Bronze art pieces are readily available but can be very pricey. You can get other items (not just baby shoes) bronzed, but you’d need some lead time. Good luck, and let us know what bronze gift items you might find!

The Ninth Wedding Anniversary is “pottery”. Think terra cotta. Our JustPotteryRoses™ are made by Stone Roses (made by hand in the USA!) and are beautiful and durable. We experimented with several pottery roses but most failed the shipping tests. Our JustPotteryRoses will last forever and they won’t break. If you find other pottery anniversary flowers do let us know. Shop locally for other pottery gifts – a vase for the JustPotteryRoses and then there’s dishes, picture frames, art – if you’re lucky there will be a nearby arts & crafts fair where you are sure to find some beautiful pottery gifts.

The Tenth Wedding Anniversary is “aluminum” and your benchmark of a decade together – time flies, doesn’t it? Lots of aluminum around, but not all of it is in gift form – 6 pack of beer, new aluminum gutters, new screened in patio, etc. We cut sheets of aluminum and then form JustAluminumRoses™ by hand right here in our Florida location (made by hand in the USA!). Warm red on the outside and brilliant aluminum on the inside, these aluminum anniversary flowers will last forever. Our optional aluminum vase is made especially for us by Octate (made in the USA!) – it starts as a solid billet of aluminum and then is machine turned to create an elegant and timeless piece of art. Other aluminum gifts would include picture frames, desk items, art pieces, keys and key chains.

The Eleventh Wedding Anniversary is “steel”. Time to buy a new car! For our JustSteelRoses™ we tried to cut steel the same as we do for bronze and aluminum, but steel is too brittle and hard to work with. So we went for the chuckle – Our JustSteelRoses are made by hand here in our Florida location (made by hand in the USA!) using steel wool we buy in Home Depot. OK, JustSteelRoses are not going to make it to the Museum of Modern Art, but as your steel anniversary flower gift they are sure to bring a smile. Seek and ye shall find steel – desk items, art, and yes, maybe that new car. Go to a hardware store and buy steel nails and spell out “I Love You” on the bed. Build a bridge!

The Twelfth Wedding Anniversary is “silk”. Lots of silk, soft and sensuous. For our JustSilkRoses™ we’ve selected the most beautiful and most realistic red silk roses and package them for delivery to your door for your silk anniversary flower gift. Silk scarves make a great gift as do silk shirts and silk underwear and silk lingerie. Add silk sheets and you set the stage for a most romantic silk anniversary weekend.

The Thirteenth Wedding Anniversary is “lace”. Our JustLaceRoses™ are made from lace ribbon in the same way we make our JustPaperRoses. The result is awesome and delicate. Of course your anniversary flower gift of JustLaceRoses are made right here in our Florida location (made by hand in the USA!). Lace is abundant in your local fabric store and as finished goods you’ll find lace lingerie and some lace clothing. A great idea is to find a custom lace tablecloth and napkin store and have at least 2 lace napkins monogrammed with your names.

The Fourteenth Wedding Anniversary is “ivory”. Okay, ya can’t do ivory, or at least shouldn’t. All ivory comes from endangered species. If it’s new ivory, it’s most likely been poached. If it’s old ivory then your purchase is just encouraging the ivory business. We found an alternative – it’s called the Tagua Nut. Our JustTaguaNutRoses™ are carved from a hardened Tagua Nut. In this form they are not edible. A Tagua Nut is like a little coconut which is dried in the Ecuadorian sun for many months and then it’s carved into birds, animals, flowers and other objects. We have the Tagua Nut rose heads carved specially for us by a woman in Ecuador and then we attach them to the rose stems here in our Florida location (carved by hand in Ecuador, assembled in the USA!). As an anniversary flower present you won’t find a more elegant and breathtaking “ivory” rose – not only does it look beautiful, but when you touch it it has the same texture as ivory. Of ALL our products, JustTaguaNutRoses is the best entry as a mainstream floral gift – if you’ve given all types of flowers before, these will be the best you have ever given.

The Fifteenth Wedding Anniversary is “crystal”. There’s lots of crystal out there – small crystal figurines of animals, birds, and other objects as well as crystal vases and dinnerware. We’ve looked at about 25 crystal roses from fine art vendors and found 24 of them to just look “clunky”. The one we chose is made by Crystal Florida. As your anniversary flower gift a crystal flower will shine. Locally you should be able to find crystal wine glasses that can be personalized – with those a toast of champagne should start your celebration.

The Twenty Fifth Wedding Anniversary is “silver”. Our offering for the anniversary flower gift are JustPaperRoses made from a silver paper. These can be personalized however you wish and make a nice addition to a 25^th Anniversary celebration. We also create them in boutonniere size for party favors. We’ve search the globe for a sterling silver rose. Many vendors sell fresh roses dipped in silver but they look clunky, losing the delicate look of a rose. We have found only 1 sterling silver rose – they’re made specially for Mayor’s Jewelers and retail for $150 per stem and in our opinion well worth the price. There’s lots of other silver anniversary gifts out there, too many to mention.

The Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary is “gold”. Our offering for the anniversary flower present are JustPaperRoses made from gold paper. These can be personalized however you wish and make a nice addition to a 50^th Anniversary celebration. We also create them in boutonniree size for party favors. Many vendors sell fresh roses dipped in gold but they look clunky, losing the delicate look of a rose. There’s lots and lots of gold anniversary gifts out there, too many to mention.

In general these themes for Wedding Anniversaries go from simple to more complex, least expensive to most expensive. Also in general women (Wives) know about these themes (at least the First Anniversary being “paper”), and their men (Husbands) are lovingly clueless. Most people know the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary is “silver” and the Fiftieth Anniversary is “gold”.

We can see and understand the progression of paper, wood, aluminum, silver, and gold. The First Anniversary is simple and one of frugality so a celebration of “paper” makes sense. By the Fifth Anniversary the marriage has become more solid and has grown, so “wood” is appropriate. At the Tenth Anniversary the durability of metal is just beginning, so “aluminum” is the choice. For the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary the choices would be either the “double shot of Scotch” Anniversary or “silver” (or both), but the beauty and preciousness of silver wins out. Of course for the Fiftieth Anniversary “gold” would need no explanation. A somewhat sad commentary of Wedding Anniversaries in the USA for now and into the future is that we’ll be seeing fewer 50^th Anniversaries as people are marrying later in life and many are divorcing. Offsetting this somewhat is we are living longer.

JustPaperRoses.com creates an Anniversary Flower for each year on the list of traditional wedding anniversaries 1 thru 15, 25 and 50. For those of you seeking a traditional anniversary gift we of course recommend the appropriate anniversary present from our line, even if it’s an anniversary gift idea that is going to go along in addition to something else you might be planning. Your anniversary celebration can range – an anniversary present; an anniversary present and nice dinner out; an anniversary present and daylong outing; an anniversary present and weekend (or week) away from home. Your anniversary gift ideas can range from very inexpensive to very expensive. We will tell you without doubt, the more thought and planning you put into your anniversary celebration the more well received it will be, regardless of duration or cost of the celebration. We do highly recommend that you attempt to make each year’s anniversary celebration special – every 52 weeks a special memory for you and your spouse.

Are you seeking a traditional wedding anniversary gift? Welcome to JustPaperRoses®

Where to traditions come from? Usually nobody knows. We follow and practice traditions in many areas of our lives and it’s funny (at least we think so) to try to imagine the first person who did something that thereafter became a tradition – who was the first person to create and wear a Santa suit? Who was the first to bake a cake and put candles on it for a Birthday celebration? Who was the first to create a Wedding ceremony, which are different in every different culture, yet traditional in every different culture?

Wedding Anniversaries have traditional “materials” or themes that are widely published both in print and online. The list of traditional Anniversary gift themes gets an early credit from Emily Post in 1922’s “Etiquette: The Blue Book of Social Usage”. Of course the traditional Wedding Anniversary gift themes she wrote about were already traditions at the time of writing, so who knows when they began?

Here’s the most agreed upon list of traditional Wedding Anniversary gift themes:

1^st Anniversary – paper
2^nd Anniversary – cotton
3^rd Anniversary – leather
4^th Anniversary – fruit
5^th Anniversary – wood
6^th Anniversary – candy
7^th Anniversary – wool
8^th Anniversary – bronze
9^th Anniversary – pottery
10^th Anniversary – aluminum
11^th Anniversary – steel
12^th Anniversary – silk
13^th Anniversary – lace
14^th Anniversary – ivory
15^th Anniversary – crystal
20^th Anniversary – china
25^th Anniversary – silver
30^th Anniversary – pearl
35^th Anniversary – coral
40^th Anniversary – ruby
45^th Anniversary – sapphire
50^th Anniversary – gold
55^th Anniversary – emerald
60^th Anniversary – diamond