WEDDING ANNIVERSARY - LET IT BE LIKE IT WAS THEN AGAIN

"In the morning to receive a sweet kiss and a bouquet of flowers from my husband, in the evening the two of them go somewhere together, to be just the two of us and to remember... To remember how it was then, to remember what happened to both of us in the meantime, to remember what we we dreamed of what we expected from our lives - now both of us together. And to feel that he is still with me, I am right here she and we are good together… no matter what sometimes happens,” she says of her wedding anniversary experience Rasma, who has been together with Karli for 33 years.

Both still energetic, active, radiant. And lovingly. "It wasn't like we didn't celebrate even louder, for the first five or ten years, friends, carriers came, we even followed them, whether they were cotton, wooden or something another wedding. Now we celebrate this day as a couple, only for the silver wedding we got together for a slightly bigger one celebration.

It seems to me that nothing needs to be done just because it needs to be done - but we were the main ones in this holiday (our wedding), so we we also remember it as we want" - said Rasma. "How would I feel if Karl forgot it? But he never has forgot! However, I don't think that I would make a tragedy out of it, rather I would laugh together about possible such forgetfulness reasons."
Inta and Gati recently celebrated their first wedding anniversary with a grandeur - almost all the same friends were there as a year ago at the wedding, the presenters organized games and attractions, playing up the importance of the first anniversary - a katun wedding. "It was colossal - feel like newlyweds again!

Yes, we really like different wedding and therefore wedding anniversaries traditions - why not? Nothing ahead we don't plan, but we do know that we also want to celebrate the second wedding anniversary with fun. We don't really know, maybe they will be paper wedding. Whatever you call it, it's our holiday!”

Iron, silk, cast iron, porcelain, wood, nickel and not so much ... Turns out, now, depending on the chosen report point, you can even celebrate, for example, electric kitchen appliances and stationery, new furniture and improved real estate property weddings - and so without end, up to all 100. Diligent collectors of traditions have something to remove in order not to mix anything up and don't forget The main thing is to choose whether we want to follow the German, British, American, Russian or some other tradition, and then so on - gifts according to the list, precious stones according to the list, even the selection of flowers must meet the conditions... On the other hand sides - why not if it makes you happy?

Because that is not why we remember and celebrate our wedding day every year, that it is necessary and that it is written somewhere in the "papers". We organize the celebrations ourselves, and only we determine what they will be - following traditions, with a large number of guests, only alone or with family members, close friends and guides.

TRADITION OF MARKING A WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

The tradition of celebrating wedding anniversaries is said to have started in ancient Rome, however, we are talking about really "round" anniversaries. Husband he gave his wife a silver garland on the twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, and a golden one on the fiftieth. So is this wedding the name of the anniversaries has not changed - silver and golden wedding.
There is no information about whether the ancient Latvians also celebrated wedding anniversaries, but it is unlikely that our ancestors would have have drawn a lot of attention. In Latvia, the tradition of celebrating wedding anniversaries came from Germany, where, it is believed, also the still known names of wedding anniversaries arose.

With slight differences in different traditions, however, the first wedding anniversary is celebrated as a cotton wedding, the second as a paper wedding wedding, the third - as a leather wedding, the fourth - linen, the fifth - wooden. There are also attempts to explain the origin of these names - for example, cotton is a material that is not yet very strong and durable, just as a marriage in its first year is not yet stabilized, leather /third anniversary/ is already a much stronger, more flexible material, wood (five years of living together) already symbolizes greater stability, as does the later iron or cast iron wedding (6 years). Already in the following anniversaries not so much the durability of the material as its value was emphasized.

The names of the wedding anniversary have long been associated with the gifts that are presented to the married couple on this day, however, the commercialized 20th century has brought significant changes, associating the name of the wedding anniversary with only with the gifts that can be given on this day, so it's no wonder that in the US modern division of wedding anniversaries also weddings such as timepieces, vehicles or even food items.

No matter how different the names of wedding anniversaries are, there is a relatively large consensus about the big anniversaries in different traditions. So the tenth wedding anniversary in Latvia is mostly celebrated as a rose wedding, the fifteenth as a crystal wedding, the twentieth – like a porcelain wedding, a silver wedding on the twenty-fifth, a pearl wedding on the thirtieth, a coral wedding on the thirty-fifth, the fortieth – a ruby, the forty-fifth – a sapphire, and the fiftieth, of course, a golden wedding. Sixtieth wedding anniversary mostly known as the diamond wedding, the seventieth - the platinum wedding.

In a survey of more than 50 couples with marriages ranging from one to 40 years, only five couples admitted to closely following in order to celebrate the memory of the wedding day according to its name (however, their marriage did not exceed 12 years). About half of them celebrate this day together with friends, drivers, relatives; the others go somewhere in pairs - shorter or longer on a trip, simply to a nice and pleasant resting place. Twelve wives honestly admitted that it often happens that the husband this day is simply forgotten.

Marite is 34 years old and has been married for 9 years. She believes that "I just have to accept that men (at least mine) is different. That's not why he loves me less, but - well, he doesn't remember those dates... His own birth a day he is able to forget. So I take matters into my own hands and arrange something, then he feels too relieved and we celebrate this day together. My goal is not to make him feel guilty. "

Traditions are different, the experiences of married couples are just as different, but everyone admits that it is a very special day for us. And as long as we are together on this day, supporting each other, everything is fine with our family. Like this day to celebrate - it is definitely up to the traditions of each family's heart.

See wedding anniversary story here: SIGNE & RAIVIS

Author of the article: LIENE PÄLĆA