'The Vow' - 25th Wedding Anniversary Celebrations!

On June 18th, we celebrated 25 years of marriage!

With all that was happening during that time

we couldn't really take time away to have a big celebration,

so we decided to break our festivities into smaller, quieter, 

more personal celebrations over a longer period of time.

We decided to theme all our celebrations

around one of our favourite movies.

The Vow

For our first 'date' we planned a movie afternoon

We watched The Vow

Enjoyed freshly popped parmesan popcorn,

 and finished off with a chocolate tasting

(just like the characters, in the movie, do on their dates at Cafe Mnemonic).

 

With all the extra expenses happening during those tough weeks, 

we decided early on that we would not be spending money on presents

and that our 'dates' would be frugal and fun.

We didn't want our celebrations to be about spending money

but rather about creating moments.

( Some of the gorgeous flowers Nic gave me on our date)

For our second 'date' we planned a special breakfast.

We set a pretty table,

(Here's Nic photographing it)

(Blossoms from our garden)

and enjoyed some yummy homemade food together.

(Breakfast Trifle - Oat, Nut and Dried Fruit Muesli topped with Greek Yogurt,

 Honey and Strawberries) 

I also created a fun "menu" memento with space to write new vows, using prompts from the movie.

This was printed out on cardstock. One for each of us.

The vows part would be completed on our third date.

(Canva is a great resource for creating almost anything. I used one of their free templates.)

For our third 'date' we planned a simple and special outing.

We visited the Alice Art Gallery in Ruimsig.

This gallery is in fact made up of several galleries and has a Cafe,

 a playground, a maze, gardens, and a giant chessboard.

Entry to the galleries etc is free.

We chose this specific outing because the characters in the movie 'The Vow' 

get married in an Art Gallery, 

and we had planned something special for the end of our visit.

We perused two of the galleries.

The atmosphere was just so lovely and serene.

 

 

  

 

We took a break on the deck outside to enjoy steaming hot Red Cappuccinos

and shared a big slice of the most delicious carrot cake. 

At a total cost of R80 for this treat, it was a bargain!

We brought our special  homemade menu mementos with us

 and took time to reflect and write vows for each other.

We then found a special spot in one of the galleries and

read our vows out to each other!

(This is engraved on the floor at the entrance to the gallery we chose)

( A scene from the movie, where they are getting married and reading their vows written on menus from the special cafe.)

What a fun and precious experience this was for us!