
Calligraphy Gifts for Anniversary By Year ~
Traditional gifts for anniversaries by year are popular ways to figure out what to get for your husband, wife or a couple. If it's not your first anniversary, here's where to find out what the traditional gift should be.
First year anniversary traditional gift is paper!
One of the best things about waiting for your first anniversary to have your marriage vows written is that you have a choice of great photographs from your wedding! Professional pictures are generally the highest resolution and in focus. Although you can get great pictures from your iPhone, there are important differences with professional photographs.
When you send me a photograph to use with your wedding vows, I still have to find a place to write your vows. People love when I'm able to superimpose the calligraphy directly on the photograph. But I need a space to put the text - especially if it's two long vows!
Your Photograph and Calligraphy
If you have a photo you really love, there are still ways to use it with your calligraphy marriage vows. I simply "box" the photograph and do the calligraphy around it. I always like to use an additional background- be it color or another background photograph to pull the look together. Here are two examples of different background images that are combined with a photograph.


You can see how different the look is when you have a "parchment" background or a color photograph. Which do you prefer?

If I have to extend the background on your photograph to write on the picture, then it will take extra time (and cost) to accomplish this look.
I wish photographers would leave space for my calligraphy of your wedding vows, but they rarely do! And I'm sure that's not your top consideration during your wedding! But you can always plan ahead and ask your photographer to leave space for writing on some of the photos that they take.
Love Poem for Tenth Anniversary
A love poem or quote is ALWAYS the right gift. It says what's in your heart, and your beloved can always see it and remember that day when s/he received it. (even when you're having a fight)
I've read many love quotes, and this one just says it best! The husband had this love poem saved waiting for the right occasion- their Tenth Anniversary celebration. I like how "M" personalized it the way he calls her "sweetie". I've also written many marriage proposals in calligraphy. I can't wait until I hear back about the answer! It's ALWAYS YES!
You can see many examples of calligraphy pieces that I've done for everything from marriage proposals, to wedding vows, best man speeches up to long marriage celebration pieces in the https://beautifulcalligraphy.com/wedding-gifts/wedding gallery. This can give you ideas for how to design your gift.
What's your favorite love poem? Are you lucky enough to have that special love in your life? Let him or her know how you feel! Don't wait-
Anniversary Poem for 40th Anniversary
By the time you have your fortieth wedding anniversary most people have a large extended family. This husband wrote a funny, heartwarming poem for his wife of 40 years and included a family photo that included children, their spouses and grandchildren.
The funny story is that one son was missing his son in the photo and I had to add the picture to the family. Thank goodness for Photoshop! Everyone was included.

Very Long Vows In Computer Font to Save Money
If you have a limited budget and very long wedding vows, I do have a solution! I can combine hand calligraphy with a beautiful font, along with your photograph to create your first anniversary paper gift. It still looks great! The fortieth wedding anniversary poem above combined a computer font with handwritten calligraphy personalization.

Are they an adorable couple? As you may not realized, the long poem is written in a computer font, and then I added phrases in hand designed calligraphy. It saves a lot of money, and you still have a custom, personalized unique gift for a First Anniversary!
Printing Personalized Calligraphy on Wood, Metal and More
Of course, calligraphy is not just for first anniversary - and therefore you can choose to have it printed on wood, canvas, metal or any of the terrific alternative surfaces which will fit with whatever the traditional wedding gift of the year. You won't even need to spend additional money for traditional framing! Check them out below. And make sure to contact me if you have any questions or a wonderful project you'd like to commemorate with Beautiful Calligraphy!