Ten years is an amazing milestone now-a-days! Divorce rates are high and having a 10 year Anniversary is becoming something of the past for most, so celebrating this is something that should be as fantastic as the wedding, if not more so! My husband and I had a whirlwind romance and were engaged to marry, just 3 months after we met, but we knew that we were meant for each other and that this was lifelong. He proposed on Valentine’s Day of 2005, but we already knew that I was about 6 weeks pregnant with his child and I didn’t want to marry him while I was pregnant, so we had a long engagement. On July 22, 2005, we had our Negative First Anniversary, which was adorable. He took me out for the weekend to a hotel, just us (and my preggo belly). We had chosen July 22, 2006 as our wedding date, but for some reason, this weekend away didn’t register to me as anything other than a weekend away, until we got to the hotel and he gave me a card that said “Happy Negative First Anniversary” and I was utterly confused for a few minutes, then went, “WOAH!” It was fantastic, and made me so happy.

We just passed out 7^thAnniversary and I love him even more than I did then. This got me thinking though. It really hasn’t seemed like 7 years already! I was married once before him, and that was for less than 2 years, but it felt like 10! And that made me think about how much I was looking forward to my 10^th Anniversary, because I have no doubt that my husband and I will make it there, and beyond. The 10^th HAS to be special! I want it to be like our Negative First Anniversary, just us…minus the preggo belly!

I’ve started looking into some exotic hotels. We were married at The Olde Mystic Inn, in Mystic, CT and that place is very special to us, but the owner has since sold it and I have no idea if it is run the same, or even if they are still open. They had such cute rooms, each named after a historic literary genius; we stayed in the “Mark Twain Room”, which was full of his books, a gorgeous fireplace, a four post bed, and a Jacuzzi in the bathroom! It was honestly the most peaceful place I have ever slept at.

It would be great to go back there, so I will be checking into them again, but if that’s not possible, I am seriously thinking of somewhere super romantic, where they will have a heart shaped Jacuzzi and offer Champaign and rose pedals all over the room. I plan to read on more about that as time goes on, but I figured that I still have a couple more years to plan for it. 2014 brings us our 8^th year of marriage and I could not be happier in my choice to marry him. Mark is my soul mate, and I am looking forward to our 10^th, 20^th and beyond, with the man of my dreams!

The 10^th Anniversary should be super special, so here are a few ideas you could do, Make it a romantic night and do it by 10’s where applicable.

• Each of you should prepare for the night by planning 10 gifts. The first 9 should be small and thoughtful with the last one being the WOW present.
• Each of you should prepare a list of 10 special memories of things you shared together.
• Write 10 love letters to each other, each letter summing up one year of marriage.
• Each of you should prepare to say 10 nice things about the other and 10 reasons why you’re glad that you married this person and why you’d do it all over again.
• Each of you should prepare to make 10 promises to the other.