Blog ~ Anniversary Ideas

Posted on 2nd July 2018 4th July 2018

Clocks and Timepieces for an Anniversary Gift

Just before our 31st Wedding Anniversary our Carriage Clock that had sat on our mantle piece for many years went wrong. It started to gain about 75 minutes a day. This was a gift when we married so it had lasted a good time especially as it was a battery powered quartz clock. Compared to today’s Clocks it was not a top notch item although not bargain bucket either. This was actually our second carriage clock, we got two for our wedding. The 1st Clock died a good few years earlier and this one got a promotion to the prime spot.

I was going to repair the clock by changing the innards for a new mechanism however as we knew that the 31st wedding anniversary has a theme of Timepieces we thought why not shop a solution.

Shopping for a Timepiece

We initially thought it would be a easy job of replacing the clock with a nice shiny new clock. With 31 years looking at the same clock I must admit I preferred a change to the Carriage Clock. Especially with my ageing eyesight I struggled, in certain light to see the dial well. We was also surprised at the poor choice of options available. There seemed to be either low quality plastic cased clocks or high value craftsman built timepieces. There didn’t seem to be something in the middle, which was frustrating.

It was at this time (no pun intended) that Amazon came to the rescue in the shape of the Echo Spot. Their design LED smart speaker. It’s primary use seemed to be as a beside clock/ smart speaker however with the addition of the stand it is transformed into a great clock that’s suitable for any place in the home and especially on a mantelpiece.

Amazon Echo Spot Alexa powered smart speaker on stand. The Echo Spot has a selection of clock faces that you can easily select via its setting menu and it has the modern benefit of being a full-featured Alexa smart speaker, display portal and video calling portal. You can default the Echo Spot to your preferences very easily and set up was a breeze.

There are a number of wedding anniversaries that suggest a clock or timepiece as the gift theme. The Modern Wedding Anniversary list has the 1st anniversary with a theme of Clocks. The 31st with a theme of Timepieces. Other anniversaries also have a theme that enable a Clock to fit the theme such as a Desk Set, Furniture, Optical goods and Luxuries of any kind all could fit this great mid-range gift idea.

More on the Echo Spot

The Echo Spot brings you everything you love about Alexa, in an all-new stylish and compact design that can show you things. Just ask to see the weather, get the news with a video flash briefing, set a music alarm (Amazon Music, Spotify & TuneIn supported), see lyrics (available in UK only) with Amazon Music, see your calendar, browse and listen to Audible audiobooks, and more. Personalise your Spot with a collection of clock faces to suit your style or set a photo background from Prime Photos. Plus, make calls to friends and family between supported Echo devices or the Alexa App, or make video calls to anyone with an Echo Spot, Echo Show or the Alexa App.

Echo Spot features second-generation far-field technology with four microphones, beam-forming technology and enhanced noise cancellation, so it can hear you from across the room—even while music is playing. If you have more than one Echo, Alexa responds intelligently from the Echo you’re closest to with ESP (Echo Spatial Perception).

This is our third Alexa device and so far (we’ve had is 3 weeks at the time of writing) it is by far the best of the bunch. It just seems to respond and understand voice commands better than the other devices.

Posted on 24th May 2018 24th May 2018

Updated Privacy Policy for Europe’s new General Data Protection Regulations

We are updating our Privacy Policy to ensure consistency to Europe’s new General Data Protection Regulations which come into effect from tomorrow (25th May 2018) and well as the ePrivacy directive, we suspect it will be a fairly fluid document for the next couple of weeks as there are a lot of partners and technology suppliers who are only recently waking up the fact that they need to update their systems.

We have removed or disabled some facilities and technologies when we have found them to be non-compliant and as they become compliant we will update this document and add back the associated technologies. Some unfortunately will not be reintroduced which includes some personalised gifts as the company that makes them are unable to comply or give assurance that they will in the future.

Rest assured your privacy remains, as it always has been, a priority for us.

Posted on 16th April 2018 18th April 2018

What Month and Day to get Married according to Marriage Rhymes

We’ve got lots of information on wedding anniversaries and their etiquette, through our continuing research we pick up the occasional snippet which we love, the Victorian marriage rhymes below refer to the best ways to marry, did you chose right?

Marriage Rhymes

Monday for wealth
Tuesday for health
Wednesday the best day of all
Thursday for losses
Friday for crosses
Saturday for no day at all

Marry in Lent, live to repent (Lent was thought an inappropriate time for a wedding, being a time of abstinence.)

Married in White, you have chosen right,
Married in Grey, you will go far away,
Married in Black, you will wish yourself back,
Married in Red, you will wish yourself dead,
Married in Green, ashamed to be seen,
Married in Blue, your love will be true,
Married in Pearl, you will live in a whirl,
Married in Yellow, ashamed of your fellow,
Married in Brown, you will live in the town,
Married in Pink, your spirit will sink.

Married in White, you have chosen right,
Married in Blue, your love will always be true,
Married in Pearl, you will live in a whirl,
Married in Brown, you will live in a town,
Married in Red, you will wish yourself dead,
Married in Yellow, ashamed of your fellow,
Married in Green, ashamed to be seen,
Married in Pink, your spirit will sink,
Married in Grey, you will go far away,
Married in Black, you will wish yourself back.

An old folklore poem is reproduces below citing whats months to get wed and why, it’s not gospel however always fun to compare to your experiences.

January
Marry when the year is new, he’ll be loving, kind and true.

February
When February birds do mate, you wed nor dread your fate.

March
If you wed when March winds blow, joy and sorrow both you’ll know.

April
Marry in April if you can, joy for maiden and for man.

May
Marry in the month of May, you will romance the day.

June
Marry when June roses grow and over land and sea you’ll go.

July
Those who in July do wed must labour for their daily bread.

August
Whoever wed in August be, many a change is sure to see.

September
Marry in September’s shine so that your life is rich and fine.

October
If in October you do marry, love will come but riches tarry.

November
If you wed in bleak November, only joys will come, remember!

December
When December’s snows fall fast, marry and your love will last.

Posted on 10th April 2018 18th April 2018

Privacy Policy GDPR for Third Party Personalised Gifts

We’ve reviewed our processes and identified a possible scenario whereby Third parties have their personal data disclosed to us by a customer. This will be when customers orders a personalised gift using the recipient’s personal data.

Within the General Data Protection Rules (GDPR) there is legitimate interest which allows for the processing of such data and the following is our legitimate interests assessment to support such processing.

Firstly

Why do you want to process the data – what are you trying to achieve? As a Business we have identified products that our customers like to give as gifts, these are personalised with details of the recipient’s Birthdays, Wedding Anniversaries, Name Days, Christening details etc.

Who benefits from the processing? In what way? The customer benefits from this by enabling a gift of greater value to the recipient than an item that contains no personalisation. We as a business also benefit from this as commercially we can offer gift ideas that better match what customers want.

Would your use of the data be unethical or unlawful in any way? The personal data would only be used to produce the personalised product ordered by our customer and as such would not be unethical or unlawful in any way.

Secondly

Does this processing actually help to further that interest? The ability to provide a commercial gift service is reliant upon customers being able to provide this information.

Is it a reasonable way to go about it? Yes, gifts are intrinsic with a surprise or trepidation; to have to rely on other forms of lawful process diminish the ability of gift giving.

To achieve the same result we do not believe there another less intrusive way.

A Balancing Test

What is the nature of your relationship with the individual? In this instance we have a third party relationship with the individual and are possibly acting as a data processor for our customer.

Is any of the data particularly sensitive or private? None by itself will be sensitive or private however when added to products (a named Christening gift is prime example) then sensitive data may be derived.

Would people expect you to use their data in this way? Gifts have become a tradition for many social events and as such we can see no reason why they would not expect such use.

Are you happy to explain it to them? This document is proof that we are happy to explain our use.

Are some people likely to object or find it intrusive? The majority would not however given the diverse nature of people it is possible an individual could object especially if they dislike the gift or find it inappropriate.

What is the possible impact on the individual? Use of their data in this instance will be minimal, with the details being added to a product that they subsequently receive effectively completes a closed loop system.

Are you processing children’s data? Yes with regard to fixed data and we do not offer information society services (ISS) directly to children

Are any of the individuals vulnerable in any other way? the collected data does not identify vulnerabilities thus although they may be there is no way to identify this through our processing.

Can you adopt any safeguards to minimise the impact? We plan to introduce a data cleanse of personalisation data after a short period of time after the customer has confirmed acceptance of the product.

Can you offer an opt-out? The only option for an opt-out would be a blank product.

LIA derived from the ICO Controllers Checklist

Posted on 9th April 2018 9th April 2018

Original Newspapers

What are our Original Newspapers?

The Original Newspapers we provide are the real McCoy in that they were printed on the day they were originally published thus they not only cover the actual news of the day they are also a genuine original of the paper from the published date.

We are teamed up with Historic Newspapers who hold the world’s largest private Newspaper Archive, they take great care with the original newspapers that are sourced from a number of sources, direct from the newspaper company at the original print time, from Library archives or other specialists.

Why do you supply original newspapers?

Simple because they are a great gift idea, for Birthdays and especially for Wedding Anniversaries, I remember my Wedding day and I didn’t have time to sit and read the paper that day, even if you did would you take in any of the print as you mind wandered around you upcoming nuptials.

When Can I get My Newspaper?

We offer a number of Gift options to enable you to get the paper of your choice in a format you would prefer so there will be some slight variations on timescales however we endeavour to get you your copy within 3 business days from the time you provide us with the order details and clear payment has been received.If it is only the newspaper we’ll often achieve a 1-2 day turnaround.

Can you supply any Date?

No we can’t. As we said these are original newspapers and as such there is a limited amount dependant upon the print run for the specific date in question. Typically special event dates are non existent through us, by these we mean dates such as The Queen’s Coronation, Royal Weddings, End or starting of Wars, Moon Landings etc. You may be able to get a copy of these days from specialist web sites or even auction web sites sometimes have them however sadly the latter suffers from a lack of provenance to confirm the paper is original.

Sundays are Special

We also have to charge a surcharge for Sunday Newspapers due to their size and scarcity, typically this is £20 however may vary again depending upon the date being near a major event. Their size increases their storage and transport costs and their scarcity stems from lower volume print runs as less papers were purchased at the weekends in general.

My Date is not available what can I do?

We have had occasions when customer’s either have none or a very poor selection of tomes available. what we suggest is to get a Newspaper book which is a reproduction of the date you require along with two other dates typically both partners birth dates. If you would like just a single day in a book please contact us and we can discuss your requirements.

Posted on 13th March 2018 15th March 2018

40 years of marriage in 2018 Celebrating with Music

Many parties are thrown to celebrate a Ruby Wedding Anniversary whether they are formal, informal or just slung together we can help with the right music to celebrate 40 years of marriage in 2018.

Get our CD gift greeting card for 1978 which has a CD inside with a multitude of top hits from the year they were married with many love songs that will bring the memories of the year they married flooding back.

The complete playlist is as follows with a brief synopsis as well to help you.

Electric Light Orchestra – Mr. Blue Sky ~ Released 28th January 1978 it reached it’s highest chart position of No. 6 in the week ending 25th Feb 1978 remaining on the chart for 12 weeks in total.
Bob Dylan – Baby Stop Crying ~ Recorded in April 1978 and got to number 13 in the official top forty in the weekending 2nd September 1978.
Blue Oyster Cult – (Don’t Fear) The Reaper ~ Reached number 16 in the week ending 8th July 1978.
The Only Ones – Another Girl, Another Planet ~ The band’s most successful song by this English rock band, recorded in April 1978. This song is recognised as one of the great rock tracks appearing in various lists including John Peel’s Festive Fifty and Q’s 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.
Santana – Well All Right ~ A cover of Buddy Holly’s 1958 B-side song “Well… All Right” Santana recorded this during the summer of 1978 and appeared on this transitional “inner Secrets” album.
The Patti Smith Group – Because The Night ~ This classic rock love song was penned by Bruce Springsteen although he never released it, Patti Smith polished it off and this was possibly their best known hit. This reached number 5 on the top 40 in the week ending 27th May 1978 spending 9 weeks in the charts. NME included it in their Top 150 Singles of All time chart.
Heatwave – Always And Forever ~ Reached its highest chart position in this year at number 9 in the week ending 16th December 1978, during the year it was in the top forty for 8 weeks.
REO Speedwagon – Roll With The Changes
Justin Hayward – Forever Autumn ~ An absolute seminal track for the astounding War of the Worlds album. Reached number 5 in the top forty in the week ending 26th August 1978. The single spent 11 weeks in the charts this time round.
Elvis Presley – Don’t Be Cruel ~ Originally recorded in July 1956 this was re-released to coincide with the anniversary of his death the year earlier. It only reached number 23 in the week ending 29th July 1978.
Japan – Suburban Berlin
Gladys Knight & The Pips – Come Back And Finish What You Started
Dan Hartman – Instant Replay ~ A classic disco track, it reached its highest chart position of number 8 in the week ending 2nd December 1978 spending a total of 10 weeks in the charts this year.
Kansas – Carry On Wayward Son ~ a classic prog rock track of the time, it’s highest chart position was only number 51 however it remained on the charts for an impressive amount of time.
Earth, Wind & Fire – September ~ Another barnstormer from the American funk band, peaked at number 3 in the top forty single’s chart, it made it’s chart entry in the week ending 16th December 1978.
Journey – Wheel In The Sky ~ This has got to be known as one of those classic filler tracks.
Cheap Trick – Surrender ~ Cheap trick did not have great success with this in the UK however this reached N0. % in the Belgium top forty, which for an American Rock band was unusual.
Peter Skellern – Love Is The Sweetest Thing ~ This song was written in 1932 however Peter Skellern had a chart hit with his version in 1978, it won the Music Trades Association award for best middle of the road song in this year.
Bill Withers – Lovely Day ~ This song has had many lives however this is the original recording and sung by the writer who co-wrote it with Skip Scarborough. It reached number 7 in the week ending 11th February 1978 remaining on the charts for 8 weeks.
The Jacksons – Blame It On The Boogie. ~ A classic Jacksons’ track It peaked at number 8 on the top forty in the week ending 4th November 1978 spending a total of 8 weeks in the top 40.

You could complement this with the number one for the week they got married (check what song here http://www.officialcharts.com/archive-chart/_/1/1978/) or if you want a longer playlist then how about a montage of number ones from their anniversary for every year since they wed.

The summer smash hit film of 1978 was Grease and the year was dominated by songs from the film. ‘You’re the one that I want’ by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John was number one for 9 weeks and remained in the top 40 for 20 weeks. At the same time this was in the top 40 it also had a parody of the song sung by Hylda Baker and Arthur Mullard in the charts. If you watch the video for this song remember you can’t unsee it!

Posted on 5th March 2018 15th March 2018

Celebrating 50 years of marriage in 2018 with Music

Many parties are thrown to celebrate a Golden Wedding Anniversary whether they are formal, informal or just slung together we can help with the right music to celebrate 50 years of marriage.

Get our CD gift greeting card for 1968 which has a CD inside with a multitude of top hits from the year they were married with many love songs that will bring the memories of yester-year flooding back.

The complete playlist is as follows with a brief synopsis as well to help you.

Fleetwood Mac – Albatross ~ First Released 22 November 1968, eventually got to No.1 on 25th January 1969 spending 18 weeks on the chart this time (it has a number of releases) although this remains Fleetwood Mac’s only ever UK number one hit.
Simon & Garfunkel – Mrs. Robinson ~ Made Famous from the Sound track of the film with the same name, the film was released in advance of the single (in 1967) and the Single reached it’s highest position of No. 4 in the week ending 7th August 1968.
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap – Young Girl ~ Reached No. 1 Weekending 22nd May 1968 and stayed there for another 3 weeks remaining on the top 40 chart for 16 weeks.
Andy Williams – Can’t Help Falling In Love ~ Reached No. 5 in the week ending 1st May 1968 and was in the top 40 for 14 weeks.
1910 Fruitgum Co – Simon Says ~ A classic bubblegum pop record, first release in the UK in March 1968 it reached No. 2 in the week ending 1st May 1968 spending 14 weeks on the top 40 chart.
Elvis Presley – Guitar Man ~ Released in 1967 in the USA it was not released in the UK until Feb. 1968 only reaching No. 19 in the top 40 in the week ending 27th March 1968.
Sly & The Family Stone – Dance To The Music ~ Released in the UK in July 1968 this song reached No. 7 in the week ending 14th August 1968 remaining in the top 40 for 13 weeks.
Nina Simone – Ain’t Got No-I Got Life ~ Released on October 1968 it reached N0. 2 in the week ending 18th December 1968 spending 10 weeks on the chart.
Box Tops – Cry Like A Baby ~ Released in April 1968 it reached No. 15 in the UK charts in the week ending 1st May 1968 spending 10 weeks in the top 40.
Big Brother & The Holding Company (Feat. Janis Joplin) – Piece Of My Heart ~ In 2004, the Big Brother and the Holding Company version was ranked number 353 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song is also included among The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
Ohio Express – Yummy, Yummy, Yummy ~ reached No. 5 in the top 40 in the week ending 17th July 1968 spending 12 weeks on the chart.
Reparata & The Delrons – Captain Of Your Ship ~ An American Girl group who found more fame in the UK their their native USA. Following the success of this single, the group toured the United Kingdom, with the backing group Clouds.
Hugo Montenegro – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly ~ This is the sound track to the same film however this No. 1 hit was a cover of the original with the film being released in 1966. It has since become one of the most iconic scores in film history. The record reached No. 1 in the week ending 13th November 1968 and stayed there for 4 weeks remaining in the top 40 for 20 weeks.
The Byrds – You Ain’t Going Nowhere ~ This is a classic Bob Dylan track covered by The Byrds, although popular it never got above 45th position in the UK charts although did better in Canada reaching No. 11.
Lemon Pipers – Green Tambourine ~ Absolute classic sixties hippy chick music iconic of the era. Peaked at No. 7 in the week ending 13th March 1968 remaining in the top 40 for 10 weeks.
Gun – Race With The Devil ~ Great Guitar Riff in this song Reached N0. 8 in the week ending 18th December 1968.
Bruce Channel – Keep On ~ reached No 12 in the top 40 in August 1968 spending 14 weeks on the chart top forty.
José Féliciano – Light My Fire ~ Vocalist and guitarist José Féliciano experienced significant international success when he released his version of “Light My Fire” in 1968 as a single it Peaked in the UK on 30th October 1968 at No. 6 position spending 12 weeks in the top 40.
Laura Nyro – Stoned Soul Picnic ~The best-known version of the song was recorded by The 5th Dimension, and was the first single released from their album of the same title. It was the most successful single from that album, reaching No.3 on the U.S. Pop chart and No.2 on the Billboard R&B chart. It became a platinum record. Source Wikipedia
The Love Affair – Everlasting Love. ~ An complete classic finishes off this CD perfectly, if was No. 1 for two weeks reach number one on the week of 31st January 1968, it remained on the charts for 12 weeks.

You could complement this with the number one for the week they got married (check what song here http://www.officialcharts.com/archive-chart/_/1/1964/) or if you want a longer playlist then how about a montage of number ones from their anniversary for every year since they wed.

Other memorable chart hits during this year that cannot be included due to differing Artist copyrights are Clif Richard’s No. 1 Hit ‘Congratulations’ and a version of ‘Anniversary Waltz’ sung by the iconic Anita Harris.

Posted on 1st March 2018 1st March 2018

Thanking People for Gifts

There is a certain etiquette that has been established over time for thanking people for gifts whether that gift is for your Wedding Anniversary or indeed another celebration.

The degree you go to will also vary depending upon your family and friends and if there are any developed conventions within your group.

Generally you should thank people if they have given you a gift, it is considered good manners to do so, how you thank them will again depend upon your social circle and the expectations they place upon you.

A good why to thank people for the gift is to make mention of it, by name, and include something complimentary about it’s appearance and usefulness.

Thanking People for Gifts

Below we’ve listed the best methods to use when thanking someone in order of the most preferred to acceptable:

Hand-written note, hand delivered or posted.
Thank you Notelet, Hand written
Video Message.
eMail or Direct Message to their own (not business) account
Via public social Media

It is always good to mention the gift they gave and if possible never thank them in the 1st sentence of the letter. e.g. Dear Dave, What a lovely calendar you gave us this Christmas. Thank you.

You would be better to say something like ‘Dear Dave, It was great to see you at Christmas and I hope you had a great time. Thank you for the lovely Calendar you gave us, we’re planning to hang it on our Kitchen door replacing last year’s one and will be ideal to keep track of the coming year.’

Posted on 20th February 2018 1st March 2018

Welcome to a new design for AnniversaryIdeas

We’re proud to launch our new Anniversaryideas website onto the internet Its been developed on the latest technology and thus you can now browse and obtain a great experience on whatever device you visit our site from (or is that on?)

We’d love to know what you think? If you’ve got any comments (Good or Bad) please leave them them as a comment below or email us via the contact us link on the website. If you like the new fresh layout of Anniversaryideas we would love you to facebook like or tweet about it using the links now available.

We’ve taken the Facebook design approach in launching our new site (Fail fast) in that some old facilities may have been removed, if you miss them let us know and we’ll endeavour to get them back as soon as possible.

Our new web design now enables us to concentrate on bringing you the latest and greatest facilities that we hope you’ll love! We’ll be spending the next couple of months building upon the excellent framework and adding some great content, check back regularly to see how we are doing.

We’ve combined our shop site, web site and blog site together so you now get all our wedding anniversary information on one awesome site.

We’ve kept some of our old design in the short term as it has proved to be popular, thus if you want to use the years married calculator please visit our Wedding Anniversary Calculator

Posted on 22nd January 2016

The Anniversary Song Platinum Anniversary

It’s 70 years since the film The Jolson Story was released which makes this year (2016) the Platinum Anniversary of it’s release.

The Anniversary Song by from the Jolson Story

Included in the film was a musical score entitled ‘Anniversary Song’ penned by Al Jolson and Saul Chaplin. The original song was adapted from Losif (aka Ivano or Jovan) Ivanovici’s Romanian Waltz ‘Waves of the Danube’ first published in 1880 (136 years ago.) An accomplished composer which a few nations like to claim as their own. The tune is also claimed to be at the root of KPop as a Korean recorded a song based on the tune in 1926.

The film covers Al Jonson’s life and career although some scenes were pure fiction, the film contains a number of well know Jolson songs along with new material such as the Anniversary Song, well known songs including ‘My Mammy’ and Swannee, Toot Toot Tootsie, Ma Blushin’ Rosie were some of the highlights.

The film was a tremendous financial success for Columbia Pictures, and won three Academy Awards for

Best Music,
Scoring of a Musical Picture,
Best Sound Recording,

and was nominated for seven in total including

Best Actor in a Leading Role for Larry Parks,
Best Actor in a Supporting Role for William Demarest,
Best Cinematography, (Colour)
Best Film Editing.

The Lyrics are a wonderful tribute for an anniversary.

Lyrics

Oh How we danced on the night we were wed.

We vowed our true love, though a word wasn’t said.

The world was in bloom, there were stars in the skies.

Except for the few that were there in your eyes.

Dear, as I held you so close in my arms, angels were singing a hymn to your charms .

Two Hearts gently beating were murmuring low “My darling I love you so.”

The Night seemed to fade into blossoming dawn.

The sun shone a new but the dance lingered on.

Could we but relive that sweet moment sublime.

We’d find that our love is unaltered by time.

The Lyrics as sung on the film vary from the sheet music however there are a number of variations available from various international Crooners using the actual penned prose.