At some point in history, a beautiful genius decided that every wedding anniversary needed a theme. These themes are seemingly arbitrary, and there is even a modern version if the traditional ones don't work for you (we keep track of both here). Are they silly? Yes. Do they make sense? Absolutely not. Do I love them? You bet your ass I do.

The themes are a fun way to avoid the ever dreaded rut. The more you commit, the more you can avoid a boring future of dinners out or even worse, forgotten holidays. We have fun talking about the theme and how to celebrate.

By your fourth anniversary, it sure can be easy to phone it in. Just head out to dinner and call it a day. I will be honest with you, we did not nail this one (we were also a week away from a new baby, but still). We may have failed, but don't be like us! Be like you and awesome. The fruit and flowers theme lends itself to all sorts of cool inspiration. You can check out the gift ideas here.

What to Do

The ideas on Pinterest for this anniversary are particularly lame. Basically, just fruit puns. I have nothing against fruit puns, but its no inside tent or leather den or really anything fun. But clearly, they have missed the boat here, because I think so many great ideas are waiting to happen!



1. Berry-picking- I know it sounds cheesy, but we have had the best time doing this. Living in Northern California, we could actually go pick strawberries right by the beach. Can you hear the sea lions when you look at this picture? Needless to say, it was cool. Lots of areas, rural and urban have picking farms nearby, and dependent on your anniversary date, you could do whatever is seasonal and available. Then go home and make something with it. It's an activity that is out of the ordinary, but it won't break the bank either.

2. Start a garden- Are you a late-spring/ early-summer couple? You got this. Plant something. Plant a bush or a tree in the anniversary's honor, and every year you can see how much it grows. Don't have a yard? Plant an herb garden you can use at home OR look and see if there is any planting that needs done in your neighborhood. You could even volunteer together for replanting somewhere or to work for a day in a community garden. It can be so fun to get your hands dirty, and isn't it always somehow better to do this kind of thing for someone else?

A good way to revise the flower/ fruit theme is "Growing." Your marriage isn't new anymore, but now we all know the secret that things don't stop growing just because they aren't saplings. Think about things that grow in your life and build your anniversary plans around keeping things growing.

3. Go to (or Make) Dinner Together- We went out for a fancy dinner this year, and when food is part of the theme, a dinner makes sense (otherwise, it can feel a little bit like the easiest possible answer).But I do think food in general makes sense, and if you have a fruit that especially resonates, you could pick it as a theme for food for the week!

Do a fun fruit salad. Or carve something out of fruit? I want to see some anniversary- themed watermelon sculptures!

I mean, come on. From Seasons of Joy

Maybe try a whole week of new recipes? Could you make a whole week of mango meals? Or try all the weird fruits in the grocery store you never go near? I think there is a fun adventure here waiting to happen. On that note...

What to Eat

This anniversary screams cake or pie, so there is plenty to dig into here. So this year I am looking for some fruity inspiration:

from Design Sponge

Pie! I love this anniversary pie from Design Sponge. So simple and chic, and it might be a good choice if you aren't a cake couple. I love this heart pie crust as well.

from Eat Spin Run Repeat

Fruit Cake. You can do an actual fruitcake for a Christmas anniversary, but how cool is this for summer anniversaries? I love Eat Spin Run Repeat's step by step tutorial, but you really could make an amazing cake with whatever fruit you like (or matches your wedding colors).

Just a Regular Old Amazing Cake. There is infinite pinteresty goodness around cakes with fruit. This is a goldmine, so you only have to find what idea fits you best. I had all sorts of ideas, and our cake was jank. I mean, really jank. Such a mess that I won't even put it up here, which I am never above doing. So let's look at other people's successes and ignore my 4th year failure:

from Baker by Nature

Baker by Nature has a recipe for a seriously beautiful lemon and blueberry cake. So nice, and it looks so pretty.

from Dagmar's Kitchen

This chocolate cake by Dagmar's Kitchen was the vision I had in my head when I thought about the cake. So pretty with the chocolate and the berries. Someday later I will make this cake. This one from Tastes Better from Scratch looks like a nice combination of the two.

from Plain Chicken

Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake from Plain Chicken looks less fussy but still very pretty. Might be a good route if you don't have a ton of time.

Ok, these are my best fruit and flower ideas! What did you do for your 4th anniversary?

Even though cotton makes for some super lame gift ideas, it has to have one of the most awesome decorating ideas front and center. People, we are building a tent out of sheets. Just move in for a weekend and that is a pretty awesome memory. I am thinking maybe you can even eat dinner in the tent if you can think of something that isn't too messy.

I think one of the best things about this idea is that you can use what you already own. Take your own flat sheets and see what you can come up with. Add some Christmas lights, blankets, and pillows, and you have an amazing memory that cost you 0 dollars (and is completely eco-friendly!) No matter what, I am just pumped for this idea- have any grown-up readers made a tent or fort inside their house? Any tips for making it awesome?

from kidcrave.com

 First of all, where is this? Is that church outside the tent? This one seems to have some real engineering behind it, but it does look really chic. I do like the ones using light colored sheets and with lots of lights, because it takes something childish and makes it seem somewhat sophisticated. That being said, using what you have is the best way to throw an amazing anniversary.

from belladonna-and-cloves.tumblr.com

 I love this one. It looks like they live in it full time, which I support. I also love the hanging pictures, so I think I am going to get pictures printed from our second year to decorate inside the tents.

from babble.com

 This one is amazing. I cannot step to this, though I am slightly concerned about the closeness to the fire. I love the combinations of patterns and colors. If you wanted to add more color or patterns to yours, think about checking some thrift store sheet sections- they have good stuff! But please, if you want a fire by the tent, at least turn it all so you can see it.

from believeinyourselfremainstrong.tumblr.com

 The lights take everything to another level, so I bought these kind of cotton puff looking lights to hang with the white lights we have used for other things.

from alamodeus.net

When we had our second anniversary, I pulled ours together around the square frame of our bed, fastened together with sandwich clips. It worked pretty well, and the whole thing stayed together. Let me know how it works for you?

from www.puppyfind.com/goldendoodle.php

from www.swissridgekennels.com/retrieverpups.html

from www.puppyfind.com/goldendoodle.php

Just in case your day or week needed brightening up.

from www.classifiedspet.info

from goldendoodlediary.com

eep! can't do this one!

from www.montanalabradoodles.com

from petcollectionworld.com

from isachin.com

from www.montanalabradoodles.com

So Nick and I have started trying to pick a date, but apparently you have to sort of let the site pick the date, and to know a site, you kind of have to have an idea of what kind of wedding you want. He wants big, and slightly fancy, but I would rather it feel like a really fun family picnic.

From theknot.com

So I am thinking somewhere that is sort of between inside and outside, like a picnic. Plus, then I can hang lot of lights everywhere, which is really all I want.

From theknot.com

Of course, the question in all of this is exactly where do you have a reception other than a Franklin Club recpetion in Franklin. I was either thinking somewhere really outside, like two mile park, or a place like anchor village, where my friend Jenny got married two years ago.

From www.partyfavoritesblog.com

From neweddingdayblog.com

This one is my favorite wedding picture we have seen so far. Nick likes it too, but the question now becomes how do we find somewhere where we can be inside and outside, not too fussy, while still having a place for people to go to the bathroom and that sort of thing (which I imagine is pivotal for people to have a good time). It's even harder to figure out from across the country, without much help or interest from the people who actually live in the area. If people have suggestions of how you make this work, I would definitely take them, but I still feel pretty optomistic we at least pretty much agree on the type of wedding we want.