1st Anniversary... HELP
 

so my significant other and i have our first anneversary coming up a month from yesterday and i feel like i should be planning at this point. what are some collosal "don't"s that i should avoid?

I don't know about dont's, but you really can't go wrong with a picnic.

You can show you put a lot of thought into it by buying a picnic basket from here: Picnic Baskets and Picnic Backpacks at Picnicfun.com

and pre-staging it along a nice walking route, etc. Of course, full of nice wine, cheese, etc.

She will think you are just being nice until you duck into the bushes and come out with a romantic feast. And if you like food as much as I do it's really win/win.

Also,

You can't go wrong with anything from Shari's Berries: Flowers: For fresh flower delivery, send flowers from ProFlowers.
They will overnight-express you some awesome chocolate dipped strawberries.

My wife is currently reading over my shoulder and nodding approval.

These are two relatively easy, cheap, and unusual ways to make your SO happy without resorting to cliches like flowers, expensive jewelry, etc. More input from the wife: Shari's Berries offers a strawberry rose package where the strawberries are laid out like a dozen long stem roses in a box. I still get brownie points for that one.

Also, she would like me to point out that you probably should not try to purchase a firearm for your SO. Especially not as an anniversary present.

What a "don't" is totally depends on your SO. Personally, Slims's suggestion of the chocolate dipped strawberry bouquet would be a don't for me, unless he'd done it himself. Ordering something like that when it can be so easily done at home feels like a waste of money to me. Also, I like something I can keep, versus something that's going to be gone as soon as I eat it or it wilts.

Think about the things you and your SO like to do together. What's an activity you engage in together? What's something that would help that activity be easier? If I were buying an anniversary present for my husband, I'd probably buy him something related to homebrewing. If he were buying something for me, he'd probably be getting something related to hiking.

Further, how can you work this activity into 1) your present, and 2) into celebrating your anniversary? Both of us being beer-lovers, a perfectly acceptable anniversary celebration for us might be a beer dinner. Again, it comes back to what you like to do together.

Give us some more information and maybe we can be a bit more helpful.

If you're not married, show up with some flowers and dinner that she likes. Let nature take it's course.

If you're married, show up with some flowers and dinner that she likes but discuss it first in case she has something else in mind.

thanks for the suggestions everyone! slims i think i'm going to take a page out of your book with the picnic idea. however i was considering an evening outing since neither of us can really leave base until 4:45 and its dark by then

:sad: Oops.

so buying a firearm is a BAD thing? haha nothing more she'd like than an elegantly wrapped AR-15 not only because of the pretty wrapping paper, but because it'd be a heluva joke too hahaha

I, personally, would love the PPK I've been lusting after for any occasion.

actually i was hoping people could give me evening ideas since i'm pretty sure my SO and myself will be working that day. i want to break out of just the run of the mill fancy dinner and gift exchange.

does anyone have some exceptionally suave ideas?

The only don't is to not acknowledge the occasion. Otherwise, be creative. Do you write poetry? Write her a poem. Cook dinner. Be romantic.

wait what?

You didn't ask for "do's", but if she's into this sort of thing, sometimes drawing her a nice hot bath, giving her a massage after, etc, goes over well with a homemade dinner of both of your favorite dishes... or take out in bed.
I'd avoid golf clubs, strip clubs, most clubs in general... and probably not a coupon for an IOU car wash or anything.
If it's dark when you get home from work, have a living room picnic or a bed picnic.
Just spend time together if that's something that's often in short supply.

Use your imagination. What turns you on about her? What makes you smile when you think of her? Hell, write her a love letter.

It's not what you buy, it's what you feel. What do you feel? Find a creative way to share that with her, it will send the message that you care enough to work at it.

I've been married a long time. You never stop working at it, or it will stop working.

My husband has done this twice. A rifle first. This year, a stun gun. I always wondered if he bought them because he thought I wanted them, or because HE wanted them, or maybe because he thought it would be cool to have a wife who owned one.

Sounds like you live in the barracks on base, so this probably won't work easy peasy but can be done. One year, I bought a bunch of small presents for him (keychain, chocolate bar, stuff like that) and I hid them in his house. Each present had a small rhyming card attached, which gave a clue as to where the next gift was hidden. The first gift was hanging from his front door. The last gift was his wedding ring, on a carrot in his fridge. (we had recently become engaged.) But it was a treasure hunt of sorts. You would have to be creative if you are both living in barracks, but you could bend the idea a bit to work your situation.