As I approach my 6 month anniversary, and start scouting out 1st year anniversary gifts for my wife, I learned that traditionally paper is what you give for this occasion.
HUH? What the hell do I give her? Paper mache? One of those stupid paper swans?
A paper airplane?
MONEY???
Paper? Jeesuz, I was cheap when I was a bachelor, but that is ridiculous!
Those married longer than I . . .HELP!!!
Hot damn, you start looking for gifts 6 months in advance?!?
My advice: mostly, you laugh at those stupid guidelines and buy something else.
My husband gave me cash for the “paper” part. It was quite a hit, I must say, but not cheap for him.
Now we don’t do gifts, we’re lucky to get ourselves out to dinner. Only married 3 years, and already routine!
Stationery maybe?
Then again, money is always good.
How traditional is your wife? If you’re allowed a little leeway, photographs are printed on paper. You might enlarge a favorite photo and have it framed nicely.
(Heads up, UncleBeer! Incoming!)
How about a book? Buy her a collection of poetry. Or write your own, and get Kinko’s to put it in a nice binder.
Nah, a wad of cash would be best! Go to the bank, get $200 in singles. That’s a pretty impressive stack…
I admit this is stolen from some old TV show or movie, but…
cruise tickets (or airplane tickets) are printed on paper. Of course, that might be less cheap than you had in mind!
Hey, Alan, stealing from “Married With Children”? Now that’s a new low! :wally
I seem to remember it was the first Valentine’s Day show in which Al’s new neighbor Steve (Marcy’s first husband, with about 1/4 the looks and a hundred times the talent of Ted McGinley) came by and noted that not only was it Valentine’s Day but it was also their first anniversary. The audience went “awwww!” while Peg cuddled up to Al who recoiled in horror. Steve asked them to hide a present in their house and, as Peg grabbed it and started shaking and poking it, Steve sighed and went on to say something like, “Let me save you some wear and tear on your nails and teeth…the first anniversary is paper, and since paper isn’t very romantic, I got her two tickets to Hawaii.”
BTW, the Tedster, Killer of Shows, is the official Patron Saint of http://www.jumptheshark.com, a site with almost as much time-wasting potential as this one.
I suggest a nice lithograph.
Framed art is cool. Good choice rastahomie.
I’ve been giving Mrs Cal (alias Pepper Mill) a “traditional” gift each anniversary. My suggestion is to make it something personal and suited to your beloeved. For our First anniversary (Paper) I made an origami Bride and Groom, pasted them into a box, and gift-wrapped it.
She still has it.
What about a calendar or Book of Days to record the future highlights of your marriage? Implies you think it’s going to continue.
How about a nice, hand-written letter telling her how much she means to you and how much you love her? Get some nice paper, don’t tear a sheet from a spiral bound notebook.
This plus a nice dinner out, and maybe some dancing, and you’re set.
Tickets for two to something nice (a play, or somewhere people dress nicely) would work also.
A trip to Japan where you could walk through the paper walls like Homer Simpson did. 
Failing that you could just get her something nice (don’t ya just love it when they ask you to get they something nice.)
Ok Ok.
Does she have a favourite poem? You could get it done in nice caligraphy and have it framed.
Gift Certificate to jewelry store, or appraisal certificate to the jewelry you’ve just purchased.
This thread is better suited to IMHO, so I’ll move it there.
But first, Vinnie, I have to say that if you start out with this traditional thing, you’re in it for the long haul.
Paper is easy, as you can see. But dude, you’re gonna have “tin” and “pewter” and “linear low density polyethelene” in your future.
Think about it before you jump in.
For my dad’s first anniversary a couple days ago (he’s remarried) I found this thing called “50 ways to love your partner” and I did it in calligraphy for him … although being his daughter, I had to :ahem: edit some of them.
How about a scrapbook of your first year of marriage?
We’ve also started out with the traditional list. My husband bought me a newspaper from the day we were married. It came in a presentation folder - really nice, and interesting to keep for future reference. I named him a star from the International Star Registry. I know it’s a bit of a scam, but he got a lovely certificate and a map showing where the star is. He was delighted with it.