s/o Big anniversary budget

[IfIOnly]

 DH and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary next year. I want to do something special but am trying to figure out a budget first before doing any other planning. We've never spent much or gone far for this occasion before, but I'd like to for this one.

What did and/or would you budget for a special anniversary?

I have always wanted to go on a road trip and cross the border into Canada. I've been to Mexico, so it would be fun to visit our other nearest country. And, I love road trips. The best.

Where or what would you like to do with your spouse on your next big anniversary, if you do that sort of thing?

[sheryl]

OK, we didn't do much for our 20th as our dd was a baby.   May I make a suggestion?  Do something for your 20th but plan now for that big trip on your 25/silver anniversary.   Well, it used to be called that.  🙂  Reasons are - it will give you "time" to really discuss where to go and not just choose a place to fill in the blank.  Are you going as a couple?  You'll need babysitters.  

You'll have more time to save money so it's not a financial hardship.

This pandemic is not going anywhere soon!  (Ha, I see you responded to one of  my threads as I type this).  Borders are closed and should be.  Do you have your passports lined up?  Do they need to be renewed?  I sent mine in for renewal on my dd's birthday 5/19 and it took 3 months which I thought was fast in this pandemic.

I was in Michigan visiting family last month.  We drove from Royal Oak to Detroit and I stood 1-2 miles from border in to Canada.  I didn't take my passport up (got it renewed for this trip) because I learned borders are closed.  Saw the bridge.  Saw the flag waving on the other side.  I miss visiting Canada and wanted to go.

How much money are we talking here?  Without knowing particulars you could buy a cheap airline ticket and fly somewhere for the weekend.  Extended weekend.  Th - Sun or Fri - Mon.

I REALLY planned a vacay in Europe/Italy for our anniversary this past Sunday but it didn't happen.  As you know from my other thread we went to Bristol.  Sure I'm sad we couldn't go to Italy but Bristol was close, convenient, friendly, nice, pretty.

Or, go to your local "nice" hotel.  Go to a 5 star restaurant.  These will not be cheap.  Stay the weekend.  

Plan that international trip another year when you can really enjoy it because hopefully co19 will be done.  My niece and her now husband were married this past Aug 1.  They planned all along a 2 week vacation in Hawaii.   It didn't happen.  They are planning to go summer 2021.  Yeah, I don't think that will happen either.  Even if practices are relaxed, I still think it prudent to go longer with these measures intact.  Right now the world is bouncing around like a ping pong ball b/c we relax, numbers increase and the cycle repeats. 

Congrats on 20!  🙂   

[sheryl]

Silly me.  I see you said next year.  I still would wait as I mentioned above.  

[Bootsie]

DH and I were planning a 25th anniversary celebration that got sidetracked by some family issues that we had to attend to.  So, we delayed and had a Baltic cruise planned for May 2020-which of course got cancelled, so we thought we would delay until later in the summer--which didn't happen.  Then we thought we would plan something for Christmas holidays--and that's not happening.  Maybe by the time we make it to our 30th we will actually get to do something.  

So, my suggestion is take any opportunity you have when you have it--don't delay.  

[Familia]

We splurged on our 25th, paying a little at a time...the rental (beautiful full ocean view/so unlike us) cost was broken into two pieces and the flight was with points, the food, where we only splurged on one of the meals, was taken out of the normal food budget.  

On a more recent anniversary, we went to a revitalizing river town (sad to think how it may be doing now).  Just exploring new destinations together is fun.  We usually stay in Airbnbs, only staying with superhosts.  IMO, they are cleaner than a hotel, the host's personal reputation being on the line, and we stay where we have the entire places to ourselves.  Planning is half the fun, and I can find reasonable accommodations in smaller towns just about anywhere.  Lodging is the greatest expense, usually, especially if you are taking a road trip.  I recommend that you decide the approximate area of Canada that you would like to explore, and do a little searching on Airbnb to see what places cost.  You can do a map search, so much fun!  Then, with the cost approximated, you can think of what is reasonable for you to spend.  Airbnb is paid upfront, sometimes in two bills, so I would figure my budget and begin saving each month right now.   

Congratulations on 19 years and counting!

[BusyMom5]

I spent my 20th anniversary at home- in a national lock down due to a global pandemic- counting squares of toilet paper!  I think we will wait snd do something big for 25!  Dh does say we can go shop for a pretty jewelry piece to remember this one by!

[IfIOnly]

I had no idea the 25th was considered a biggie as well. Well, that takes some of the pressure off. Ha! I really would love to do something sooner than later. I just feel I need something special like that with DH, but I guess we'll see what happens.

Thank you for sharing! Loved reading your thoughtful replies. 

[PeterPan]

What time of year? Just thinking the weather is a factor as you're going north. We did a trip through NY one year but without passports meaning we didn't get to cross the border. Depending on where you're starting from, doing NY and then crossing over could be very nice. It's actually really family friendly, meaning it could be kind of dual purpose for you (family plus anniversary). We did a hot air balloon ride over some falls at a state park (Letchworth?), very romantic. They had a family cabin and your kids could stay there while you have your lovely ride. Dd watched ds, and he was barely old enough to be watched like that. Niagara Falls is also very romantic but family friendly. You could maybe do adjoining rooms so you could have the kids with you but a little privacy. Or ditch the kids but go for less days.

If cruising goes next year, cruising up the east coast and into Quebec would be so, so romantic. I dream of doing that with dh. He doesn't want to step foot on a boat, haha, but a girl can dream! So if you were saying what's my $5k romantic dream trip? That would be it, a cruise up the east coast and then a few days once you get to Quebec.

Back to the road trip through NY. You can cross into Canada, yes. You can also go up to the St. Lawrence Seaway and take these boat rides to castles. SO so beautiful and romantic, oh my. And again, with kids, without kids, both ways work. The Corning Glass Museum, Glen Canyon, lots of things in NY that are sort of dual purpose, beautiful and family friendly. If you do Niagara in the summer, they have fireworks too, fun stuff. 

Do you know what you want to do in Canada or where you want to be in Canada? There's kinda a long border there, lol. 

Fwiw, if you want kind of a different road trip and are flexible on the Canada idea, the most ROMANTIC BEAUTIFUL ASTONISHING THING EVER (ok, there are others, but roll with me) is driving the Oregon coast. This too can be family friendly, but it's just astonishingly beautiful. We spent a week driving it before ds was born. I don't think he was a souvenir, but just saying it was a nice trip. 

Edited October 30, 2020 by PeterPan

[IfIOnly]

24 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

What time of year? Just thinking the weather is a factor as you're going north. We did a trip through NY one year but without passports meaning we didn't get to cross the border. Depending on where you're starting from, doing NY and then crossing over could be very nice. It's actually really family friendly, meaning it could be kind of dual purpose for you (family plus anniversary). We did a hot air balloon ride over some falls at a state park (Letchworth?), very romantic. They had a family cabin and your kids could stay there while you have your lovely ride. Dd watched ds, and he was barely old enough to be watched like that. Niagara Falls is also very romantic but family friendly. You could maybe do adjoining rooms so you could have the kids with you but a little privacy. Or ditch the kids but go for less days.

If cruising goes next year, cruising up the east coast and into Quebec would be so, so romantic. I dream of doing that with dh. He doesn't want to step foot on a boat, haha, but a girl can dream! So if you were saying what's my $5k romantic dream trip? That would be it, a cruise up the east coast and then a few days once you get to Quebec.

Back to the road trip through NY. You can cross into Canada, yes. You can also go up to the St. Lawrence Seaway and take these boat rides to castles. SO so beautiful and romantic, oh my. And again, with kids, without kids, both ways work. The Corning Glass Museum, Glen Canyon, lots of things in NY that are sort of dual purpose, beautiful and family friendly. If you do Niagara in the summer, they have fireworks too, fun stuff. 

Do you know what you want to do in Canada or where you want to be in Canada? There's kinda a long border there, lol. 

Fwiw, if you want kind of a different road trip and are flexible on the Canada idea, the most ROMANTIC BEAUTIFUL ASTONISHING THING EVER (ok, there are others, but roll with me) is driving the Oregon coast. This too can be family friendly, but it's just astonishingly beautiful. We spent a week driving it before ds was born. I don't think he was a souvenir, but just saying it was a nice trip. 

Our anniversary is in December, but I'm thinking it might be lovely to travel in September or October when the leaves are changing colors. Does Canada have many deciduous trees though? Maple leaf on the flag, so I'm guessing a few at least!

Being east coast would be amazing for driving into Canada. I would absolutely love NY plus Canada. We're on the west coast though. It's NE of us, but Calgary is just under 14 hours away. I honestly know next to nothing about what's available to us there and where to go from our city. I'd love to eat breakfast with real Canadian maple syrup and try poutine though. 😉

This is embarrassing, but I'm from Central Oregon and have never driven up the coast! I'm not sure I realized it was that cool even, but you've got me wanting to make that happen. What time of year did you go? I'm guessing that's important to look into. 

Thank you!

Edited October 30, 2020 by IfIOnly

[IfIOnly]

4 minutes ago, IfIOnly said:

 

oops, dp

Edited October 30, 2020 by IfIOnly

[Sunshine State Sue]

Dh and I traveled to Australia for our 25th anniversary 3 years ago.  I don't remember how much it cost, but it was plenty.  OTOH, we stayed with a friend for a week, and we were only there for 2 weeks, so it could have been even more expensive if we had only listened to the number of people who told us we had to stay longer and go to New Zealand while we were in that neck of the woods.  No one offered to foot the bill, though.

Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef is one of the few things on my bucket list that I was so happy to be able to do.  We had a fabulous time.  We planned for the trip and did not exceed what we wanted to spend or could afford.

Best of luck.  I don't know where in Canada you want to go, but there are some great places there:  Banff is my favorite.  Also been to Montreal, Quebec, Vancouver.  All terrific.  20 years is a good long time to stay together.  Good for you for making the anniversary special.

Edited October 30, 2020 by Sue in St Pete

[IfIOnly]

4 minutes ago, Sue in St Pete said:

Dh and I traveled to Australia for our 25th anniversary 3 years ago.  I don't remember how much it cost, but it was plenty.  OTOH, we stayed with a friend for a week, and we were only there for 2 weeks, so it could have been even more expensive if we had only listened to the number of people who told us we had to stay longer and go to New Zealand while we were in that neck of the woods.  No one would foot the bill, though.

Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef is one of the few things on my bucket list that I was so happy to be able to do.  We had a fabulous time.  We planned for the trip and did not exceed what we wanted to spend or could afford.

Best of luck.  I don't know where in Canada you want to go, but there are some great places there:  Banff is my favorite.  Also been to Montreal, Quebec, Vancouver.  All terrific.  20 years is a good long time to stay together.  Good for you for making the anniversary special.

That is so kind. Thank you. I'm not really good with special occasions and am probably much too practical for my own good. DH is so much better at that kind of stuff. I would love to get out of my comfort zone and do this for us though. I think it would mean a lot to him.

[Sunshine State Sue]

8 minutes ago, IfIOnly said:

Calgary is just under 14 hours away.😉

We saw more wildlife in Banff than I have ever seen anywhere.  Well, except for the Galapagos Islands.  We stayed at some cabins 1/2 way between Banff and Lake Louise on 1A.  Every evening at dusk driving back to the cabin, we would keep our eyes peeled for critters or cars pulled over on the side of the road.  Absolutely amazing.

[IfIOnly]

12 minutes ago, Sue in St Pete said:

We saw more wildlife in Banff than I have ever seen anywhere.  Well, except for the Galapagos Islands.  We stayed at some cabins 1/2 way between Banff and Lake Louise on 1A.  Every evening at dusk driving back to the cabin, we would keep our eyes peeled for critters or cars pulled over on the side of the road.  Absolutely amazing.

Oh, that's an hour closer even. Thank you! I've lived in northern ID, just about 40 miles from the Canadian border, and we had bear and moose there. Banff National Park wildlife park looks just amazingly beautiful with lots of incredible animal wildlife. I see it's possible to see the northern lights in that area too!

Edited October 30, 2020 by IfIOnly

[Sunshine State Sue]

13 minutes ago, IfIOnly said:

I see it's possible to see the northern lights in that area too!

The Northern Lights are on my bucket list too.

[PeterPan]

Not to be a spoil sport, but is Canada even allowing people in? Even though it's only one year out, honestly I wouldn't plan a trip you REALLY want to happen for next fall, not across any borders. If it has to happen, I would plan US. 

I can't remember what time of year our Oregon coast drive was. We usually travel in the fall, once school starts, and I know school was in session. It was probably fall. I know we were in short sleeves and it didn't rain. 

43 minutes ago, IfIOnly said:

This is embarrassing, but I'm from Central Oregon and have never driven up the coast! I'm not sure I realized it was that cool even, but you've got me wanting to make that happen.

So is this like people who live in AZ but have never been to the Grand Canyon? LOL  Yes, the Oregon coast is quite lovely. I think we used a Frommer's guide for the Oregon coast. It had restaurant recommendations and even told you what to order. I think you really couldn't go wrong with a coast drive. We started up at the tip of Oregon, right into the WA border, and drove down all the way to the redwoods in CA. There is an amazing jet boat ride you can do on the Rogue River. Like best you'll do anywhere, amazing, full day with lunch, highly recommend. There's a state park with marble caverns that is astonishing. There are cinnamon rolls, oh my the cinnamon rolls. The food along the coast was crazy good every where we stopped. Great fish (of course). You can do whale watching tours. We rode horseback on the beach. If you get a hotel on the beach, you can listen to the tide go in and out and see the starfish clinging to the rocks. Oregon's starfish come in so many colors and are amazing. You can explore tidepools. You'll see seals. Your kids will love it AND you will love it as a couple. It hits that romantic plus family friendly so nicely. 

Edited October 30, 2020 by PeterPan

[Sunshine State Sue]

4 hours ago, IfIOnly said:

 What did and/or would you budget for a special anniversary?

I found my Australia costs.  We spent somewhere between $4500 and $5000.

[Familia]

8 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

Not to be a spoil sport, but is Canada even allowing people in? Even though it's only one year out, honestly I wouldn't plan a trip you REALLY want to happen for next fall, not across any borders. If it has to happen, I would plan US. 

I can't remember what time of year our Oregon coast drive was. We usually travel in the fall, once school starts, and I know school was in session. It was probably fall. I know we were in short sleeves and it didn't rain. 

So is this like people who live in AZ but have never been to the Grand Canyon? LOL  Yes, the Oregon coast is quite lovely. I think we used a Frommer's guide for the Oregon coast. It had restaurant recommendations and even told you what to order. I think you really couldn't go wrong with a coast drive. We started up at the tip of Oregon, right into the WA border, and drove down all the way to the redwoods in CA. There is an amazing jet boat ride you can do on the Rogue River. Like best you'll do anywhere, amazing, full day with lunch, highly recommend. There's a state park with marble caverns that is astonishing. There are cinnamon rolls, oh my the cinnamon rolls. The food along the coast was crazy good every where we stopped. Great fish (of course). You can do whale watching tours. We rode horseback on the beach. If you get a hotel on the beach, you can listen to the tide go in and out and see the starfish clinging to the rocks. Oregon's starfish come in so many colors and are amazing. You can explore tidepools. You'll see seals. Your kids will love it AND you will love it as a couple. It hits that romantic plus family friendly so nicely. 

There are just no posts quite like yours @PeterPan for making one desire to travel!  Thanks!!

[PeterPan]

3 minutes ago, Familia said:

There are just no posts quite like yours @PeterPan for making one desire to travel!  Thanks!!

PS. You can fly kites! For real, there's a nationally known KITE store on the Oregon coast and they will come out and teach you to fly their super awesome kites! 

PPS. When they say they road narrows, they really aren't joking. We got lost on this one trying to find the world's largest such and such kind of tree (they have a bunch of these in Oregon), and all of a sudden this massive LUMBER TRUCK was coming at us!! We had rented a convertible, but it was some little bug like thing, making us feel very vulnerable and especially small! But the convertible in the redwoods was smart, yes. Just not when you're heading into a lumber truck. 

[IfIOnly]

1 hour ago, PeterPan said:

Not to be a spoil sport, but is Canada even allowing people in? Even though it's only one year out, honestly I wouldn't plan a trip you REALLY want to happen for next fall, not across any borders. If it has to happen, I would plan US. 

I can't remember what time of year our Oregon coast drive was. We usually travel in the fall, once school starts, and I know school was in session. It was probably fall. I know we were in short sleeves and it didn't rain. 

So is this like people who live in AZ but have never been to the Grand Canyon? LOL  Yes, the Oregon coast is quite lovely. I think we used a Frommer's guide for the Oregon coast. It had restaurant recommendations and even told you what to order. I think you really couldn't go wrong with a coast drive. We started up at the tip of Oregon, right into the WA border, and drove down all the way to the redwoods in CA. There is an amazing jet boat ride you can do on the Rogue River. Like best you'll do anywhere, amazing, full day with lunch, highly recommend. There's a state park with marble caverns that is astonishing. There are cinnamon rolls, oh my the cinnamon rolls. The food along the coast was crazy good every where we stopped. Great fish (of course). You can do whale watching tours. We rode horseback on the beach. If you get a hotel on the beach, you can listen to the tide go in and out and see the starfish clinging to the rocks. Oregon's starfish come in so many colors and are amazing. You can explore tidepools. You'll see seals. Your kids will love it AND you will love it as a couple. It hits that romantic plus family friendly so nicely. 

Haha. I think so. We've actually taken a family trip to the Grand Canyon. We've been to certain places along the coast but haven't really been down the northern part. Up south, the Tillamook cheese factory is a favorite place to visit. Mo's is delicious for their clam chowder with bread bowls. We've done some clamming and crabbing as well. Yum!

[Frances]

3 hours ago, IfIOnly said:

Our anniversary is in December, but I'm thinking it might be lovely to travel in September or October when the leaves are changing colors. Does Canada have many deciduous trees though? Maple leaf on the flag, so I'm guessing a few at least!

Being east coast would be amazing for driving into Canada. I would absolutely love NY plus Canada. We're on the west coast though. It's NE of us, but Calgary is just under 14 hours away. I honestly know next to nothing about what's available to us there and where to go from our city. I'd love to eat breakfast with real Canadian maple syrup and try poutine though. 😉

This is embarrassing, but I'm from Central Oregon and have never driven up the coast! I'm not sure I realized it was that cool even, but you've got me wanting to make that happen. What time of year did you go? I'm guessing that's important to look into. 

Thank you!

When we attended a wedding on the OR coast and stayed at a B and B, the host said the best weather months on the OR coast are September and October. We’ve experienced cold and windy summer days and last year on New Year’s Day it was perfect. But even rainy, windy days can be fine as storm watching is fun and when it’s not a pandemic, there are plenty of inside things to do.  Plus if it’s just regular rain, there are lots of hikes in the nearby forests that are still pretty protected. We just spent three days there and still found plenty to do outside when it rained one morning and one afternoon.

We’ve done separate driving trips to Vancouver, BC and Victoria, BC in the fall for anniversaries and both were amazing. We’ve also done a fall southern trip with stays in Ashland (for the Shakespeare Festival), near Crater Lake, and then SF (because we have family there). Personally, we prefer VRBOs or occasionally B and Bs. I can’t really tell you a budget as that is not how we plan our trips. But we like to do a mix of free stuff and things that cost and a mix of eating out and cooking (mainly breakfast). And we highly prefer small, local interesting places over expensive, fancy meals and that doesn’t change when we travel. Researching places to eat is part of the fun for me.

[Guest]

We had our 25th last year and what we did was very subdued. My dh does not especially much like to travel and I have never been that keen to leave kids. (I felt anxious about leaving a teenager at home alone; I even discussed it on here and got just the range of opinions on that subject you might expect, lol.) We went by car to a neighboring state near a resort we stayed at for our first anniversary and stayed over for one night. The resort was around $225/night. We hiked and dh fished. We enjoyed the fall leaves and the beautiful scenery. We went to the bar where they had craft beer tasting (not my thing, but dh likes it.) 

In 2011, we went on the only big trip as a couple without kids. It was an Alaskan cruise on Norwegian. That was absolutely wonderful and we had spectacular weather (July). It was a rare year when we had a very good option for where to leave the kids and they were in the sweet spot of not being so young they needed a ton of oversight, yet not well into teen years where you just don’t know what they might cook up. That trip was around $6000. 

Good luck. I say consider what you and your dh’s travel style is and plan it accordingly. 

[lmrich]

For our 20th and 25th we celebrated, but not on the actual date (or even the same calendar year for the 25th). 

For the 20th we went with 4 other couples - at least one from each couple was in our wedding - to an all-inclusive in the DR. We. used airline. points and the trip itself was $2500. 

For the 25th we went to Germany. We used airline points again. Germany was really affordable. We rented a car and explored big towns and small towns. It was lovely. We made breakfast at the hotel, ate a modest. picnic. lunch most. days with an afternoon snack of beer and pretzels.  Dinner. was rarely a splurge as we are not 'foodies' and sometimes we just picked. up stuff. to make a salad back at the hotel. The trip was less than $2,500 for over a week -  not including flights. A. lot of the sightseeing was free - hiking, exploring cities, etc.. the castles. charged and we donated money to the concentration camp we saw. 

 

Sorry for the. random periods everywhere my keyboard is sticking. 

[Carol in Cal.]

We tend to go on short hops rather than actual vacations.  For our 25th we decided to change that, so we planned a two week vacation in Tahoe.  That is the first time we had been gone that long since our honeymoon, so it was a big, big deal.  DH had lost his wedding ring, and I needed mine resized.  I had found a ring I really, really wanted, very unusual for me as I am not really a jewelry person, and he had a dress ring that he needed resized.  So we decided that each of us would get a new ring, and get an old ring resized.  

Then he wanted to have the rings blessed, which is weird because we are Lutheran, but hey, whatever.  So I thought well if we are going to do that we should sing a hymn.  And I love hymns so I could not pick just one and etc. and before you knew it we were having a full on Divine Service for the occasion.  Luckily our pastor was willing to accommodate this.  

So as it turned out we had a Divine Service, put on our new rings, and headed to Tahoe for two weeks.  It was glorious.  We still talk about it 7 years later.

 

[Spryte]

We have two different sort of traditions, so our anniversaries are maybe a little different.  This might not work for everyone.

Every ten years we go to NYC, Rockefeller Center.  This is to celebrate our finding each other again.  Without too many details, we made a date, when I was in HS, to ice skate at Rockefeller in ten years, no matter what.  That ten year date ended up being our wedding date, and we’ve gone to Rockefeller every ten years since.

We also tend to celebrate “familyversary” instead of anniversary, because it’s the date we became a family.  This started right at the beginning, when I wanted to be sure SS was included and never felt that he was not a beloved part of our unit.  Once we had kids together, we just continued.  So our anniversaries tend to be family celebrations instead of couple-centered.  It’s fun, but maybe not what you’re looking for, OP.

So for our 20th, pre-pandemic, we went to NYC with the kids, and stayed for a few days.  We went to see Wicked, did a lot of sightseeing and museums, and just generally had a blast. The budget was larger than normal (Wicked tickets were pricey!), but it was a lot of fun.