OK, so here is the deal. This June is our 9th wedding anniversary. Everyone makes a big deal about the 10th and we already have a few things planned for that one, but what about this year? I mean, it should count for something right? So, why not make a contest out of it.
I’m looking for the most creative/fun/memorable evening that cost me no more than $100 bucks. It must be within a 4 hour driving distance of Palestine and you do NOT have to factor in gas or hotel expense. Ideally, the date would happen in June. If your idea is date specific it can NOT occur on a Saturday. (I tend to be at weddings on Saturday.)
Here’s how the contest is gonna work. Leave your date idea in the comments. You have till Monday at 10:00 AM to post your idea. The sooner you post, the more time I have to start liking your idea.
I’ll then go through them all and pick my favorite and the winner will revise a 16×20 canvas gallery wrap of any image I have shot of them. (Those bad boys cost $300 bucks so you know you wanna win one.)
Here is where it gets AWESOME. Other people are allowed to submit date ideas on your behalf. If their idea wins they get a $25 Target gift card & you get the 16×20 canvas gallery wrap. So… the more people you have submitting date ideas, the better your chance of winning. The best way to do that is to jump on Facebook and point your friends towards this blog post. I also know many of you follow this blog but don’t know anyone I have shot. If you win I’ll let you pick your favorite couple and I’ll surprise them with the 16×20 gallery wrapped canvas and I’ll hook you up with a $25 Target gift card. Cool?
On your marks…. get set…. GO!
Disclaimer: I’m picking the winning idea based on what I think would be the most fun for Danielle & I. You may have a terrific idea, but if I don’t like it, it ain’t winning.
By entering the contest you agree that you will not get your feelings hurt or sue me if you don’t win. Thanks.
http://www.meyerbedandbreakfast.com/index.htm
you can always just do a candle light dinner made by you and have a dinner out in your back yard..
or go do something fun like a water park or six flags. but it prob would be to hot for six flags.
go to Galveston.
hmm i have alot more but these are just a few i can think of on top of my head..
the web site i gave you is a bed and breakfast that looked pretty awesome..
hope some if these ideas help you out!!:)
Don’t know how feel about fishing. But I’m willing to guess you’ve never been bowfishing. Something totally different and loads of fun.
Take a blast to the past! If your memory serves you well, and it should relive your first date. Where did you meet, what restaurant did you go to (is it still around?), what did you do afterwards?
Remap this special moment, and do your best to make it the same way it was when it first happened. Is this romantic? ABSOLUTELY, it also shows that you care, and most of all, you remembered your first date!!! Also have your favorite DJ make you a cd to play in the car on the way of your favorite songs during that time
Happy 9th Anniversary Alex & Danielle!!!!!!
I will personally provide a meal and night and a breakfast at our place in Grapeland. It doesn’t have to be in the contest but I would love to do that for you and your wife. You can stay at the big house or the little apt in the barn or the guest house in front. You just let me know…I would be honored!!!!
Jan Marek!!!
Okay- I have a few ideas, and if by chance, I win, please allow Megan Dacy to have the 16 x 20.
Create a scrapbook/photo album of all your favorite photos y’all have taken together. (Sneak some pictures of when y’all were little too.) Like you could take a photo of you and her together, and then have the baby pics beside you guys but at an angle. (I can see it in my head!) Then create more pictures together! Even some naughty ones to hide away. Also Simply Fondue, in Ft. Worth, is excellent. You’re gonna want to go with the Cheddar cheese one though, the swiss is a little… wine-y. If she can drink, they have an alcoholic beverage called HoneyDew. It’s awesome.
ORRRRRR
Turner Falls. It’s beautiful. It’s probably further away than you want to go ( I have no clue where Palestine is in Texas.) But it’s beautiful. And if she likes hiking- definitely a plus! They have cabins or you can stay in a tent. It’s just too breath-taking not to see! http://www.turnerfallspark.com/ And in June it would be perfect weather time to go! The water is pristine, which makes for great photography. It’s romantic, and if ya wanted to go fishing, I think they allow that too.
Austin. Visit the Apple store at Barton Creek, explore Barton Springs, find random number 9′s to take anniversary pics with, get some of the amazing food available in Austin…maybe submit a bill at the capitol
Stay at a rad hotel like the Four Seasons or Radisson on the Colorado River. Take a segway tour? And of course music and dancing are readily available. If you’re not a great dancer, no one knows you there, and no one is taking pics of you! 
That’s all within your budget so that leaves a little shopping money for a 9th anniversary souvenir lamp ;D
Here are a few ideas…hope one of the helps:
The basic idea is to make a day of it…
Head into Dallas in the morning and go to the Dallas Arboretum (8525 Garland Road). Enjoy the day. Walk around take pictures. Check out the DeGolyer Estate, the views of White Rock Lake, the misty bridges, the rock quarry, the walls of water, and of course The Fairy Tale Castle Exhibit (featuring castles from Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Pea and others). Take a picnic lunch with you and enjoy the day. Tickets are $12 each. Parking is $7.
For the evening portion, pick a restaurant that you guys like…fancy, quirky, you will know.
Then consider seeing the play Murder at the Orient Burlesque in Plano. Go here for info about the play: http://www.roverdramawerks.com/01_CurrentSeason/01_CurrentSeason.html Tickets are $17 each. The play begins at 8p (no late seating) and it runs on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings from May 19th – June 11th
OR
On June 3rd (yeah it is date specific) you could go and see “OZ with the Orchestra” At the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. The tickets are pretty pricy but you can get tickets for $35. The great thing about the orchestra is that there is not action to ‘see’ so there really isn’t a bad seat.
I hope you guys have a great Anniversary!
Amy L-W
Cheetos. Grape soda. Back to the Future Trilogy. Contest over.
great ideas so far.
contrary to popular belief the contest is not over yet. although… my man Jeff Heimer did have a great idea. (He also makes great wedding films so go check out his stuff. http://jmhpro.com/ )
keep the ideas coming.
Though I have still not completely settled my feelings with the Michael Young situation…
RANGER GAME!
(WITH matching antler shirts).
There are home games the 6th, 7th, and 8th of June vs. Detroit and then June 20, 21, 22 against Houston. THE EIGHT IS DOLLAR HOT DOG NIGHT! DO IT!
Pick the seats based on your $100 price range..allowing room for nachos, of course. (Some of the less expensive seats are actually kind of fun and more relaxing).
AND…take your camera
First, make sure you line up a sitter if you need one. The day before, go buy fresh flowers, wine,steaks and a luscious dessert. I’m sure you already have plenty of candles. The night of celebration light your candles, put on your favorite music, light your tiki torches outside on the patio or deck…don’t turn on any lights, do everything by candle light….or very low lamps,have your wife dress her best,(if you know what I mean:) Enjoy reminiscing of all your years past while preparing your meal and drinking your wine. After dinner throw a blanket out in the backyard and do some star gazing while solving the meaning of life.
How about a fun center? There is one in Hurst {just over 2 hours from Palestine} called Putt-Putt. They have 2 Go-kart Tracks, Carnival Rides, Bumper Boats, and Putt-Putt Golf. A Motion Seat Theater, Mini Bowling Center and a large State-of-the-art Gameroom.
Located:
609 NE Loop 820, Hurst, TX 76053-5210
Then go out to eat at Johnny Rockets an oldies style diner {18 minuetes from the Putt-Putt fun center}.
Located:
2201 Road To Six Flags St E, Arlington, TX
Finish the day by catching a movie at the local cinema or just strolling through one of the local parks.
To me, this was one of the best dates on earth. Greg put me in the car and we drove and drove and he would not tell me we where going – it was amazing. Maybe because I LOVE tigers and this place fills my bleeding heart.
Plus, if you’re lucky, you might get to hear them roar. Plus – great gifts to take home to the kiddos!!!
http://www.tigercreek.org/default.html
My idea of a memorable anniversary date would be a really long time exposure of a moonlit picnic for two, dramatically lit, in a special place. This time of year is excellent for night time strolls through the park. It’s cool out, the night will hold your wife close to you, and the fireflies are amazing! So romantic! And Jessica and Rob Dennis would look great on canvas!
I say you have you relive your first date or you could get 2 City Passes for Houston and go to Nasa the Museums and other fun things around Houston (http.www.citypass.com/houston) and then catch a free event at Miller Outdoor Theater (http.www.milleroutdoortheatre.com)
I say since you are in Good old east Texas I would head up north through tyler and up 271… There are some strawberry and peach farms…
You two could go pick strawberries and peaches together… (I believe they have other options as well) then retreat over to the daffodil farms near Hawkins for a nice picnic including some sort of meal, the freshly picked fruits, and champagne, tea, lemonade, wine or your choice of beverage. Dont forget a portable cd player and a playlist of your favorite tunes for a nice romantic dance under the stars if she enjoys to dance. Then finish the night in a nice b and b in tyler.
This should come in within your budget, and it is personal, romantic, and all that mushy stuff. I did this for a Valentines Date one year. It is a dinner date, so you could do some other activity before or after and this may just be one part…
It should be a suprise, but it doesn’t have to be.
You will need a table you can transport easily, such as a card table, two chairs (folding chairs work great for transporting), white table cloth, white chair covers (if you want to go super-fancy), two place settings, a candle (in one of those hurricane globes or something else similar to protect it against any breeze that may show up), Don’t forget a lighter of some sort!, a battery operated mp3 player or CD player, wine glasses, wine if you drink or what ever beverage you like, food of your choice.
The way I did it but you will probably want to change a few things to suit your taste. I collected all the pieces and hid them in the trunk and back seat. I went Italian, so I downloaded italian music – the stuff you would hear at an italian restaurant as background music, I had a little “boom box” type device so I grabbed that and I got new batteries for it, burned a CD of the songs and labeled it Valentines day and the year…
The food is where it gets tricky. I wanted something quirky/fun/cheesy, but italian, so I decided on pizza! You could try to cook yourself, but the timing and packaging will be tough to manage, or you could order something to go form most restaurants. I ordered pizza and picked it up on the way to the location. You could also have it delivered if you worked it out right!
Location: I picked a local park because Valentines day fall on a week night and we could not go too far and I had the limitation of distance with the pizza idea. But some place scenic would be preferable. Possibly Love’s Lookout park just north of Jacksonville, or any place with a view, maybe close to a lake, or even out in the woods somewhere.
If you have others helping, it would be easier and you could possibly set things up in advance, or have your helpers set things up for you jsut before you arrived. But if you do it all yourself, you may get extra points. lol
How it went down:
What I did was I produced a blindfold and had her wear that. (Caution: beware of possible car sickness when blindfolded and riding). I had the car packed already at this point, so we got in and left. We went to the pizza place and grabbed the food which I put in the trunk to attempt to avoid tipping her off with the smell. We drive to the park where I left her in the car blindfolded and I quickly assembled everything (it took several trips to the car and the location was not all that close to the car), then I turned on the music, lit the candle, and went and got her and walked her to the setup still blindfolded, and a few
steps away, I removed the blindfold and revealed the situation.
Voilà
Options could include:
A Country version – pick some place suitable, appropriate music, dress, etc…
Black Tie – you could really dress up and decorate things more. This may not fit in the budget though.
You could add one of those small dining tents if you happen to have one, so could rent/borrow one.
Possibilities are endless!
Of course this may not be your style at all. lol
Good luck!
Todd
college station. Freebirds, ice cream, park, strawberry tart at cafe excel, Ross king?, spend the night in a dorm
, sweet eugenes. Movie in research park. I win 
.
We’ve found that sometimes the best way to celebrate events is just to take a day to do whatever you want together- not necessarily anything fancy or elaborate. So…
The night before, send the kids to a babysitter. The next morning, sleep in (which for you would be…what? Seven a.m.?) Spend some “quality time” together before you get up. Have a nice breakfast at home (french toast? music?) Chill out for a while at home- can’t talk about work, no TV or computer time, maybe read or look at your weddings pics). Drive into Tyler and watch a good matinee- the popcorn, candy, and soda is your lunch.
Next go to the skating rink and pretend you’re in junior high and it’s the first time you’re holding hands. Go to the mall and let Danielle pick a little bauble out for $20. Now you’ve got a little free time before dinner. You can go to the Children’s Park and walk around, or spend some time perusing Barnes and Noble- just whatever sounds fun at the moment. Have dinner at Sonoma Grill (they have good burgers, Alex) and for dessert you can go to Andy’s or Orange Leaf and hang out outside. Head home to watch a movie off Netflix and be sure to spend some more “quality time” together. Fall asleep talking about everything you love about each other, or something similarly sweet.
Shooting range! Nothing says “romance” like the smell of gunpowder.
So, there are a million things to do but most important thing is to make it personal. I haven’t been to bed and breakfasts in the area but a lot of the others people posted look good so book one so that u guys will enjoy and that’s away from home. Find her favorite place to eat and start the night there. Then make a cd with songs that have meant something to you for the past 9 years. Make a couple cd’s if u have a lot. Then find some back roads that will eventually take u to ur b&b. There is nothing nicer then time together with no one interrupting. It’s time to relive old memories, catch up, make new goals together and remember why ur together!! Then find an area on a back road where the stars light up the sky…have some champagne, listen to music and dance under the stars some of the best memories come from the simple things…its never about what u spend but how much time u take for the simple planning to put those special touches on it. End the night at ur b&b with a candle lite bath and maybe even some couple massages by one another!! Just remember to remind her all night why u love her and what the past 9 yrs have meant. We always know but still love to hear it.:0)
You guys could head to Dallas/Plano and take a cooking class at Whole Foods or central Market. The classes at Whole Foods are aroun $10-$20 dollars depending on the class. Then you could watch a film at the Angelica theater and wake up the next day and have an amazing brunch (with the best muffins and popovers ever!) at the Dream Cafe the next day.
Or you could drive up to Arkansas and do some kayaking and stay overnight in a lakeside cabin! I have a link to the place…. It’s really affordable and lots of fun!
Spend the night in a hotel the night before the celebration day. This way she can rest and enjoy the next day.
Use your Mobileme account to set 9 “events” with an alarm throughout the day on the calendar you share on your phones. As each alarm goes off through the day give her a unique homemade card which has a picture of the two of you from that year. Then share what you appreciated the most about her that year and share other memories from the year.
Take her to places that symbolize your best years (place of first date, kiss, or vacation). If you coordinate it well you can be at a place that matches the card for that hour.
…..then go to a Rangers game….they’re on a winning streak.
I know your contest is over but i’m still going to put my idea out here cause I think its really neat regardless of the occasion! The website is http://www.paintngwithatwist.com They have several locations you can go to(you could go and stay the night), I figured it would be neat for you to get to explore another angle of art with your wife. Plus you get to keep the paintings that will look amazing by the way! Its affordable and all on the website. Like I said I know your contest is over but I still wanted to share with you and maybe others who will read this!