Which date defines a couple's anniversary: the date of legal registration or the day of the wedding ceremony? When do couples around the world choose to celebrate their "anniversary"?

2018.10.31 published

How do you celebrate your wedding anniversary???

A question arrived from a future bride in the DM of marry＊

The content was, “Is the wedding anniversary the day of registration? Or is it the day of the wedding reception? Which day do you all primarily celebrate????”

Indeed...

When do couples around the world set their wedding anniversaries??

Here are the results from asking my followers♩ Real opinions are as follows♡

@chao.wedding

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 1

We celebrate on the same date as when we started dating and our registration date.

We usually have a meal at a slightly luxurious restaurant, go somewhere, or exchange letters.

Although our wedding is yet to come, I hope we can go to the restaurant venue every year on our wedding day.

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 2

Since the start of our relationship and the registration date are the same, we go out to eat a slightly fancy course meal every year.

My birthday is one day apart from our wedding day, so I leave that to my husband.

This year marks the first anniversary of our wedding, so I’m looking forward to what he might do!

There are usually no specific gifts, but just being able to have a nice dinner together makes it a wonderful day.

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 3

We made our dating day and registration date the same. We enjoy a bit of luxurious dining.

It hasn’t been a year since our wedding yet, but since we had a shrine ceremony, we plan to visit the shrine annually for thanks.

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 4

Dating day→ We buy a cake and celebrate quietly at home.

Registration date→ Dinner at a restaurant.

Wedding day→ It’s my birthday, so we celebrate my birthday.

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 5

We go out to eat something delicious on the registration day!!

Other than that, the days pass by without me noticing… Haha.

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 6

【Dating Day】 Since it’s also the anniversary of our proposal, we went to the place where the proposal happened for dinner♪

【Registration Date】 We consider this day our wedding anniversary, and since it’s also my birthday, it becomes the main anniversary.

This year is our first paper anniversary, so I’m currently making a handmade album of photos taken between last year’s registration date and now as a surprise gift✩

Also, we plan to have a pro photographer take anniversary photos of us in casual clothes at a place we both love♪

【Wedding Day】 Since it’s next March, what kind of anniversary we will spend is undecided.

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 6

We registered on our dating anniversary, so we celebrate that day as our wedding anniversary😊

Since we live together, my in-laws celebrate on the wedding day (although it’s only about a week different)!

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 7

Since the registration date coincides with the wedding day, we celebrate by having a grand dinner or date on that day🥂💓

We also say happy anniversary on our dating day too! If I prepare a more luxurious dinner than usual, he brings home some cake or ice cream🤗🎉

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 8

Since we just got married recently, we haven’t thought of anything for the registration date, but we always go out for a slightly fancy meal or try harder with homemade dishes on our dating anniversary😊💕

We don’t particularly give gifts!

My husband hardly ever gives me anything… haha

We just randomly decided on the wedding day, so we probably won’t do much for that day either haha.

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 8

We have made our registration date (3/14) our wedding anniversary✨

It’s easy to remember as it’s White Day, and with 3.14 symbolizing the circumference ratio, it represents an everlasting and round family.

We go to a favorite restaurant every year.

We skip our dating anniversary (lol).

On the day we had the wedding, we look back at wedding photos and videos together and celebrate with cake✨

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 9

Our dating day is April 15, 2011.

The registration date is April 15, 2018, seven years later!

The wedding day is October 8.

Every year, we primarily celebrate the registration date of April 15 and wish to keep it precious by going out for dinner or on a date.

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 10

Registration date♡ We go out with my husband for dinner!

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 11

We celebrate the registration anniversary and the wedding anniversary😋💗🎶

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 12

As a couple, we set all our anniversaries on the same day: our dating anniversary, registration anniversary, and ceremony anniversary☺️

We did this to avoid forgetting or having differences over which day to emphasize!

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 13

On our dating day, we end up reminiscing about old times!

For dinner, we try a bit harder than usual at home!

For our registration date, we go to a restaurant and have a meal, take commemorative photos📸, and exchange letters that we wrote to each other💌

Each year, we compile the photos taken and the letters into an album! We transfer them into the same envelope every year!

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 14

Seeing how to celebrate anniversaries, I happened to send a DM today because it’s our dating anniversary☺️

When we registered on our dating anniversary, we decided to have a taco party every month, and today we have our taco party🐙💓

Before our registration, we were in a long-distance relationship, so we hardly got to celebrate together, but we created and sent images with our photos and messages each month☺️

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 15

【How We Celebrate Anniversaries】

Our anniversaries are as follows✨

・Dating Day: 2015/6/9

・Registration Date: 2016/7/11

・Ceremony Date: 2017/7/16

We don’t do anything particularly special on our dating anniversary, but we always celebrate around mid-July when our registration date and ceremony date coincide🥂

We often celebrate by having delicious food and cake💖

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 16

We celebrate on the registration date!

No one has ever acknowledged our dating day, and it wasn’t even remembered😂

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 17

The day we got married is also our dating day and registration day!

Celebrations usually involve traveling or eating out at a nice restaurant.

How to celebrate anniversaries after marriage 18

We have decided that our wedding anniversary is the registration date!

There seems to be a pattern where people celebrate the day of the ceremony... but since we had a resort ceremony followed by a domestic party,

it results in two wedding days, leading to overlapping celebrations, which makes it hard to keep track...

“It seems many people consider their wedding anniversary as the registration date”＊

Looking at everyone’s answers, it seems that many mark their registration date as their wedding anniversary!

The dates for wedding ceremonies are often chosen for reasons like “must be on a lucky day” or “must be on a weekend,” so the actual date may not be very significant.

Additionally, since registration dates are often combined with the anniversary of when they started dating or someone’s birthday, it seems to enhance the celebration factor＊

Why not discuss with your husband, “Should we consider the registration date or the wedding date as our wedding anniversary??”

Feel free to have that conversation♪

@h.k_happy_wedding