First Person Our $50 Wedding Anniversary

First Person Our $50 Wedding Anniversary

You'll see buildings with no 13th floor or house numbers that skip from 12 to 14, but when it's your 13th wedding anniversary, it's up to you to tame the unlucky number. With a budget of $50, things didn't look bright at the outset. But with careful planning, help from family and friends and our mutual promise to create meaningful presents without spending a dime, we celebrated our wedding anniversary like royalty on a $50 budget.
The Steaks
Being full-fledged carnivores at heart, we planned to spend the majority of our budget on steaks. Shopping at a wholesale club was out of the question because it would force us to buy a huge quantity and spend $50 on steaks alone. Instead, we visited a nearby organic store. Because of the slowing economy, quality meat often does not sell and is, eventually, put on sale as it nears its expiration date. We were able to find two organic 12 oz. filet mignons for $25. This left us $25 with which to complete our regal wedding celebration.
The Wine
Though we could find cheap wine at the supermarket, we wanted to toast our 13th anniversary with a wine fit for royalty. We visited a local winery, took a free tour of the facility, then enjoyed a free wine tasting. We selected the Muscat Canelli, a slightly sweet white wine we both found cool and refreshing. The price at the winery was $17 instead of $23 in retail stores, saving us $6. Even so, we now had only $8 remaining in our budget.

The Side Dishes
After visiting a farmer's market on Saturday, we returned with organic potatoes, carrots and mushrooms that cost us $8 instead of an estimated $15 at the supermarket. Though this maxed out our anniversary budget, we were sure to have a feast fit for royalty, so long as we weren't expected to cook it.
Preparations
The day of our anniversary, our son and his girlfriend took charge of preparing the feast. My husband and I spent the morning apart, each preparing a gift. I gathered our four rescue dogs in the room with me and took amusing pictures of them in hats, scarves and reading glasses. Then I created a virtual comic strip and saved it on a CD, which I decorated with an old Christmas gift bow.
The Dinner
We stepped out on the deck at five in the afternoon to find a beautifully set table, with a purple tablecloth, wine glasses sparkling in the sun and purple paper lanterns hanging overhead. Using last year's graduation party decor, our son and his girlfriend had set a table fit for monarchs. The steaks were already cooked to perfection as we sat down to raise a toast, while our chef and decorator slipped quietly away.
Our Gifts
After dinner my husband pulled out my gift. Surprise, surprise. Another CD, though his had no ribbon. We brought out our laptop and shared each other's virtual gifts. He had created a PowerPoint slide show with photographs he had scanned from old photo albums. We drank wine and walked down memory lane together, while the sunset painted a stunning spectacle across the sky.
And so it was that we celebrated our wedding anniversary with a feast fit for royalty and presents we will cherish forever, all on a $50 budget.