Recently, I was talking to a friend of mine who was confused about what to give her husband for his upcoming birthday. We joked about how you run out of ideas for birthday surprises when you’ve been married for 10+ years. This got me thinking about the surprises I’ve given my husband on his birthday and which ones he loved the most. I wasted no time in hounding him about it as soon as we got some time to ourselves. He picked three surprises that really touched his heart. Take a look, maybe you will get some inspiration for birthday surprises for your husband!
A birthday tribute video
When you have been married for over 15 years, you tend to forget many things that have happened over the years. So, when he mentioned the birthday video, I had to rack my brains to remember it. We were into our second year of marriage when I decided to throw him a birthday party that would precede the one from last year. Unfortunately, two of his best friends had moved to different countries and his family couldn’t travel for his birthday. Knowing how important these people were to him, I decided to something that would make up for their absence on his birthday.
I reached out to his best friends and parents a month ahead and asked them to send me pictures of them together. I also asked them to send a short video describing their favourite memory with him and wishing him for his birthday. His best friends went a step ahead and made a video of them wishing him in different beautiful locations wherever they were. I compiled these videos and pictures along with other snippets from his close friends and made a birthday tribute video with his favourite song.
On his birthday, I woke him up to breakfast in bed and played the video for him. I had never seen my husband cry up until then. But that day, I swear I saw him tear up (though he denies it even now). He told me that the video was one of the most thoughtful gifts I’ve given him.
A fridge! Yes, a fridge!
The answer to an ideal vacation, the best way to spend time with friends, and the best way to relax for my husband all lead to one simple answer- “Cracking open a cold one.”. It’s no secret that he loves beer and for his 35th birthday, I decided to gift him with something that would make him beam with absolute joy- a small refrigerator to store his beer!
Our fridge is usually too stuffed to store his beers, so whenever he’d crave for a can of beer, he’d have to go get it from the liquor mart. The refrigerator made sure that there’d always be beer at home after a long day at work. I stocked up the refrigerator with beer and his joy knew no bounds when he saw it.
The refrigerator wasn’t cheap but we still use it, so it was definitely something worth investing in. After all, I can’t put a price on something that makes my husband act like a gleeful child. Till date, he claims that it is one of the best materialistic gifts he has ever received.
Keeping it simple!
I love birthdays and I think they should be celebrated with much grandeur. Regardless of what was going on in our lives, I’d always make sure to celebrate my husband’s birthday. It was only after a couple of years that I realised that maybe, my husband didn’t want to celebrate every birthday like it was his last. With every year, I started paying more attention to how he felt the time around his birthday and would make plans accordingly. Last year was one of the toughest years for him as he was up for a big promotion and was burning the midnight oil. Instead of planning something elaborate, I just cooked a nice meal and ordered a cake. We cut the cake after he came back from work and had a simple family dinner after which, him and I fell asleep on the couch while watching ‘Shawshank Redemption’.
We never spoke much about that birthday but when we got talking about birthday surprises, he said that was the best thing I ever did for him. Better than the fridge and the video. I mean, I even got him a Tissot watch for one of his birthdays. The way he explains it, all he needed that day was some rest and I gave him exactly that instead of planning a party that he’d be forced to be attend and enjoy. He insisted that this should be
Have you ever thrown any birthday surprises for your husband? What was it like? Let us know in the comments below!
