Here’s a wedding anniversary photo idea to celebrate your marriage journey.

Every year since we’ve been married, we’ve taken a picture of ourselves holding the photo we took the previous year. We wind up with kind of a tunnel where we can look back at the course of our marriage. Each year carries with it a story of joy or sorrow, sickness or health, and more. No matter what, we cherish every year and the tie that binds us together in love.

Our wedding photo, 2011

We got married at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lincoln, Neb. Because we had an eight-week engagement there were no churches, reception venues, or photographers available for an evening wedding on the last Saturday before Husker football started. So, Ann had a great idea to get married in the morning. It turns out, that was a perfect time of day for us because we had a full day to celebrate and Steve got to have bacon at the reception.

First anniversary photo, 2012

Dressed for work, one year in! Steve was a middle school principal and Ann was VP of Communications for Time Warner Cable. We both were up and out of the house most mornings before 7:30 a.m., so we took a picture after work that day in our back yard.

Second anniversary photo, 2013

Looking at this picture, Ann always says, “I loved that green jacket.” Steve just thinks he needed a haircut.

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Third anniversary photo, 2014

It was raining on Aug. 27, 2014, but we decided to roll with it and grabbed and umbrella and a willing neighbor to take our photo before we headed to work.

Fourth anniversary photo, 2015

Ann was very sick on our fourth anniversary, recovering from several surgeries and very fatigued. She just got out of bed just long enough to take a picture for our wedding anniversary photo idea and then rested most of the day.

Fifth anniversary photo, 2016

This year our anniversary fell on a Saturday, so no tie for Steve! You can take a look back at our first five years of marriage in a blog post wrote about Our Journey of a Lifetime.

Sixth anniversary photo, 2017

And this is the year Steve left his job to focus more on the blog, so no tie, again! Life was full of adventures that year as we traveled abroad and were introduced to Pawhuska, Okla., for the first time.

Seventh anniversary photo, 2018

As you can see, the sun was a little bright in our eyes this year. Also, ignore Steve’s legs. He had to get lower to be in the frame with Ann. This is, by far, the worst anniversary photo we’ve ever taken. The worst.

Eighth anniversary photo, 2019

2019 was the year we embarked on our healthy living journey. By our anniversary in August we were both down more than 50 pounds and feeling better.

9th anniversary photo, 2020

Yes, the weight loss thing worked! This year, for the first time since our wedding, we both fit into our wedding attire. It was fun to take a fancy stroll down memory lane.

10th anniversary photo, 2021

When we were married, our pastor made us both memorize our vows. He insisted because we were making big promises to each other and he wanted us to remember them for the rest of our lives. So, on our 10th anniversary, we returned to the church for our photo. We also took a moment to pray together and then to repeat our vows to each other in the same place we’d said them ten years before.

11th anniversary photo, 2022

For our 11th anniversary photo, we returned to our backyard in Crete. We came home to this house together for the first time the day after our wedding, and we have made many wonderful memories here in over the past 11 years.

Do you have any special traditions to celebrate your wedding anniversary? Let us know in the comments below.