The first anniversary gift is paper
The first year of marriage is the paper anniversary. It is one of the rare gifts whose material is prescribed before anyone has chosen anything.
A printed piece answers it without any detour, and says something no object on the wedding list can: an address and a date that belong to nobody else.
What to give when everything is already chosen
A wedding list settles one question and raises another: it says what they need, never what resembles them. You take something useful from it, knowing as you do that it will say nothing.
The place and the date are on no list. They belong to the couple, they are exact, and they do not repeat: two guests cannot give the same map by accident.
And it is a gift you can compose the night before. Composing takes minutes, and the file of the piece is emailed as soon as you order, which settles the case of whoever has left it late.
The place of the yes, or the sky of that evening
A wedding has an address and a date. You can give one, the other, or both.
The place
The register office, the church, the estate, the beach. The map of the place that held it all, framed to the neighbourhood or to the whole parish depending on what you want seen.
The sky of that evening
The stars as they stood above the party, at the hour it was ending. Calculated at the position they truly held, not drawn.
Both
Two pieces in the same palette, framed alike. One says where, the other says when, and they hang together in the first hallway of their first home.
Paper here, cotton in France
The first year of marriage is the paper anniversary in the anglophone tradition, and the cotton anniversary in the French one. It is one of the rare gifts whose material is prescribed.
A printed piece answers both, and without any detour: on art paper for one, on canvas for the other. The gift is in the material as much as in the subject.
The big years follow the same logic. For a silver or a golden anniversary, the map of the place as it was twenty-five or fifty years earlier beats one more object: the drawing has changed, and that is exactly what people look at.
What goes beneath the map
Three engraved lines, and the piece stops being a handsome frame.
- 01
Both their names
On a single line, parted by a dot or an ampersand. It is the title, and it reads from across the room.
- 02
The date of the yes
Written out rather than in figures: “12 September 2026” reads better under a frame. You choose the language it is written in.
- 03
The place, and its coordinates
The name of the estate or the parish, and beneath it the latitude and longitude. That is what anchors the map to a place rather than to an idea.
When to give it
On the wedding day
The place has been known for months, and so has the date. The piece can be composed well ahead, and delivered straight to them.
On the first anniversary
Paper or cotton, the material is prescribed and the piece answers it. It is the gift the tradition was asking for without saying so.
On a silver or golden anniversary
Twenty-five or fifty years on. The map of the time is no longer quite the map of today, and that is what makes it move people.
For an engagement
The place of the proposal, before the wedding date is even set. It is often the spot they end up talking about most.
Arriving in time
Allow 1 to 4 working days for making, up to 7 for hand-assembled frames and canvases, then 1 to 6 working days in transit. For a fixed date, order around ten days ahead.
And if you have left it late: the file of the piece is emailed to you as soon as you order. Enough to show the gift that evening, and let the frame arrive afterwards.
You can also have it delivered straight to them. No price appears in the parcel, and the receipt goes to you alone.
Delivery and timing
Will it arrive in time?
Allow 1 to 4 working days for making, up to 7 for frames and canvases, then 1 to 6 working days in transit: for a fixed date, order around ten days ahead.
And if the parcel keeps you waiting, the file of the piece is emailed to you as soon as you order: enough to announce the gift on the day, without revealing anything before.
Can you deliver straight to the person I am giving it to?
Yes: simply enter their address at checkout. No price appears in the parcel, and your receipt is emailed to you alone.
How long does it take?
Allow 1 to 4 working days for making, up to 7 for hand-assembled frames and canvases, then 1 to 6 working days in transit with standard delivery.
Digital editions are available immediately: the file of your piece is emailed to you as soon as you order.
Is delivery really free?
Yes, on every printed edition, in every country we deliver to.
A piece to celebrate a story.
A one-of-a-kind piece, and it will belong to you alone.