Gift Idea: Write Your Love Story

Everyone has a love story. From what you were doing before you were in love, to how you met, to the things you’ve accomplished since then, writing your love story can be a great keepsake for your family as you get older or it can be a fantastic gift idea for an anniversary or other special date.
You can also do this gift idea for your favorite couple - your parents, grandparents, or even a friend who’s celebrating an important anniversary.

To write the story, start by answering some of these questions:

• When and where was each person born? Who was in their families? Was there anything interesting about their birth story or childhood?
• What was each person doing before you met each other? Where did they work? What activities or hobbies did they enjoy? Where did they live?
• How did they meet each other? Give as many details as possible on the time, place, and their first impressions of each other.
• What did they do for their first date? Is there anything that stuck out to them about the other person or the place they went to? Did either of them feel nervous or awkward?
• When and Where was their first kiss?
• Was there a deifining moment when they knew they loved each other? What were some of the things they did together while dating?
• How did they become engaged? When was their wedding? What was it like? What moment of that day does each person remember the most vividly? Did they go on a honeymoon?
• What did they do after they were married?
• Do they have children? How many and what are their names? What were there thoughts about becoming parents?
• Where are some of the places they have traveled together?
• What projects did they complete together or what things have they accomplished since being married?
• What is the one thing today that they still love most about each other?

Once you have these questions answered, you have all the necessary details ready to write your love story. You can decide if you want to start it fairy tale style with “Once upon a time”, make it humorous, or even go with “Dick and Jane” style of “This is Dick. Dick was born…” The options are pretty much endless, so don’t be afraid to get creative.

Now you will need to decide how you will present the story. Here are some different ways you can present the love story:

Make a video/digital picture slideshow. You can make a slideshow using a program like PowerPoint or you can use any of the hundreds of video editing software available. Many computers now have video editing software pre-installed

Make a photo book. I LOVE photo books. You can write your story and use old family photos and make gorgeous hard bound books using a site like Photo Works.

Write it in a notebook. Many store sell blank journals and notebooks that can work wonderfully. You can opt to handwrite the story or you can type it in your favorite word processing software and print and paste it to the journal pages.

Go audio-book style. You can use a free program such as Audacity to record you telling the story and then save as an MP3 or burn it onto a CD. If you’re old fashioned, you can always make it with cassette tapes.