Maid of honor ordered her not to open wedding gift for 25 years. When she finally did, it left her speechless

In 2000, at one of her wedding showers, Carri Anne’s maid of honor handed her a small box sealed with medical tape. Across the top, in her friend’s handwriting, were the words: "Do not open until July 29, 2025," which is her 25th wedding anniversary. That box has traveled nearly as far as Carri Anne has. Through her husband’s military career, it’s been to D.C., California, Virginia, Chicago, Europe, and the Caribbean. Anne admitted she’d been tempted to peek over the years but never did, and the box’s whimsical year-2000 design made it even harder to resist. But as the date got closer, her kids convinced her to film the moment for TikTok on @carriannemanning, which got 238k likes and thousands of comments.

She had no clue what would be inside — maybe a gag gift, old high school photos. Instead, when she found a stack of index cards. At first, she thought they were all from her maid of honor. Then she noticed the handwriting change. "I recognized my sister’s note, then my mom’s handwriting," she said. Her mother passed away eight years ago. "It was really a very special moment," she said. She’s almost certain the shower where the box was filled happened at her mother’s house. "I’m remembering us being out on the back deck and wondering where she had this little box hidden," she says. Her mother, she added, was "a really thoughtful person.

She would have thought this was the coolest thing." The cards were snapshots of life in 2000 — political gossip, updates on the Packers and other Wisconsin sports, fashion notes, and more. "We all thought the world was going to end, the computers were going to stop," she laughed, "I should have kept my clothing." Her maid of honor, still one of her closest friends, was someone she met in seventh-grade math class. "We were glued at the hip all throughout high school," she said. Researchers found that reflecting on cherished memories like Anne did buffers emotional distress, helping people handle feelings like loneliness or alienation.

The gift has now sparked a new tradition. "My husband and kids were like, Why don’t we take the same box and cross out 2025 and put 2050?'" she said. Viewers online were just as emotional seeing the nostalgic package. @megxnmorgxn wrote, "People aren't appreciating how sweet and cool this is. It means something to you, and that matters. As a nostalgic person, this would mean so much to me if my friend did this. This is amazing. @user4170868056206 added, "The fact she knows the handwriting… who here knows more than seven of your people’s handwriting that you don’t work with?" @Lea Marie shared, "If I found notecards from my friends and family in a box after 25 years, my heart would be filled with so much joy."

"Mostly the comments that have touched me the most are how special it was to have handwriting from loved ones who have passed," she said. Looking back, Anne sees the box as a reminder of the people who’ve shaped her life, and the way their handwriting can make them feel close again. "Moments are so precious in life. Time changes really fast, so we’ve got to just hold on to each day. It just makes you realize how special it is to hold them in your hands, all these years later," she said.

You can follow Carri Anne (@carriannemanning) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.