Unique anniversary gift ideas

Celebrating an anniversary gives partners the chance to reaffirm their love for each other and express how grateful they are for the love and care they share. Incorporating all this in a gift can be a challenge, but unique gifts that take focus on relationships and the increasing concerns over the past couple of years have seen people become more creative with home-based hobbies and wanting to live a greener, more sustainable lifestyle. So how do you come up with a unique anniversary gift?

Anniversary gifts by year

Using the traditional and modern gifts list associated with each anniversary offers a baseline for an anniversary gift. For example, in celebration of 25 years of marriage, silver jewellery is most popular, but there are other options, like vintage silverware, champagne glasses with silver rims or home décor gifts in silver hues, such as a silver picture frame, a silver vase, or a silver-dipped natural rose.

The traditional gift for a first anniversary is paper – why not try your hand at making realistic paper flowers?

Whilst the list of traditional and modern gifts that correspond with each anniversary year can be fun to follow, it is not essential because what matters most is the thought and sentiment behind the gift. 

Handmade gifts

If you are fortunate to be an amateur or professional artist or handyman, a handmade gift makes a touching gift. This could link with the material associated with a specific anniversary or your preferred medium.

Or get baking or floral decorating and present a delicious or aesthetically beautiful gift. Try the vanilla and white chocolate truffles below.

Textile and fabric crafting

Fabric and textile crafts like embroidery, knitting, and quilting have become popular again. With movement restrictions and more people staying at home during the pandemic, skills like crochet have become mainstream since learning is available online and no outside studio space is needed. Gifting a unique piece of embroidery that celebrates a couple’s anniversary is something special they can display at home. If you want a unique gift, there are artists and makers online with a wealth of knowledge and generosity of spirit to make it easy for anyone to get started, with a diverse community so creators can find their niche.

Photograph album

If you do not want to create something from scratch, you can create a photobook featuring the best photos of the couple you have. Collaborate with family and friends and then upload online and print the photobook for their special day. Or choose an image you have taken that you are particularly fond of and have it enlarged and framed or printed on canvas.

Gift boxes

Create a gift box of their favourite things. This can include food and drink which is really popular if you can source foods from their home country if you are now living elsewhere. Add in a bowl, plate or wine glasses that fit with the food or drinks so there is something the couple can keep. You could source their favourite candy from childhood, or fill a box with goodies related to their favourite movie, such as a T-shirt, the autobiography of their favourite actor and a signed photograph.  

Experience gifts

Classes the couple can take together may encourage a new shared interest. From cookery and photography to dance classes, this is a great way for the couple to have fun together. Experience gifts can also be a single day of fun, from a supercar track day, whitewater rafting or something else adventurous. Other ideas could be a season ticket to a favoured museum or art gallery, or a subscription to a magazine you know they will appreciate. 

Plant a tree

In the current climate, most people are aware that small choices made as consumers each day can have a big impact on the planet and our community. This has led to an increase in sustainable gifts. One of the most popular gifts to offset a small part of our carbon footprints is to gift the planting of a tree. This could be planted for you in a national forest or a place that is special to the couple. Oxfam has a series of sustainable gifts such as this.

For those with a garden, the gift of an apple tree means the couple can watch it grow and enjoy the crops in a fruit pie each year. A silver weeping pear (an ornamental tree) is a great gift for a silver anniversary.