Anniversaries are important milestones that should absolutely be commemorated with a celebration and the perfect gift.
The right anniversary gift is how you let your partner know how much your relationship means to you. So a thoughtless generic gift will definitely upset your partner. This can be avoided. Here are tips and tricks for choosing the right anniversary gift.
Use A Theme
It’s tradition, every anniversary year comes with a theme. This is a beautiful tradition dating back as far as the Middle Ages. The rationale and history of giving specific anniversary gifts based on the number of years you’ve been wed are that with each anniversary that passes, your relationship strengthens. That’s why the anniversary gift themes start out simple (paper for your first year), but their substance and significance increase over the years (fire for your twenty-first year).
While the themes are usually synonymous with marriage anniversaries, we live in modern times and they are also wonderful ways to mark the number of years you’ve been with your partner.
Here are the years and their corresponding themes:
- 1st: Paper
- 2nd: Cotton
- 3rd: Leather
- 4th: Fruit or Flowers
- 5th: Wood
- 6th: Candy or Iron
- 7th: Wool or Copper
- 8th: Pottery or Bronze
- 9th: Willow or Pottery
- 10th: Tin or Aluminum
- 11th: Steel
- 12th: Silk or Linen
- 13th: Lace
- 14th: Gold Jewelry
- 15th: Crystal
- 16th: Coffee or Tea
- 17th: Wine or Spirits
- 18th: Appliances
- 19th: Jade
- 20th: China
- 21st: Fire
- 22nd: Water
- 23rd: Air
- 24th: Stone
- 25th: Silver
- 26th: Art
- 27th: Music
- 28th: Linens
- 29th: Tools
- 30th: Pearls
- 31st: Travel
- 32nd: Bronze
- 33rd: Iron
- 34th: Food
- 35th: Coral
- 36th: Antiques
- 37th: Books
- 38th: Luck
- 39th: Laughter
- 40th: Ruby
- 41st: Office or Desk Decor
- 42nd: Clocks or Watches
- 43rd: Entertainment
- 44rd: Electronics
- 45th: Sapphire
- 46th: Games
- 47th: Garden of Plants
- 48th: Home Improvement
- 49th: Copper
- 50th: Gold
- 51st: Photos or Cameras
- 52nd: Bath or Spa
- 53rd: Plastic
- 54th: Glass
- 55th: Emerald
- 56th: Day
- 57th: Night
- 58th: Faith and Hope
- 59th: Charity
- 60th: Diamond
Use Your Knowledge Of Them
It seems obvious, but it bears repeating, your gift is a way to show your partner that you pay attention and you get them.
If your partner has a particular interest in a subject, a sport or a hobby create a gift around that. For example, say your partner is a fan of cocktails, an example of a perfect gift would be private cocktail-making lessons. Another excellent way to show your partner that you know them is to get them a subscription box.
A subscription box is a continuous physical delivery of niche-oriented products curated for a specific person packaged in a box. As the subscription box curators at The Box Hut say “it’s cool stuff you like in a box.”
What’s more perfect than a personalized gift that keeps on giving?
Use The Date
A fun thing to do is to use the number of years you’ve been together as the basis for your gift. This is different from the theme of the year.
For example, if you and your partner have been together for two years, pick a gift which has ‘two items’ to it like, tickets for a show or two tickets to the cinema. For three years it could be dinner, dancing, and drinks. And so on.
Your Special Place
Every couple has a special place or two. The restaurant where you had your first date, the spot for your proposal, or the bar where you had your first dance.
The perfect anniversary present doesn’t have to be a physical thing, some of the best gifts are experiences. Because of the significance of these spots to your relationship and the fond memories, they’re perfect for recreating experiences.
If it’s a favorite restaurant, set up a romantic date complete with a candlelight dinner. Go dancing at the bar where you met.
Coupon Book
Coupons may be cliche, but they’ve been around for so long for a reason. A coupon book is a perfect practical yet heartwarming gift. It doesn’t have to be boring, you have the option to fill your coupon book with all the things you want to do for your partner.
For example:
- A relaxing back rub
- Home-cooked meal
- Master of the remote control day
- Breakfast in bed
- A thorough house-cleaning
- A car-washing, inside and out
- A relaxing foot massage
- Dinner at a favorite restaurant
- Outdoor adventure
- An evening of babysitting
- An intimate slow dance
- Day of compliments
- Movie night out
- Daily dog-walking for a week, month, etc
- Car DJ for a day
Finding the perfect anniversary gift can be tricky, especially since the stakes are high. A thoughtful gift will have your partner teary-eyed and grateful while a thoughtless gift will have your partner teary-eyed but vengeful.