When my husband and I were nearing our first wedding anniversary, I wanted to try to follow the traditional anniversary gift recommendations. You know how it goes — first year paper, second year cotton, etc. I wanted to follow these traditions, but I also wanted to add a new twist to it, though, and also give him a number of gifts equal to the number of years we’d been together. In other words, on our tenth anniversary, he would get ten gifts that fit the traditional list. Well, we’ve had four anniversaries so far, and I’ve been able to keep up my tradition every year, with great results.
For the first year, the traditional gift is paper. This one is easier than it sounds because you can choose event tickets or gift certificates. I got my husband one paper gift certificate for a massage.
For the second year, the traditional gift is cotton. This idea lends itself well to clothing, and I knew my husband needed some jeans, so I got him two pairs of cotton jeans
For the third year, the traditional gift is leather. Another easy one for me, because he needed a new belt. Since it was the third year, I got him three leather belts
For the fourth year, the traditional gift is fruit or flowers. This one was a little tricky, and I knew he wouldn’t be interested in flowers, so I decided to focus on the fruit aspect. I decided to make him four little boxes of fruit-flavored candy and snacks. The four fruits I selected were cherry, orange, lemon, and strawberry. I started with cute little organizer boxes which could be easily reused, and filled them with a little shredded paper (see my post for how to make your own) in colors to match the fruits. I then stuffed each box with every snack and treat I could find that matched the fruit flavors. From strawberry milk to sour lemon candies to an actual orange to a mini cherry pie. I even split up a package of Starburst
Our fifth anniversary is in a few months, and the traditional gift is wood. He’s always been a big fan of trees and the outdoors, so I plan to get him five birch tree seedlings for the yard as a gift. (Don’t tell him!)
I plan to keep this tradition going every year, although it will require a little more imagination as time goes on. I can see myself getting stuck on, say, our thirtieth anniversary, when he won’t want thirty pearls… so in cases like that (or in years for which there is no traditional gift), I’ll just find thirty of something else. Sure, the number of gifts will get larger and larger, but I think that’s a great way to celebrate an anniversary. When you’re looking at twenty of something, and realize they represent the years you’ve been married, you really appreciate how long you’ve been together!
Here’s a list of the traditional anniversary gifts, for reference:
| Year | Traditional gift |
|---|---|
| First | Paper |
| Second | Cotton |
| Third | Leather |
| Fourth | Fruit or Flowers |
| Fifth | Wood |
| Sixth | Candy or Iron |
| Seventh | Wool or Copper |
| Eighth | Bronze or Pottery |
| Ninth | Pottery |
| Tenth | Tin |
| Eleventh | Steel |
| Twelfth | Silk or Linen |
| Thirteenth | Lace |
| Fourteenth | Ivory |
| Fifteenth | Crystal |
| Twentieth | China |
| Twenty-fifth | Silver |
| Thirtieth | Pearls |
| Thirty-fifth | Coral |
| Fortieth | Ruby |
| Forty-Fifth | Sapphire |
| Fiftieth | Gold |
| Fifty-Fifth | Emerald |
| Sixtieth | Diamond |
3 comments so far:
Give him 30 “pearls of wisdom” in addition to your present!
Our 5th anniversary came this summer but I had a change of plans for my husband’s gift. He had his eye on a beautiful wooden wardrobe that he wanted to keep his clothes in. Since that meant more room in the closet for me, I was happy to oblige! I bought the wardrobe for him, but I still needed to give him five wooden items to keep with my tradition. My sister helped me come up with the perfect solution — I gave him five wooden hangers.
He was confused at first, but then delighted to learn that they were for the new wardrobe waiting for him in the garage!
Oh my, I’ve had two anniversaries since this post and I’m way overdue for an update!
For our 6th anniversary, I kept with the traditional “candy” theme by giving my husband 6 pounds of his favorite candy, Haribo gummi bears. That was a lot of gummi, but with his sweet tooth, they didn’t last as long as you might think.
For our 7th anniversary, the traditional gift of “copper” was challenging, but I met it by making him a set of copper wind chimes with 7 pipes. I even wrote up instructions on how to make our own wind chimes if you want to try this yourself!