Traditional Anniversary Gifts For The First 5 Years

Disclosure: Affiliate links are used in this post. Read my full disclosure here.

My husband and I actually started this tradition on a fluke, but went with it! We are following the traditional gifts, so each year we get each something that somehow relates to the traditional gift. You can find a complete list of all the traditional and modern anniversary gifts on Wikipedia.

Here is what we did for our first 5 years of marriage just to give you some ideas!

1st Anniversary - Paper

Tickets to Ama Luna by Cirque du Soleil

For our first anniversary, we went to see Ama Luna by Cirque du Soleil and it worked out as tickets to the show count as paper. We didn't realize this until we were planning what we should do for our second anniversary, so that was lucky! You can also do movie tickets, tickets to a sporting event, etc. Some other fun paper ideas would be to make origami together, write love letters, books, or a romantic coupon book.

2nd Anniversary - Cotton

Socks and Underwear

We were pretty lame with this one and just went with socks and underwear, but we did make sure that the package indeed said they were made of cotton! Clothing is definitely an easy option for this traditional gift!

3rd Anniversary - Leather

Coasters

For leather, we got each other coaster sets as we couldn't agree on one design! I got him a set featuring the loon (Minnesota state bird) and he got me the set with our state on it (Minnesota). If you're a Minnesotan, you can get these coasters from Great Lakes Northern Outfitters. Otherwise, there are plenty of options on Etsy if you want another state or are looking for something else! Some other leather ideas you could do are key fobs, belts, wallets, jewelry,. and purses. 

4th Anniversary - Fruit and Flowers

Pumpkin and Flowers

Our anniversary is in October, so this worked out perfectly! I got my husband a giant pumpkin so he could decorate our front door because guess what, a pumpkin is technically a fruit! He got me flowers, so simple and who doesn't love receiving fresh flowers? Some other fun ideas you could do are a fruit basket, order an edible arrangement, plant flowers or grow from seeds if you have a spring anniversary, or plant a fruit tree.

5th Anniversary - Wood

Point Driver Tool and Picture Frame

At this point, my husband had gotten into woodworking, so he decided he was going to make me a picture frame, but in order to finish it, he needed a Point Driver, so I bought him one. He basically gave me the picture frame without the glass and I gave him the tool so he could use the tool to finish the picture frame! Some other ideas you could do are jewelry or keepsake boxes, rocking chairs, wooden spoons, wood watch, and cutting boards.

Some of our Anniversary Gifts