Finding the perfect anniversary gifts each year can be a stressful process. Believe me–we have had our fair share of the “my gift doesn’t measure up to your gift” feelings and the dreaded, “$@#! You got me something and I don’t have anything for you.”
Fed up with these feelings, we ditched gift giving altogether. (Read more about the Valentine’s Days that put the nail in that coffin in this post.)
Instead, we use the traditional anniversary gifts as inspiration to create a joint experience that we enjoy so much more than gifts.
Now, you might be thinking, “Wait, the traditional anniversary gifts? That list of things like gifts made of paper and cotton and stuff? Wow, you guys are b.o.r.i.n.g.”
Stay with me. Yes, we follow the traditional ideas for anniversary gifts, but we use them with a twist. We look forward to planning our anniversary gifts every year and it is stress free!
Instead of focusing on getting each other the perfect anniversary gift (which doesn’t exist), we work together to create a fun experience “gift” for ourselves.
The traditional anniversary gifts are our guide each year.
This eliminates the pressure of getting a gift that measures up to the other’s and it’s something we look forward to doing together.
Plus, it lets us flex our creative muscles and create the experience together. So, we not only get to treat ourselves to a fun experience, but we also get to spend time together to plan it out.
Since we’re both involved in the planning, the end result is a guaranteed success!
What We’ve done
To give you an idea of what we’re talking about, here’s what we have done for our first two anniversaries.
Year One Anniversary Gift: Paper
For our first anniversary, we spent a night at the Paper Valley Hotel that’s relatively close to where we live.
We had a great time walking the downtown streets, enjoying a nice dinner, and stopping for dessert. The next day, we took in the fun atmosphere of the weekend farmers market.
It was a simple, close-to-home getaway, but was a fun couple of days spent together with a subtle nod to the traditional paper anniversary gifts.
Year Two Anniversary Gift: Cotton
Our second anniversary was overtaken with moving boxes, unpacking, and trips to the store as we moved into our new house, so our celebration was posted a couple months.
When we heard that Hootie and the Blowfish was making a stop at Alpine Valley, we knew the concert would be a perfect way to spend our anniversary!
We ordered matching cotton band t-shirts to wear to the event. 🥰
Keep It Simple
…if you want. By all means, if your connection to paper is a printed airline ticket to Greece, I’m not stopping you (once this pandemic is over, at least).
Our connections to the traditional anniversary gifts each year were just simple nods to the theme, and the activities we did were close to home and budget-friendly.
All that matters is that we spent quality time together and came home with memories each year.
The activity doesn’t have to be complex or expensive, it just has to be something you enjoy doing together.
Preserve Your Anniversary Gift Memories
After we celebrate our anniversary, we document our favorite memories from each year.
There are so many ways you can preserve your memories, and we suggest doing what you enjoy. It could be as simple as saving photos to look back on each year.
Think about what you can do and consider the time you have. If you hate it or it takes hours, you’re more likely to let it slip.
We have an anniversary journal, and it’s a simple, fun way to document our years together and how we celebrate each anniversary.
Each year, I add two pages–one “highlight reel” of important events that happened throughout the year, and one to document our traditional anniversary gifts experience.
No matter how you preserve your memories, it’s always fun to look back at what you’ve done in years past. We always find ourselves saying “Oh yeah!” over something we had forgotten about (more and more every year, it seems).
Here are some other ideas for ways to preserve your anniversary gift memories:
- Record fun moments. If you’re fancy, edit it into a fun yearly video.
- Create a photo book with photos and text (I love Shutterfly!).
- Create a scrapbook.
- Keep a treasure box of fun mementos from each year. Or, use symbolic pieces; for example, a cotton ball tagged with a photo or description from your second anniversary.
- Write journal entries or tell the story of each year.
If you want to step away from gift giving, we suggest trying to make the traditional anniversary gift ideas more fun and meaningful with an experience you can enjoy together.
Cassie says
I’ve seen people do the traditional gifts, and I think it’s adorable. I love preserving as many memories as possible, and many of my gifts to my fiance come as personalized things such as picture key chains, a shirt with my daughter’s hand print, etc. When we get married, this looks fun to try!
Away from Ordinary says
Hi Cassie! Congrats on your engagement! Your personalized gifts sound so sweet and from the heart! Those are the best gifts you can give, for sure. I hope you give this approach a try and enjoy!
cheerstolifeblogging says
OMG I’ve heard about these themed wedding anniversary gifts and love the idea! I get married this year so will for sure be starting this next year ♥
Away from Ordinary says
Thank you! I hope all goes smoothly with your wedding this year. Congrats! 🙂
Brittany Rausch says
This was awesome! I love how took a different take on each traditional anniversary gift! I think it’s super important to document your time together— I often find I forget to take pictures with my husband… our anniversary is next week so that’s my resolution this year of marriage! More pictures together!
Away from Ordinary says
Hi Brittany! I love your idea for resolutions for years of marriage! I’m with you on forgetting to take pictures. I wish you many more years together of happy memories!