Those looking to buy a first wedding anniversary gift for a married couple may want to use the traditional or modern anniversary gift lists for guidance. Others may want unique anniversary gifts or personalized anniversary gifts.
Celebrate the First Anniversary with Paper and Clocks
Those who want to give traditional anniversary presents to celebrate one year of marriage will want to select paper gifts. There are many interpretations of what paper gifts can be and ideas include photo albums or pictures, books or magazine subscriptions, embossed paper sets, unique love letters and live plants or trees. Wives may want to choose concert tickets as anniversary gifts for men. It is even possible to buy first anniversary toilet paper on the internet, as a joke in keeping with the traditional paper anniversary gift.
Clocks are the suggested gift for the first wedding anniversary on the modern gift list. Mantel clocks, wall clocks and watches are all ideas for those who want to use the list of modern anniversary presents. Married couples may choose to buy each other watches and have them engraved with a special message. Others may broaden the interpretation to include gifts of time, such as a date, a weekend away or offering to babysit children while the married couple goes out.
Find Anniversary Gift Ideas on the Wedding Registry
When looking for first anniversary gifts, why not let the married couple choose the anniversary present themselves by checking with their wedding registry? Many stores keep online registries available long after the wedding is over.
Check the registry for anniversary gift ideas by looking for china patterns, household appliances they might not have chosen to buy for themselves and crystal gifts. For example, if the couple registered for china for the wedding, they may not have received all of their place settings. If all the place settings were purchased, buy a serving dish or platter in the same pattern as a first anniversary gift.
Wedding registries can also offer clues to the couple’s taste to get other anniversary gift ideas. Want to buy the newlyweds a sheet set or heirloom blanket? Use the wedding registry to determine what size bed the couple has by looking at which sizes were registered. Considering a bathroom towel set? Use the wedding registry to get anniversary present ideas by looking at which colors of towels were selected for the registry.
Pictures Make Great Personalized Anniversary Gifts
Many couples plan a wedding on a budget, and some couples can’t afford a full wedding photo album or canvas portrait at the time of the wedding. Parents of the couple, or those familiar with the photography studio that was used for the wedding, may want to contact the photographer to see if negatives are on file at the studio. Many studios will create albums and canvas portraits long after the wedding has passed. Purchasing a wedding album or canvas portrait can be a meaningful gift from a husband to a wife or vice versa.
Engraved picture frames also make personalized anniversary gifts. In the months leading up to the anniversary, friends or family members can try to get a candid photo of the newlyweds sharing a special moment. Save the photo for an anniversary gift. When the time to give anniversary presents rolls around, frame the couple’s picture in a frame engraved with their names and their anniversary date. Some stores sell pictures frames engraved with “first wedding anniversary,” and these are great personalized anniversary gifts.
Choosing the best first anniversary gifts for a married couple can be easy when looking to the traditional and modern gift lifts for guidance. Paper and clocks can be interpreted to mean many different gift choices for the newlyweds. Using the couple’s wedding registry is a great way to get gift ideas and find insight into their tastes and household needs. Personalized anniversary gifts like engraved photo frames and wedding pictures can help to make the first anniversary memorable. For more articles about gifts for newlyweds, read Monogrammed Housewarming Gifts for Newlyweds or Gifts for Couples who Like to Entertain.
Genna Cockerham - Genna Cockerham has been writing online since November 2008. She served as Marriage Feature Writer from December 2008 to February ...
Join the Conversation