Your first wedding anniversary is a big one, it marks a milestone in your new married life and deserves a special gift to mark the occasion! The traditional first wedding anniversary gift is considered to be paper, which represents your new marriage as like a blank sheet, and as relatively fragile. Thankfully, the first wedding anniversary gift is also a nicely affordable one!
Whether you’re looking for something to commemorate your own special first year, or, a token to give as a gift to family or friends, we’ve found the best first wedding anniversary gifts with lots of unusual ideas and personalised gift inspiration so you can find that special present. We also have fabulous date ideas for how to celebrate this special first anniversary milestone here!
1. Wedding Venue Illustration
A hand drawn wedding venue illustration is a perfectly personal first wedding anniversary gift keepsake for any couple (or yourselves!) to remember their wedding day. You can find gorgeous versions at Little Ivory Weddings, Hannah Blake Art, Appleberry Atelier, Till Dawn Dear, and Dusty Boy Designs.
2. Custom Papercuts
Papercuts are delicate works of art cut by hand from one single sheet of paper or card. Designs can include lots of personal details such as the couple’s married name and the date of their special day. Ranging from the intricate to the contemporary, you can find lots of gorgeous papercut artists and designs on Etsy and Not On The Hightstreet. Some of our favourites also include Miss Bespoke Papercuts, Mimi and Mae, Georgia Low and BB Papercuts.
3. Vintage Style Prints
This very sweet Mates For Life print by Jacqueline Schmidt from Uncommon Goods features couples from land, sea, and sky that proves that true love can be found anywhere, anytime, but only between a few very special species.
4. Newspaper Front Page
The biggest news on the day you were married—your wedding of course! While it may not have made the front page of The Times or The Independent, you can see what else happened on your special day with a personalised and framed front page edition which features the date you tied the knot.
5. Calligraphy Handwritten Quotes, Poems, Letters or Vows
Instead of tucking them away in a box, why not make your vows, favourite love quote, special letter or poem part of your everyday with a framed, calligraphy print. You can hire a calligraphy artist like Irish based Calligraphy by Laura to put your cherished words on to paper so you’ll always remember them for years to come.
6. A Date Night Jar
Ffilled with fun day date and date night ideas, you will love this! Create your own first wedding anniversary gift version by filling a recycled jar with 52 fun new ideas for activities you can do as a couple. Some of our favourites include go to a drive-in movie, gaze at the stars together, go glamping , have a picnic and cook dinner together.
7. A Couples’ Cookbook
Whether it’s experimenting in the kitchen or perfecting the classics, a cookbook is a sweet and practical gift for a married couple. There are literally thousands to choose from but some of our favourites for a first wedding anniversary gift are the Martha Stewart’s Newlywed Kitchen, The Newlywed Table by Maria Zizka or the Just Married: A Cookbook for Newlyweds by Caroline Chambers.
8. Reasons I Love You Cards
A little box of love containing sweet note cards hidden in envelopes, each one for sharing a different reason why you love your other half or to share happy memories from your first year of marriage.
9. A Fun Framed Print
Prints are a great wedding anniversary gift idea for any year of marriage. There are literally millions of options out there in a whole variety of styles and themes to suit every type of couple and that can be customised with names, locations, dates and heartfelt words.
10. First Dance Lyrics
Treasure that magical first dance moment with a framed artwork of your first dance lyrics. You can find lots of great options on Etsy and Not On The High Street.
11. Origami Wall Clock
This contemporary paper clock design marries both the traditional and modern (the modern gift is a clock, which commemorates the passage of time) first wedding anniversary gifts in this intricate design by . Find it on Etsy
12. Custom Vintage Advertisement
Alexander & Co creates vintage advertisement inspired artwork designed to seamlessly integrate your unique personalisation such as names, wedding date and venue. A seriously cool gift for the vintage lovers!
13. A Reveal Wheel
Share why someone means the world to you with this clever reveal wheel by Marta Brook, a gorgeous first wedding anniversary card alternative.
14. A DIY Papercraft Kit
There are lots of great paper craft kits you can buy but this adorable nautical one is a cute take on the ship in a bottle! Find it here.
15. A Romantic Book
A coffee table book or a sweet book of romantic poems are a wonderful addition to your bookshelf. Some of our favourite include Love Letters of Great Men, Love Letters of Great Women and Pablo Neruda’s Love Poems.
16. Custom Star Map
Give a gift of the stars to always remember that special date. A gorgeous print featuring what the position of the stars in the night sky looked like on your wedding day. Create your own over at The Night Sky or Etsy
17. Personalised Notecards
We’re massive stationery geeks here at One Fab Day so it’s no surprise we love personalised social stationery for couples! They make a perfect gift for letter-writing lovers or to have stashed away for those little last minute thank you notes. You can find gorgeous modern notecard sets at Hello Snowflake, Papier and Etsy all which can be personalised with the couples first names, initials or monogram with their newly married surname. For non personalised versions check out Smythson’s range of handcrafted correspondence cards.
18. Personalised Jigsaws
With people spending more time at home, jigsaw puzzles are having a renaissance! From cute to crazy hard, there are literally millions to choose from. For personalised versions you can create your own photo puzzles over at Photo Puzzle or Bags of Love, and personalised map puzzles at Butler & Hill.
19. A Telegram
Sent a sweet message to your other half, or to the anniversary couple that will arrive in style! Old-style telegrams are the perfect card alternative that’s also a beautiful keepsake to be treasured forever. Order one here.
20. An Ogham Wish
Perfect for those who tied the knot in Ireland or may have Irish roots! While uniquely Celtic, Ogham Wish has a universal appeal. Ogham is the earliest known form of writing in Ireland. To mark that special milestone, why not create a personalised Ogham wish gift for your loved one?
21. A Year Of Us Book
We love this idea! This book contains 365 prompts to start everyday communication. Learn something new each day with the help of this lovely book. The aim is to strengthen a couple’s relationship with all of its lighthearted to heartfelt questions. You can shop this book online here.
22. A Professional Wedding Photo Book or Album
Perhaps you haven’t gotten around to printing your most memorable wedding shots, or simply just do not know where to begin. Talk to your photographer about putting together a keepsake wedding album of your professional shots. Or if you’d like to mix candid shots from guests into the layouts, Wedding Albums can do it all for you. Add creative text to surprise your partner, and enjoy taking a trip down memory lane together.
Want to know what the other wedding anniversary gifts are by year? We have a list of 1-100 wedding anniversary gifts here!
