By Grace Healy
Last updated on
The first anniversary is traditionally called “The Paper Anniversary”. Maybe that’s because the ink is barely dry on the marriage certificate, and maybe it’s because year one of marriage is so young that it’s not solid enough to warrant a medal—or a metal. This list of first anniversary gifts has lots of the traditional paper represented, but we included some other elements to keep it interesting.
Custom Framed Song Lyrics and Photo
This one of a kind picture will feature the lyrics of the couple’s favorite song encircling a photograph, and comes framed and matted in a choice of either black or white.
Love Story
Hand drawn onto watercolor paper, this beautiful artwork will include all the pivotal moments in the relationship, along with corresponding illustrations, from where you first met, right up to the present day.
Parisian Street Sign
Not paper! Paris is the city of love. Walk the streets hand in hand, go down to the banks of the Seine and share a bottle of wine and a baguette, and you’ll understand why lovers claim this city as their own. This first anniversary gift brings the magic of Paris to your home.
First Anniversary Toilet Paper
Get ready, because this first anniversary paper gift will make you guffaw. Put down your coffee unless you want to spray it all over the newspaper. They say true intimacy shares everything. If you two can laugh at this one, we think you’ll be celebrating many, many anniversaries to come.
You Are My…
You are my everything. That’s what this one boils down to. When your spouse is the one who keeps you sane, comforts you, counsels, you, holds you, makes you laugh, makes you feel safe and taken care of no matter what, then they’re your anchor. They’re your everything—this first anniversary, say it all with this print.
Personalized Intersection of Love Photo Print
Celebrate your first anniversary with this black and white street sign photo print which features both your last names and the significant dates on your journey together. Framing option available.
Origami Clock
Your love and marriage can stand the test of time, and you can show your spouse you know it. Keep track of the best years of your life with this cool Origami clock. We guarantee this will be one of the most memorable, creative gifts you can find or give.
Personalized Anniversary Pushpin World Map
Married life will take you down many winding paths, so document your journey together with this beautifully personalized push pin map which comes supplied with 100 pins to get you started.
Customized State Map
And in closing, I’d like to confirm: The State of Our Union is Strong! You might not be the President and the speech you make may not be before a joint session of Congress, but you can verify that the state of your marriage is unshakable with this custom print. Choose your location, provide your names, and you’ll have a lovely first anniversary gift.
Folded Book Art
Literature lovers, couples who go bonkers for books, and reading renegades will love this first anniversary gift. It’s a book folded creatively to display the couple’s initials one either side of a heart. Each book is made to order, comes in a gift wrap, and opens and closes for easy storage.
Couple Portrait with Pets
This sweet family portrait is like the famous American Gothic painting minus the whole spooky gothic vibe. They look so happy with their cartoony smiles, their award winning pig, and well-behaved chicken. Bring a smile to your face with this personalized portrait. Every young family’s kitchen needs one of these.
Our First Year Journal
Simple and very sweet, this ‘First Year Together’ notebook comes in either 5.5” x 8.5” or 8.5” x 11” and is coil bound with lined, blank, or graph paper.
1st Anniversary Velvet Sheet Music to Your WEDDING SONG
Available in a choice of size and finish options, this touching gift adds personal details such as names and date, and adds them to the sheet music for the song that means the most.
One Year and Counting
12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,760 hours, 525,000 minutes, 31,536,000 seconds…but who’s counting? You still have a life time to go. This burlap wall hanging lets your spouse know you’ve cherished every single moment of your first year of marriage, and you can’t wait for the tally to grow.
Man's Ring
For better or for worse (ha!) anniversary gifts seem to be focused on the woman’s side of the equation. This is a gift for the husband—because hey, he’s fifty percent of the deal. It’s a handmade steel keychain with a sweet quote that will remind him of his marriage every time he reaches for his keys.
How Do I Love Thee From A-Z
This gift can be as sweet or as silly as you like as it comes with prompts for every letter of the alphabet to represent the reasons why you love your spouse.
Watercolor House Portrait
What a cool idea! This first anniversary gift is a handmade watercolor based on a picture of your house that you send in to the artist. She’ll send you a draft sketch and painting with you, you approve it, and she puts on the finishing touches. Home sweet home—cool, right?
Memory Book
This anniversary is the first of many, many more to come. Start recording the memories now with this classic, elegant, and traditional memory book. It’s one hundred pages long, and includes celebration prompts, picture frames, and much more. It’s oversized—17X8.5—so it will make a great coffee table conversation starter.
Personalized Love Art/Messsage
For couples who have a personal song, poem, favorite quotation from scripture, this makes an adorable first anniversary gift. The words of your choice serve as the background for two hearts hanging from a tree branch—like two lovers on swings, dreaming of a life together.
Custom Book First Anniversay Gift
The traditional gift for the 1st anniversary is paper, which makes this folded wedding date book art perfect for celebrating those initial 12 months together as husband and wife.
Personalized Music Box
We’ve covered paper, rock, a little bit of metal, and now we’ve got some wood. It’s a downright elemental list. This elegant music box plays “Unchained Melody” and can be personalized with pictures and a special message to your spouse. Open it up and slow dance: ladies choice!
Custom Sketch
Turn a special photograph into a beautiful pencil or ink sketched version which measures 16” x 12” and can be downloaded and printed at home, or delivered as an A4 paper copy.
Custom Silhouette
This creative first anniversary gift idea is truly inspired. The artisan takes your wedding photo, creates a silhouette from high-quality black cardstock, and mounts it on a professional grade portrait backing. The result is a new take on your wedding picture: that perfect moment, re-imagined for your paper anniversary.
A Dozen I Love You
Say it all at once. Say it over and over and over again. Or do both at the same time—plus flowers. This first anniversary gift takes the three words all wives want to hear, combines them with the gift all wives want to get, and puts them in one special bouquet to mark that one special day.
Mates For Life
Very sweet and so unusual, this touching print depicts 12 creatures who, once they find their life partner, stay with them til the end, just like the happy couple.
Bicycle Print
This one is for the cyclists out there. You know that if life is one big bike ride, then your marriage, well, you marriage must be a tandem bike. Which means your life together is one sweet ride. This personalized bike print says all that in one classic image we’re sure will become a family keepsake.
Cherry Wall Cross
For the spiritual couple who said their vows in a traditional church setting, this first anniversary gift is a fitting way to commemorate the occasion. This special gift is carved from cherry wood and is made to be displayed on the wall as a testament and reminder of the special day you said “I do”.
Love Bird Print
Personalize your paper anniversary with this art print. The two of you are represented as love birds sitting together on the branch of a tree, happy together. Provide the artist with your names and your wedding date. She’ll send you this tasteful wall art you can display with pride.
Your Vows on Paper
If you wrote your own vows, you probably agonized over them for hours on end, making sure you got them just right. If you went traditional, you trusted your priest or the person who conducted your ceremony to say the right thing. This gift puts those vows on paper—on a tie clip. He’ll have them as a reminder wherever he goes.
Art Deco Paper Flowers
We’ve offered some pretty cool paper flowers on this list—but these are something different. They have a one-of-a-kind art-deco feel to them and they’re a sure-fire conversation starter. Each flower is two inches wide, comes mounted on a nine-inch stem and is wrapped in a decorative satin ribbon.
Purple Paper Flowers
This paper flower necklace is a unique combination of girly, funky, and just plain pretty. Pink and purple swirls evoke flowers, modern art patterns—it all depends on how you want to see it. Each necklace is custom made upon order, and no two are precisely alike.
The Hammer
Drop it…. Hammer Time! Oh, yes we did. This personalized hammer makes a great first anniversary gift for a man, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t accept the fact that the fixer-upper in your house might be the woman. Whoever drives the nails in your marriage, this gift will give them a smile, and a new tool to boot.
The Personalized Anniversary Journal
Truly a gift to last, this Anniversary Journal makes a truly touching 1st anniversary gift as it commemorates each anniversary up to 60 years with prompts and space for photographs.
Precious Moments Figurine
From the hip and funky to the cute and conventional, this figurine pair from Special Moments is about as traditional as it gets. It’s perfect for the couple who had a fairy-tale wedding, dinner, and reception right out of a bridal magazine. It’s the ultimate romantic gift, perfect for home display.
Paper Roses
Giving roses is the traditional way to say I love you. This first anniversary gift combines that tradition with the whole paper thing: a red paper rose. This one comes in a little pot and has a Happy First Anniversary card included.
Origami Butterfly Rings
The first anniversary is the paper anniversary, an Origami is the art of paper—which makes Origami jewelry the perfect way to celebrate the paper anniversary. These handmade butterfly rings will make her hands feel like magic—just like the day you said your vows.
Christmas Tree First Anniversary Ornament
The first Christmas together as husband and wife is one you’ll never forget, nor will you be able to with this Christmas ornament which celebrates your first December 25th.
Personalized Constellation of Love
Framed or unframed, this picture will make a touching tribute to one of the most important days of your life as it maps out the stars exactly as they were on that date.
Personalized Wedding Song
Whether it’s your own secret song or the song you first danced to at your wedding, this personalized picture features the lyrics contained within a heart shape, along with first names and date.
Silver Origami Crane
Paper anniversary, Origami is paper art—we get all that. But silver jewelry is always a winner. Here’s a way to kill all three birds (but not the crane!) with one stone: a silver pendant crafted to look just like an Origami crane. This first anniversary gift adds a unique wrinkle to the situation.
Anniversary Serving Tray
Use this first anniversary gift to bring her breakfast in bed and it will be doubly special, as the tray features a tree which has been personalized with both your initials on the trunk.
Personalized Porcelain Faux Bois Mug Set
Whether you’re buying for each other or another happy couple, this pair of mugs makes a whimsical gift as it features the age old tradition of carving initials into the trunk of a tree.
Personalized Hearts Four-Across Game
Most people have played Four Across at some point in their lives, but this version is different as the ‘holes’ contain the couple’s first names and wedding date, surrounded by hearts.
The Love Lamp
Love always makes the world seem brighter, which is proved by this gorgeous lamp which features the word ‘love’ in a wooden script, with the ‘o’ depicted by a heart shaped bulb.
Upcycled Eco-Bracelet
If your funky bride doesn’t want a necklace, has plenty of earrings, but just loves a cool bangle, look no further. We can even see a man wearing this first anniversary gift. It’s made from upcycled and it’s coated to keep it safe from the elements. Definitely an alternative gift for an alternative couple.
Anniversary Mouse Pad
We can hear the conversation: “Hon, let’s not do anything major. It’s just the paper anniversary. Dinner, no big gifts?” “Good idea. Let’s save it for when it counts.” If you’re that couple, then this is the gift for you. This mouse pad will be close at hand all the time so your spouse can remember this one—even though it’s no big deal.
Personalized Love Birds Wine Box
Every day is a great day in a happy marriage, but this box comes engraved with the happy couple’s first names to keep a bottle of wine safe until a special occasion comes along.
Personalized Written in the Stars Wine Box
Sweet and sentimental, this star spangled wooden wine box can hold three bottles of wine and can be engraved with their names, special date, and which anniversaries each bottle is for.
1 Year Marriage Anniversary Wine Bag
Breaking the first year of marriage down into months, weeks, days, and hours, this wine bag makes a fitting gift in which to place a celebratory bottle of fizz.
Copper Penny 1 Down and Forever To Go
Not that you’ll need any luck, but this lucky 2018 penny keychain has been hand-stamped with ‘1 down’, while the larger aluminum disc behind it reads ‘forever to go’.
More One Year Anniversary Gift Ideas
- 30 Traditional 1 Year Paper Anniversary Gifts to Make Them Feel Special
- 161 Good Traditional Anniversary Gifts By Year for Him and Her
6 DIY One Year Anniversary Gifts
Framed Love Hearts
They’re playing your song! You want to memorialize that one song that tells the story of your love, and the paper anniversary is a perfect opportunity to do it with just seven simple steps. The materials are easy: your song lyrics typed out, a couple sheets of photo paper, a picture frame, scissors, tape, and a ruler.
Fringe Letter DIY
The first wedding anniversary is all about the big “O”—got you! “O” as in “One” you naughty rascal. This DIY delivers step-by-step for making the paper anniversary special by creating a big, fancy, decorated cardboard “ONE”. It will remind you that you aren’t newlyweds anymore, and you have your whole life ahead.
Map Hearts Display
Location, location, location. It’s important in real estate, and it’s important in relationships. This DIY tutorial shows you how to make a paper first anniversary gift showing where the lucky couple first met, where they got married, and where they moved. You’ll just need a picture frame, the right maps, and basic craft supplies.
Anniversary Time Capsule
Okay, so we admit that not all women are super-duper DIY masters either. So here’s one that’s totally girly but not quite to craftsy. All you need is a spare shoe box, craft paper and fabric, a collection of envelopes, and your own ideas. This anniversary gift is for the first one and many years to come.
Instagram Photo Book
Your first year together was filled with highs and lows, ups and downs, challenges and amazing moments you’ll never forget. Chances are—if you’re living in the 21st century—that many of these memories are digitized. On Instagram, that is. This tutorial shows you how to take all those wonderful images from your first year together and put them in a cute paper first anniversary album.
Paper Box
You have plans to take your spouse out somewhere special, but just like location is everything in real estate (and relationships), presentation can be everything when it comes to first anniversary gifts. This creative tutorial give you a great idea—and the how-to—for presenting your spouse with a wonderful anniversary date idea.
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Tiffany Stoney says: May 2, 2018 at 4:25 pm
Love these ideas! Thanks for the share!
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Tiffany Stoney 