10 year anniversary gifts: 30 tin and personal ideas for him or her
Thirty ways to mark a decade together, from a tin of ten notes to a book with "our 10th year" on the cover.
30 ideas ·
Ten years is a real milestone. By now you have a shorthand, a few jokes nobody else would understand, and probably a year or two you'd rather not repeat. A 10 year anniversary gift should say something about all of it.
The traditional 10th anniversary gift is tin, or aluminum, chosen because both last and bend without breaking, which is a fair description of ten years together. The modern gift is diamond jewelry, and the flower is the daffodil. These 30 ideas cover all three, plus gifts made of words, ideas for him, ideas for her and experiences to mark the decade.
Writing the card too? Our guide to what to write in an anniversary card has messages for every milestone, and deep reasons why I love you has lines worth borrowing.
Make it a book: Years of Reasons holds fifty reasons, one per page, written from your memories and illustrated to look like your people. Start yours
Tin and aluminum gifts
Tin doesn't have to mean a cookie tin. These keep the tradition and still feel personal.
- A vintage tin filled with ten folded notes, one memory from each year you've been together.
- A hand-stamped aluminum bracelet or keyring with your wedding date and the coordinates of where you married.
- A pressed-tin photo frame holding a picture from your wedding day and one from this year, side by side.
- Your favorite photo of the decade printed on aluminum, which lasts far longer than paper.
- A tin lantern for the backyard, for the evenings you'll spend out there over the next ten years.
- A bottle of good wine from the year you married, in a tin gift box with a note tied to it.
- A tin sign for the kitchen with your names and the year you married.
- A tin time capsule, filled with letters to each other and sealed to open on your 20th.
Ten years in words
The gift nobody else could give is a record of what the ten years meant. These are about the two of you, not the material.
- A book of reasons you love them with "our 10th year" on the cover: fifty reasons from ten years, one per page, with the two of you illustrated on the front.
- A letter for each year of your marriage, ten envelopes to open in order over dinner.
- Your wedding vows framed beside a new set, written for the next ten years.
- A list of the ten best days of your marriage, with a line about each, read out at the restaurant.
- A photo book of the decade, a page for every year, captioned with what you remember.
- A recording of friends and family each sharing their favorite memory of the two of you.
10 year anniversary gifts for him
After ten years you know what he'd never buy himself. Start there.
- A book of fifty reasons you love him, for the bedside drawer he'll say he doesn't keep it in.
- His watch engraved with your wedding date, or his old one restored and engraved.
- Tickets to see the band from your first date, or the team he's followed since before you met.
- A tin of his favorite whiskey or coffee, with a note about the first time you shared one.
- A weekend doing the thing he's talked about for ten years and never booked.
10 year anniversary gifts for her
Ten years in, the best gifts show you still notice the details.
- A book of what you love about her, from the year you met to the one you're in now.
- Diamond earrings or a pendant, the modern 10th anniversary gift, with a note saying what the decade has meant.
- A bracelet with ten small charms, one for every year, each standing for something that happened in it.
- Daffodils, the 10th anniversary flower, delivered to her work with a card in your handwriting.
- A night back in the city where you honeymooned, booked down to the dinner reservation.
Experiences to mark the decade
- A vow renewal, as big as a party or as small as the two of you on a beach.
- A trip back to where you got engaged, or to the place you always said you'd go one day.
- Your wedding menu, recreated at home or at a restaurant.
- A class together in something neither of you can do yet: cooking, dancing, pottery.
- A weekend away with no kids, no phones and nothing planned.
- A night in with your wedding video, and the dress or suit taken out of the closet for one more look.
What the 10th anniversary stands for
Tin and aluminum are strong and flexible, and that's the point of the tradition: by ten years, a marriage has learned to bend without breaking. Diamond, the modern gift, says the same thing more loudly, since nothing is harder. The daffodil, the flower for the year, stands for new beginnings, which suits a decade that's ending and another that's starting.
None of that needs to be literal. The tradition is a prompt, not a rule. A tin is a lovely way to hold ten notes, but the notes are the gift.
Whatever you choose, give it with words. After ten years, a short note that says what the decade meant will outlast almost anything you can buy. If you want the words to be the gift, Years of Reasons puts fifty reasons in a book with "our 10th year" on the cover, the two of you illustrated in the style you choose. Give it with a tin of ten notes and you've kept the tradition too.
Marking a different year? There are paper anniversary gifts for your first, the anniversary gifts by year list every year from paper to diamond, and there are more sentimental anniversary gift ideas for him.
Questions people ask
What is the traditional 10th anniversary gift?+
Tin, or aluminum. Both are strong and flexible, which is the idea: after ten years, a marriage has learned to bend without breaking. The modern gift is diamond jewelry, and the flower is the daffodil.
What should I get my husband for our 10th anniversary?+
Something about the ten years rather than the object: a book of fifty reasons you love him with "our 10th year" on the cover, his watch engraved with your wedding date, or tickets to something from your first date.
What should I get my wife for our 10th anniversary?+
Diamond jewelry is the modern gift, but the gifts people keep are personal: a bracelet with a charm for every year, a night back where you honeymooned, or fifty reasons you love her in a book.
How do you celebrate a 10 year anniversary?+
Many couples go back somewhere that matters, renew their vows or recreate their wedding dinner. However you mark it, add something written. A letter for each of the ten years is simple and unforgettable.
