20 year anniversary gifts: 30 china, platinum and personal ideas
Thirty ways to mark twenty years, from a china tea set for two to a book with "our 20th year" on the cover.
30 ideas ·
Twenty years is long enough that your life together is most of your grown-up life. You've probably raised children or are still in the thick of it, changed jobs, homes and plans, and become a team without quite noticing when it happened. A 20 year anniversary gift should feel like that: settled, a little sentimental, and about the two of you.
The traditional 20th anniversary gift is china, delicate but made to last. The modern gift is platinum, and the flower is the aster. These 30 ideas cover china gifts, platinum ideas, gifts made of words, ideas for your husband, ideas for your wife and ways to celebrate.
Writing the card? Our guide to what to write in an anniversary card has messages for the big milestones, 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
China anniversary gifts
China is fragile, yet it lasts for generations if it's cared for, which is the point. These keep the tradition and make it personal.
- A book of reasons with "our 20th year" on the cover: fifty reasons from twenty years, one per page, with the two of you illustrated on the front.
- A china tea set for two, for the mornings of the next twenty years.
- A china plate painted with your names and wedding date, to hang in the kitchen.
- Your wedding china, replaced piece by piece where it's been broken over the years.
- A pair of china mugs with your inside joke on them.
- A china vase with twenty stems, one for every year.
- A china painting class for two, to make a plate of your own.
Platinum anniversary gifts
Platinum, the modern 20th anniversary gift, is rare and wears for a lifetime.
- A platinum band to wear beside your wedding ring.
- Platinum cufflinks or a tie bar engraved with your wedding date.
- A platinum pendant with your initials and the year you married.
- A watch with your wedding date engraved on the back, for the next twenty years.
Twenty years in words
China and platinum last. So do the right words, written down.
- A letter for each year of your marriage, twenty envelopes to read over a weekend away.
- A list of twenty things you've learned from each other.
- A photo book of the twenty years, a page for each, captioned by hand.
- Letters from your children about what your marriage has shown them.
- Your wedding vows framed beside new ones written for the next twenty years.
- A recording of both of you telling the story of how you met, for the family to keep.
20 year anniversary gifts for your husband
Twenty years in, you know exactly what he'd never buy for himself.
- A book of fifty reasons you love him, from the day you married to the man he is now.
- Tickets to see the band you saw on an early date, twenty years on.
- A bottle of something from the year you married, opened together.
- A weekend doing the thing he's put off for twenty years.
- A framed print of the place you met, with the date underneath.
20 year anniversary gifts for your wife
The best twentieth-year gifts show you still notice the details.
- A book of what you love about her, from your wedding day to the woman she's become.
- Asters, the 20th anniversary flower, delivered every week for a month.
- A platinum or diamond pendant, with a note about the day you married.
- A trip to somewhere she's wanted to go since before the children were born.
Ways to celebrate twenty years
- A vow renewal with your children there this time.
- A trip back to where you honeymooned, twenty years on.
- A dinner party with your wedding party and your oldest friends.
- A weekend away with no kids, no phones and nothing planned.
What the 20th anniversary stands for
China is delicate, but with care it lasts for generations, which is the idea behind the 20th: a marriage that's been looked after for twenty years. Platinum, the modern gift, is one of the rarest and strongest metals there is. The aster, the year's flower, stands for love and patience.
None of it needs to be literal. A china teapot is lovely, but the conversations over it are what you're celebrating.
Whatever you choose, give it with words. Twenty years is a lot of stories, and a short note telling one 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 20th year" on the cover, the two of you illustrated in the style you choose.
Marking a different year? See 15 year anniversary gifts for your fifteenth, 25th anniversary gifts for a silver anniversary, and every year from paper to diamond in our anniversary gifts by year.
Questions people ask
What is the traditional 20th anniversary gift?+
China, delicate but made to last. The modern gift is platinum, and the flower is the aster.
What should I get my husband for our 20th anniversary?+
Something about your twenty years: a book of fifty reasons you love him with "our 20th year" on the cover, a framed print of the place you met, or a bottle from the year you married.
What should I get my wife for our 20th anniversary?+
A platinum or diamond pendant with a note about your wedding day, asters every week for a month, or fifty reasons you love her in a book, written from twenty years together.
What is a good china anniversary gift?+
China works best when it's personal: a tea set for two, a plate painted with your names and wedding date, or your wedding china replaced where it's been broken.
