25th anniversary gifts: 30 silver and personal ideas for him or her
Thirty ways to mark a silver anniversary, from candlesticks and irises to a book with "our 25th year" on the cover.
30 ideas ·
Twenty-five years is a quarter of a century, and it feels like it. You've probably raised children or seen each other through a career change or two, lost people you loved, and found your way back to each other more than once. A 25th anniversary gift should honor the whole story.
The traditional 25th anniversary gift is silver, and the modern one is silver too, which is why it's called the silver anniversary. The flower is the iris. These 30 ideas cover silver gifts, gifts made of words, ideas for your wife, ideas for your husband, gifts from the family 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
Silver anniversary gifts
Silver is the first of the big milestone metals. These keep the tradition and make it about the two of you.
- A book of reasons with "our 25th year" on the cover: fifty reasons from twenty-five years, one per page, with the two of you illustrated on the front.
- A silver frame holding your wedding photo and one from this year, side by side.
- Silver candlesticks for the table you've shared for twenty-five years.
- A silver locket or bracelet engraved with your wedding date.
- Silver cufflinks or a money clip engraved with your initials and the year you married.
- A silver keepsake box for the letters, cards and photos of the last twenty-five years.
- A pair of silver champagne flutes, engraved, for the toast.
Twenty-five years in words
Silver shines. The words are what they'll keep.
- A note for each year of your marriage, twenty-five of them tied in one bundle.
- Your wedding vows framed beside new ones written for the next twenty-five years.
- A list of the twenty-five moments you'd live again, read aloud over dinner.
- A photo book of the twenty-five years, a page for each, captioned by hand.
- Letters from your children about the two of you, collected in secret.
- A recording of the story of how you met, told by both of you, for the family to keep.
25th anniversary gifts for your wife
After twenty-five years she knows you remember the big days. Show her you remember the small ones.
- A book of what you love about her, from your wedding day to the woman beside you now.
- A silver bracelet with a charm for every milestone: the wedding, each child, each home.
- Irises, the 25th anniversary flower, delivered in the morning with a card in your handwriting.
- A trip to the place she's talked about for twenty-five years.
- A ring to wear beside her wedding ring, with the date engraved inside.
25th anniversary gifts for your husband
He'll probably say he doesn't need anything. Give him something only you could.
- A book of fifty reasons you love him, from the day you married to the man he is now.
- A silver watch, or his old watch restored and engraved with your wedding date.
- A silver tie bar or cufflinks with the date you married engraved on the back.
- Tickets to see his team or his favorite band, with dinner booked beforehand.
- A weekend away with no plans, no phones and his favorite meal waiting.
From the family, and ways to celebrate
- A book of reasons from the whole family, gathered from the children and their closest friends.
- A surprise party with the people who were at your wedding.
- A vow renewal in the place you married, or somewhere entirely new.
- A trip back to where you honeymooned, twenty-five years on.
- Your wedding dinner, recreated at home or at a restaurant.
- A family photo shoot with everyone in it.
- A candlelit dinner party with silver on the table and the people you love around it.
What the 25th anniversary stands for
Silver is precious, it lasts, and it shines brighter the more it's cared for, which is the idea behind the silver anniversary: twenty-five years of looking after each other. The iris, the year's flower, stands for faith and hope.
None of it needs to be literal. A silver frame is lovely, but the two photos inside it, twenty-five years apart, are the gift.
Whatever you choose, give it with words. Twenty-five 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 25th year" on the cover, the two of you illustrated in the style you choose.
Marking a different year? See 20 year anniversary gifts for your twentieth, 50th anniversary gifts for a golden anniversary, and every year from paper to diamond in our anniversary gifts by year.
Questions people ask
What is the traditional 25th anniversary gift?+
Silver, which is why the 25th is called the silver anniversary. The modern gift is silver too, and the flower is the iris.
What should I get my wife for our 25th anniversary?+
Something about your twenty-five years: a silver bracelet with a charm for every milestone, irises delivered in the morning, or a book of fifty reasons you love her with "our 25th year" on the cover.
What should I get my husband for our 25th anniversary?+
A watch engraved with your wedding date, silver cufflinks, or fifty reasons you love him in a book, written from twenty-five years together.
What is a good silver anniversary gift?+
Silver works best when it's personal: a frame holding your wedding photo and one from this year, a locket engraved with the date, or candlesticks for the table you've shared.
