Gift Guides
Anniversary Gift Guide: What to Give at Each Year
Paper, cotton, tin — the traditional list, translated into gifts that people actually keep. Plus where a custom figurine fits.
By Mia Chen · · 7 min read
周年礼物封面
The traditional anniversary list was written for a world where materials were scarce and gifts were practical. Most of it still works, if you read it loosely.
Year 1 — paper
Read as: something with your story written into it. A printed photo book of the first year, or the illustration sheet that comes with an anime-style custom figure, both qualify.
Year 5 — wood
The easiest one to get right. A walnut-based figurine of the two of you, engraved with the date, is wood in the traditional sense and a keepsake in the practical one.
Year 10 — tin or aluminium
Read as: durable. Ten years in, the gifts that land are the ones that acknowledge time passing. A figurine made from a photo taken this year, set beside one made from a photo taken at the wedding, does that more directly than anything you can buy off a shelf.
The general rule
Specific beats expensive. A gift that could only have been given to this one person, referencing one particular moment, outperforms a more costly generic one every time. That is the entire reason custom keepsakes exist as a category.
- Reference a specific date, place or in-joke
- Choose something that gets displayed, not stored
- Order early enough that you are not paying for rush shipping