25 Awesome Anniversary Gift Ideas for Under $25

By Fawn Weaver on Wednesday, April 10, 2013

25 Awesome Anniversary Gift Ideas

Have you ever been just a couple days away from your wedding anniversary and trying to figure out what meaningful gift you can get…inexpensively?  Yep, been there, done that.  But have no fear, you (and I) never have to go through that again.

Yesterday, we posed a simple question to Happy Wives Club members on our Facebook Community page: What is the most creative anniversary gift you (and/or your husband) has ever given for less than $25? And we got back some pretty awesome answers!  These are just a few of our favorites.  

Feel free to borrow these ideas and make them your own. I most certainly will!  

1. For our first anniversary (which is traditionally the paper anniversary), I took sand from Lake Michigan (where my husband was born) and put it in an old bottle with a stopper top.  Then I took a piece of paper and “aged” it with coffee and tea grounds. When it dried, I printed a poem I wrote on it, burned the edges to make it look OLD, rolled it up, tied it with a red ribbon, and put it in the bottle. He loved it and it still sits on his dresser by the bed! -Carla

2. My husband took the batteries out of a wall clock, set it to the time we got married, and wrote a poem around the outside of it. -Stephanie

3. I bought a jar and filled it with his favorite candy and wrapped each candy with a piece of paper that had a reason why I love him. -Shelley

4. On our first year anniversary, my husband gave me a photo album he had worked on the entire year to commemorate our first year together. -Sharon

5. One year we decided to get creative and set a $5 limit and whatever we did it had to fit in a noodle box. My husband made me a Red Vine bouquet and I filled his with Love Notes candy! -Sherry-Jane

6. I went on Shutterfly and put a picture of us at our wedding on a shirt w/ the caption “Married My Best Friend” and our wedding date. -Vanessa

7. In a small box, I placed inside a test pack w/ a positive pregnancy result… we’d been longing for 8 years.-Jyra

8. A six-pack of diet Coke and a gallon of chocolate ice cream — it was meaningful to the two of us, something no one else would think of giving me….expensive gifts just bought as a gift can’t hold a candle to something simple and inexpensive with loads of personal meaning. -Kelly

9. I made a poster of the different popular love teams (i.e tarzan & jane, mickey and minnie mouse) and in the middle I put our names in bolder, bigger letters and put it in a romantic frame I personally made. -Sheila

10. I got $20 dollars worth in $2 dollar bills and printed labels with things we could do and rolled them up. (go to the dollar show, get ice cream, go for a walk to the store to get a candy…)  It was fun and we got to spend time together. -Urinda

11. A puzzle with a picture of your wedding and you can spend time every year putting it together they make them at Walmart or Meijer. -Adilene

12. My sweet hubby made me a DVD of family pictures from when we dated through our 10th anniversary using some of my favorite music as background. It was a complete surprise and is my most prized gift from him (we’ve been married 22 years now – hoping for an updated version :) ). -Tonya

13. My husband gave me this Love basket with all my favorite things in it (smell goods “candy” whitebear that smells like chocolate and a red and pink heart with a rose in my name). -Lori

14. An envelope full of handmade vouchers for a back tickle, massage, favourite dinner, movie night, etc. He could redeem his vouchers whenever he wanted. -Claire

15. I arranged for the children to be gone & prepared a dinner & greeted him in a piece of lingerie & dinner & dessert was me. -Valerie

16. A mix cd of songs from our dating and married life that reminded me of him or a special memory we share. We love to listen to it. It is like memory lane of our marriage and it always shows us how far we have come, let’s enjoy where we have been and look forward to where we are going! -Jamie

17. For our 25th Anniversary I gave my husband a silver trophy that read To My Greatest Friend and Lover. He really enjoyed his gift since he never received one as a child. Now, he’s looking forward to our 50th for another trophy. -Dawn

18. I cross stitched a wedding sampler for our 25th anniversary for my husband.  It didn’t cost much at all. -Tina

19. One year gave him a heart shaped box with a note inside “this heart is filled with kisses for you from me.”  He loved it! -June

20. Etsy has wonderfully thoughtful gifts. Ordered a print with all the family’s important dates on it-wedding day, births of our children, etc. -Julie

21. I made him a video that told him all the things I love about him and put pictures of us throughout our relationship. He loved it! -Michelle

22. Our anniversary is on Groundhog Day..so I went to Build-A-Bear and made my husband a groundhog and included inside the stuffed animal a personal message I recorded while making “Phil”. He LOVED it! -Stephanie

23. Husband made me a dozen roses out of my favorite candy (stuffed Twizzlers). -Brittany

24. Wrote out the words of all the little ways he shows me love everyday and framed it… stamped 3 hearts on the frame (for our third anniversary) displayed it in the bathroom where we see it everyday 10 years later. -Jacqueline

25. At-home spa day.  Treat your spouse to a 30-minute massage, followed by an enzyme facial (don’t attempt to do extractions…enzyme facial mask will do the trick and can be purchased anywhere for less than $20), manicure and pedicure. -Fawn (yep, I just came up with this one so I’d better try it out myself :) ).

QUESTION: Do you have any great anniversary gift ideas for less than $25?  Please share them with us! (NEW: You can now leave comments on this page – just scroll down and click through the Comments button below)

Until tomorrow…make it a great day!

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THE BOOK: It’s been described as, “Like Eat, Pray, Love but not down on marriage.” Make sure to check out the Happy Wives Club book.  I had the great honor of traveling to 12 countries on 6 continents, interviewing couples happily married 25 years or more, with 1 mission only: to find out what makes marriages happy…and keeps them that way.  It’s a marriage book like none other.

Fawn Weaver is the USA Today® and New York Times® bestselling author of Happy Wives Club: One Woman's Worldwide Search for the Secrets of a Great Marriage, adopting the same name as the Club she founded in 2010. The Happy Wives Club community has grown to include more than 900,000 women in over 110 countries around the world. When she’s not blogging or working on her next project, she's happily doting over her husband of nearly eleven years, Keith.

 

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  • xoxo

    For our 10th year Anniversary I made an online album for my husband containing 101 “quotes style” images entitled “100 things I love about You”. Real meaningful things and not repetitive. I have to admit after #70, it took me another hour LOL. My husband made a cd for me, songs from when we just met, when were still dating with his voice narrating/doing commentary. Really nice journey to the past. Happy Tears.

    • http://twitter.com/happywivesclub Happy Wives Clubâ„¢

      WOW! Laci above is on their “Happy Tears” year so I’m going to tag her to make sure she saw this comment. Thanks for sharing!

  • Laci

    This list is great! With our anniversary just around the corner I’ve been running my brain ragged trying to decide on what would be a perfect gift for him. After reading this I have way too many to choose from. Last year I ordered him a camo Bible with his name on the front in orange. He loved it! This year I’m going for tears of joy which shouldn’t be hard to do with him!

    • http://twitter.com/happywivesclub Happy Wives Clubâ„¢

      Woohoo! So happy we could help, Laci! I’ll definitely be borrowing ideas from here all year long. At less than $25 each, no need to wait until our anniversary :) .

    • http://twitter.com/happywivesclub Happy Wives Clubâ„¢

      Laci, did you see the comment below from “xoxo”? It seems pretty perfect for the “Tears of Joy” gift you’re looking for. Scroll down and check it out.

  • http://www.toodarnhappy.com/ Kim Hall

    Your readers have such great ideas, Fawn! Lots of wonderful ways to say “I love you” without breaking the bank.

    • http://twitter.com/happywivesclub Happy Wives Clubâ„¢

      Aren’t they awesome ideas, Kim? You rock for posting a comment – thank you!

  • http://twitter.com/happywivesclub Happy Wives Clubâ„¢

    Funniest thing! I somehow deleted #25 and don’t remember what was there so I just had to add an impromptu one. I like it…think I’ll use it soon :) .

  • Carlos

    You can make your own Photo to text at http://www.photo-to-text.com. It’s a great anniversary gift idea.

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

      Fun idea!

  • Sandy

    My husband gave me 11 roses with a card that said, “You are the 12th”

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

      He’s a keeper. How sweet is that!

  • bkozlowski

    Great Anniversary Ideas! Have you heard of http://mydayregistry.com?

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

      Not until just now. Very cool!

  • Katy-Lou

    I had a few ideas for under £5 each (see useless ideas tab)… for the lighthearted couple only… http://katy-lou.weebly.com

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

      Thanks for the ideas.

  • nicjayhay

    I ordered “our song” on vinyl and then put it in a frame it cost under £10 to do that and he loved it and it now hangs on the wall.

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

      That is awesome! How did you do that? Is there a particular place that will do that online?

  • Kay

    Just ran across this looking for ideas. I thought I’d share one. I bought a small (palm size) treasure chest from the craft store and filled it with some cheap things (toy, gold dollar coin etc) and hid the box in the house. I made a treasure map for him to locate the “buried treasure.” The real gift was a key (antique bottle opener) to my heart inside the box! That was all around 20 bucks. I also had a custom key ring made with the long and lat of where we first met…that was more than 25 tho :)

  • Unknown

    Great awesome Thanks

  • Jo (Jyothi)

    Hi, the listed ideas here are just awesome.. I am looking for something exactly like this for our 1st anniversary. My Husband’s Birthday followed immediately after our marriage. That year he turned 33. So I have gifted him 32 gifts (feeding bottle for year 1, a pair of baby socks for year 2 and so on), with a small love message in each gift and the 33 rd gift, I told him is Myself.

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

      That’s a very creative idea! Very cool.

  • Sol Rivero

    Lovely ideas! I’ve compiled some of my own to help the guys out there get something really meaningful for their ladies! Hope it’s useful! :) http://ow.ly/pb0MG

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

      Cool. You may want to include the actual URL rather than the ow.ly link because alot of folks (like me) are leery of links I can’t read in advance :) .

  • dssdfg

    These are the lamest gift ideas I have ever heard of. We’re getting ready for our ninth now, but even our first year we both blew these out of the water- And we were just 19!

  • Jessica Murph

    Please Help! My 10 year anniversary is coming up and I just can’t decide on what to get him…for the longest time we haven’t gotten each other gifts bc we agreed to just spend the money on together time. But this year marks a decade of being together and I so desperately want to show him how much I really do care for him and love him. any ideas are much appreciated!

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club
      • Jessica Murph

        Thank you! this does help a lot. so many ideas! so many great ideas! and only one month to go.
        Why am I so nervous? lol i just want him to like it and I want it to be special. thank you for your help and I truly love your site. I am a Marriage and Family Therapist it training and I just love what you said here about marriage getting a bad rap and wanting to change that. Thank you.
        Jee

      • Jessica Murph

        Thank you! this does help a lot. so many ideas! so many great ideas! and only one month to go.
        Why am I so nervous? lol i just want him to like it and I want it to be special. thank you for your help and I truly love your site. I am a Marriage and Family Therapist it training and I just love what you said here about marriage getting a bad rap and wanting to change that. Thank you.
        Jess

        • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

          Yeah! Thanks, Jess. Let us know which one you chose. Looking forward :) .

    • fon j

      just give him lot of pussy nigga love that

      • fon j

        o yea n I forgot, don’t forget the head

  • Mike Young

    Fawn:

    I did a few of those ideas for my wife. My wife loves Diet Coke so I went that morning and got a few Big Gulp 44 ounces and put bows on them. I then put some lottery tickets under them. She loved it. It was her favorite luxury and an excitement to see if she’d win some dollars. She won like $20! Simple things is what works. I just got her a wickless candle warmer and she loves it. It was very inexpensive too!. Her favorite is a scent called SIMPLY LEMON.I bought it here. https://easyscent.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Buy/ProductFinderProduct?propertyValueId=87&sku=22476#//property/87/22476

    Anyhow Fawn, thanks for the ideas.

    Mike

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

      How cool is that?! Thanks, Mike.

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

      Cool. Thanks, Mike!

  • Brian

    My friend gave me a picture on wood and it looked fantastic! I had no idea that photos could be printed onto wood canvases, and it really stands out in a room. I would highly recommend getting one as an anniversary gift.

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

      I am obsessed with pictures on wood. My husband found a company that did this (not the one you linked but similar) and took pictures from our vow renewal ceremony and had them turned into wood art. It’s amazing!

  • Paper Anniversary

    How about handmade jewelry or cuff links made of exotic papers? The tradition for the 1st wedding anniversary gift is to give paper. I have designed the perfect first anniversary gift for hundreds of newlyweds. The pieces are elegant, polished and can be customized with your wedding date, wedding song lyrics, or even a postage stamp from your honeymoon destination. Come check us out! http://www.paper-anniversary.com

  • http://www.anocial.com/ Brian Ellis

    I bought a ring with the map coordinates of the place we first said I love you stamped on it.

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

      Where did you find that, Brian? That sounds like a pretty awesome gift and I’ve never hear of it before.

  • David

    Love the ideas but I already planned my anniversary for this year. I’m going to take my wife on date night of “first”. I’m going to take her to the first restaurant we ever ate at together, then to the first cocktail bar we ever went to together, then to the first spot we ever kissed, and then I’m going to take her home and watch the first movie we ever watched together (I just bought the DVD). I think she’ll like it. And I had a glass card made for her at glasscards.biz with some sweet nothings engraved on it. Giving her a generic paper card just wouldn’t live up to the intimacy of the night.

    • Nicole

      super sweet!!!! :)

  • Emily Baugus

    This this is absolutely fantastic! I am totally taking number 3, he is has a sweet tooth like no other! Thank you Shelley!

  • crvindia

    The more anger towards the past you carry in your heart, the less capable you are of loving in the present. http://besgift4u.com/. send gift through the facebook apps also..https://apps.facebook.com/besgift/

  • http://www.memeoirs.com memeoirs

    Memeoirs is a popular idea for anniversaries! Turn your emails into a beautiful book :)

    http://www.memeoirs.com

  • Dylan Gilbert

    This list is Awesome! :) My girl was really into Harry Potter, so when the 7th movie part two came out, we were going to watch every movie before it and then go to see the final chapter. Well during the first movie, when dumbledore clicked off the lights, I edited the video to go to a slideshow I’d made. I rode my bike (I was young and not yet had a vehicle) to everywhere we’d ever been as a couple and took a photo of it. I also put some of our favorite love songs on for the background music. It was fantastic. She loved it.

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

      How thoughtful! That’s fantastic.

  • Callie

    Love this idea…not under $25, but very romantic. My husband surprised me with this…our wedding gown and tux sketched. The site is http://www.mydreamlines.com

  • prachi

    Hello,
    This is an awesome list!!
    Love the ideas for anniversary gifts. So lovely and pretty. you would also love the ideas from this link
    http://www.giftblooms.com/USA/Anniversary-Gifts-Delivery

  • http://vividgiftideas.com/ Vivid’s Gift Ideas

    This is a great list! I came across your article when I was doing research for our upcoming article about anniversary gift ideas. I’ll be getting inspiration from your awesome list. Thanks for sharing.

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

      Awesome! Glad we could inspire :) .

  • freidarlene

    Hi Happy Wives! Did this at the beginningf the relationship, still going at 31 years. Run a nice bath with lots of aromatherapy, lighted candles, feed him fruit of his choice.,grapes and strawberries are easy ,but if his favorites are apples or pears, slice them in a nice bowl perhaps with honey for the honey, a complimentary beverage, music and if the budget allows a terry cloth robe for after bath.
    Piggybacking on the mani, pedi massage suggestion can make this a complete package.

  • mydreamlines

    I wanted to piggy back off of Callie (below) for her comment regarding Dreamlines, which is my company…so excited to see someone share it. We are a little more than $25..maybe for the 5 year anniversary gift! :-) My artist is English and lives in the south of France..she can sketch the wedding dress, tux and even bouquet. It has truly been the perfect one year anniversary gift, which is paper, but we receive orders for all years. Thank you for letting me share. http://www.MyDreamlines.com

  • Halloween Treats

    I was searching for anniversary gifts and i found this post. And these
    are really very wonderful gift guide for anniversary gifts, My fiance and I have been together for
    nearly 7 years now and it gets harder and harder to find great gifts.
    These are wonderful ideas thank you!

    Wedding Celebrations

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

      Fabulous! So happy I could help.

  • MadeFitJenny

    There is a site that sells personalized love coupon books. http://www.lovecoups.com. You can create cartoon characters that look like you and then pick out the 20 coupons you want. My husband had one made for me and we’re still having fun redeeming them…especially the some naughty ones. ;)

  • Nayr

    For me, the problem isn’t so much money but time. There should be a list for people who have almost no spare time. The only time I’m really away from my wife/family is at work and while I’m there I am… working. I just don’t have the mental resources to pull most of these off. :(

  • JulesMM

    If i may, I’d like to add our little service to your list. We’re a Panty Of The Month Club and our customer base is split around 50/50 between men and women. Our plans start at $16 per month and you can choose whether to subscribe on a monthly basis or purchase a prepaid subscription for 3, 6 or 12 months.

    Men like it because they don’t have to walk into the lingerie section of their favorite department store. Please check us out if you have something sexy in mind for an anniversary gift for her.

    http://www.pemclub.com

  • Carrie

    My husband and I had our first date at Wendy’s. We had choir practice and afterwards he asked me to go grab dinner. Literally every single place was closed as it was after 10pm. Only place open that late was Wendy’s! We almost were calling it quits and divorcing in ’09 but our anniversary was a month later. We decided instead of fighting against each other we would stop and fight to save our marriage. By the time our anniversary came a month later we went and ate at that same Wendy’s like on our first date. Sort of like cleaning the slate and erasing and starting over from that anniversary and agreed from then on we would go to Wendy’s if we ever started acting that way again. We just celebrated our 10th anniversary and renewed our vows git each other. Never once since cleaning the slate have we needed to go to Wendy’s to remind us why we love each other. We still argue who doesn’t right? But no name calling and no screaming is allowed. Wendy’s saved us and brought us together Guess what our daughter’s name is lol

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

      Hmmm..let me guess :) . That is such a great story, Carrie!

  • Carter

    Wes and I haven’t married yet, but are considering it for either before or after our respective units deployment. These are all really awesome ideas, especially for someone with budgets like ours. I have been planning a special dinner for our upcoming anniversary and even got one of my married friends to help with the location, but now I have no idea how to get him to show up without giving it all away. Any ideas?

    • chelsea

      First off, thank you for your service. My husband is a Marine so I know how tough it can be with deployments and everything. Maybe have a friend drive them around and have a day out together, then suggest going to dinner at whatever place you choose.

  • Hayle

    For mine and my husbands one year anniversary ( in 5 days!) I am taking paper and writing down 365 reasons why I love him and placing them in a jar. he can read one everyday till our anniversary.

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

      Love it! Happy anniversary in advance, Hayle!

  • penwright1029

    Our 25th. Anniversary is coming up this month. I’m a senior citizen, on a low fixed income. Besides going out to dinner, I would like to do something special for my special guy. Sorry, but please, no suggestions for Intimacy. That is just not in the cards. Thanks.

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

      Have you checked out this post on free and frugal ways to celebrate your anniversary? http://www.happywivesclub.com/25-free-and-frugal-ways-to-celebrate-your-anniversary/ In terms of gifts, it’s so tricky because everyone is such an individual. For one person, a memory foam mattress would knock their socks off. For another, that gift might not do the trick. After 25 years of marriage, you’ll definitely be the best one to know what your hubby might enjoy and maybe the post above, or some of the gift ideas from this one, will help. I sure hope so!

  • penwright1029

    I forgot to ask, since this is our Silver Anniversary, do you think getting a memory foam mattress is a good idea? I mean, we already have one, but I may need to get a cover for it. I bought it used.

  • Meddrizzles

    Personalized Olive Oil bottles and gift sets can be an awesome idea for an anniversary gift.

    http://www.mediterraneandrizzles.com/products

    Long lasting, healthy and classy!

  • Jay

    My 1st anniversary is coming up and with it being the paper anniversary, I got my husband a subscription to ESPN magazine and I bought him tickets to see his favorite NBA team! I tried to get creative with the paper theme and he LOVED it! I even hand made a card out of our wedding invitation!

  • Anon

    Ahh June from #19 – your husband loved the heart shaped box with a bullshit note inside??? So um, just wondering, what’s your husbands boyfriends name? Cause he must be a raging faggot

    #justsayin

  • Angela

    For my 1st year anniversary I decided to make an photo album type scrapbook for my husband. It contained our first picture together until the last one we had taken which was at our baby shower. I decorated it with stickers, that I bought at Walmart in the arts and craft section, I wrote in every page as if it were a book. I wrote down memories for each photo. I then put a section for our new baby boy Bryan, with the positive pregnancy test and pictures of his ultrasound. He loved it and started crying because of how beautiful and thoughtful it was because it came from my heart!

  • Steven Palma

    A great anniversary or Valentine day gift is a Perfect Penguin Pebble and personalized certificate and story card. Under $20 and delivery world wide. US delivery to any state in 3 days. http://www.PerfectPenguinPebbles.com

  • http://paper-anniversary.com Paper Anniversary by Anna V.

    I’ve designed first anniversary gifts for thousands of happy couples at http://paper-anniversary.com. Our best-seller is the “Moonlight” Origami Paper Jewelry Gift Set, and recently, the Custom Wedding Vows (or wedding song) cufflinks & tie clip have been selling like CRAZY. If you’re looking for a unique twist on the “paper” tradition, you may enjoy our gifts. Good luck!

  • Allyriane Viens

    This is a Best Anniversary Gift Ideas…

  • https://docman.ae Docman

    Docman Says: It’s Good Ideas