The Best Paper Anniversary Gift Ideas—For Him & Her
Calling all newlyweds and traditionalists—this one's for you.
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The first year anniversary gift is traditionally something made of paper. It's the modern alternative to clocks (representing the time you've spent as newlyweds) and in the wake of our current COVID-19 crisis, these gift ideas might be more realistic than ever before. After all, paper gifts are often the most sentimental, and the most easily crafted at home.
We know paper doesn't sound super exciting (it's not jewelry, after all), but this medium isn't as limiting as it might seem. It's also not restrictive for couples who want to go all out, splurge, and spoil each other. With a little creativity and inspiration, surprise your significant other with something meaningful, over-the-top, comedic, sentimental, or hopeful to celebrate your first year of marriage. From personalized stationary to tickets for a romantic getaway, here are our top first/paper anniversary gift ideas you might not have thought of just yet.
Happy Anniversary!
Written in the Stars
Wish your partner a happy first anniversary with a custom-made map of the coordinates of your love story. Choose the exact moment of when the stars aligned that you first met, your first date, or your wedding date. Frame it and let it be a dreamy reminder of your bond, and the moments you were both in the right place, at the right time.
Starry Maps, starting at $35, SHOP NOW
Rave Reviews
Purchase a special edition of your bride or groom's favorite book with his or her personal initials engraved onto the cover. Here, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, is a chic addition to any night stand or coffee table.
Pro tip: Write a little love note on the inside cover with your anniversary date and signature.
Graphic Image, $90, SHOP NOW
Bridal Portrait Redux
Finally getting around to framing your wedding photos is one thing, but opting for custom artwork of your bridal portraits to display in your home (or on her vanity) is a chic way to level up those prints. Commission a single bridal portrait to commemorate her dress and floral details (like this example by Deborah Griffin of Illustrative Moments) or choose an option that includes both the bride(s) and groom(s).
Pro tip: With Mother's Day approaching, add an illustration of your mom (and your mother in-law) to your cart to ensure that they're feeling the love, too.
Illustrative Moments, starting at $150, SHOP NOW
A Bespoke Wedding Album
Finding the time (and the budget) immediately following the wedding to complete your photo album is a solid reason why this is likely the most popular paper anniversary gift.
Work with your wedding photographer to pull your favorite photo selections, and spend time on your anniversary weekend narrowing down the edit with your partner. Take note: The modern day wedding album is one that's printed, bound, and produced with the same quality as a high-touch hardcover. Once you land on shots you both love, and find the perfect balance of posed photographs and candid moments, create an album worthy of displaying alongside your chic coffee table book selection.
Album by Christian Oth Studio
A Romantic Activity for Two
Gift an experience—and use paper to deliver the message. Surprise your better half with paper tickets to a concert, a sporting event you'll both love, a Broadway show, the ballet, or any other night out that celebrates your mutual interests. Or, go grand: Splurge on plane tickets for a spontaneous celebratory trip to take after COVID-19 restrictions wane and you're both desperate for a getaway. This option might come in the form of an I.O.U. considering the current state of things in the world, but it will offer that light at the end of the tunnel, a much-needed dose of wanderlust, and something big for you both to look forward to.
Gift your tickets, hotel stay, or itinerary as a paper gift by printing them out on quality paper (or making them yourself).
Photo from Virginia & Ian's Cartagena wedding with BAZAAR Top Planner RobbinsOtoya.
Paper Flowers
Skip the real blooms this year (since many of the flower markets are currently closed) and opt for a designer vase with crepe paper flowers that can sit on your coffee table for years to come—instead of just a few days.
Federica Bubani paper flowers and vase, $130, SHOP NOW
Chic Stationery
While you likely have a personalized set as a couple from your wedding thank you notes, design custom social stationery for your partner as a token of your first year together. Incorporate themes that speak to his or her personal style, your partner's new last name or initials, or as an acknowledgement that professionally and/or socially, she'll be keeping her maiden moniker. Earn bonus points by making two sets: one for him or her, and another set for you both as a couple. New year, new stationery.
Writing paper set, $35, SHOP NOW
Posh Prints
Add new inspiration to your home by having some of your favorite wedding photos printed and hung—or source fashionable photographs that bring a different vibe into your newlywed space, like these Studio 54 photos found in WeWoreWhat's Danielle Bernstein's Soho loft.
Photographs by Allan Tannenbaum
Cute Coasters
Your first wedding anniversary doesn't have to break the bank. Gift a set of chic, hand-painted coasters made of thick, absorbent paper—like these, engraved in gold. Pair the new coasters with a cocktail set to toasts your newly-reached milestone. Considering that much of what we are looking forward to these days is an at-home cocktail hour, this small gesture is sure to be well received, and put to good (and immediate) use.
Bell'Invito paper coasters, set of 18, $22, SHOP NOW
Take Notes
For the spouse that loves to put pen to paper, gift a chic journal to celebrate your first year of marriage. Opt for notebooks with a motif or inscription that means something to you as a couple, be it evocative of your wedding day colors, your decor motifs, or the style of your newlywed home. Personalize it with your partner's monogram for an added touch.
Brownie points: Fill out the first page (or two) with a hand-written love letter expressing a heart-felt recap of your first year together as a married couple. Consider including your vows here, or how your love has grown since first reading them at the wedding.
Smythson notebook, $105, SHOP NOW
Picture Perfect
Have a mint-condition copy of your wedding invitation suite custom framed. When done thoughtfully, invitations make beautiful, unexpected pieces of art for your home—and provide a visual nod to your love story, and your wedding day.
Invitation suite by Dempsey & Carroll, wedding program, illustrated by Rachel Moranis, by Bella Figura
Love Notes
Memorialize your vows into a beautifully designed letterpress print by a talented stationer. Frame your new print as a keepsake to display in your new home together, or gift it to your spouse in a velum envelope, to have as an heirloom. This gift will last far beyond year one—odds are, future generations will look back on your vows and cherish them if they're artfully preserved.
Stationery by Gus & Ruby Letterpress
Destination Dreams
Give the gift of destination dreaming for your anniversary this year with a chic book set that can serve as a sexy reminder of your destination wedding or honeymoon, or as a bucket list brainstorm for your next adventure together.
Assouline book set, $225, SHOP NOW
Favorite Foods
Nothing shows love for your spouse more than a meal shared together. Compile your favorite meals that you've enjoyed together into a book or on recipe cards to inspire nights in cooking at home—or to have as a keepsake in your kitchen if you didn't already have one before. Gift this thoughtful gesture alongside your favorite takeout, or during a dinner together at home.
For added sentiment: This gift can be given along with a promise to cook together at least once a week (or maybe every two) and reserve the time to connect with one another regularly.
Map It Out
Combine the love for your spouse with your shared love of travel. A world map-cum-art print serves not only as stately and unique wall decor, but will inspire your next trip together while serving as a reminder of all the places you've been.
Bonus points: Highlight the place where you got married, and all the places you've traveled together, with a sticker or pin before hanging the piece. Continue to update it as a couple each time you travel.
Oliver Gal framed map, $188, SHOP NOW
Heather Hall is a weddings, fashion, and lifestyle writer and editor. Her career in weddings began at The Knot, where she worked as a bridal fashion editor. She then worked as a PR Manager at Amsale, a bridal design house, before starting her own events and digital marketing business. She has been featured on Today.com, MSN.com, Yahoo.com, Racked.com, Huffington Post, Verily Magazine, and Style Me Pretty. Heather loves music, travel, and practicing yoga. In her spare time she's typically researching the next fun workout class to try, or finding a new concert to attend. Her latest goal: become a DJ.
