36 Anniversary Date Ideas (1 Year, 5 Years, 10+ Years)
The best anniversary date ideas look back at your story and add a new chapter: reread your vows, return to where you got engaged, plant a tree for your fifth, or take the trip you kept postponing for your tenth. Below are 36 anniversary ideas, sorted by milestone (first, fifth, tenth and beyond), plus 1 year anniversary ideas for dating couples, nights at home and getaways.
The 10 best anniversary date ideas at a glance
| Anniversary idea | Cost | Where | Time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return to where you got engaged | $ | Out | Half day | Any milestone |
| Read your vows again | Free | At home | 1 hour | Married couples |
| Year-in-review letters | Free | At home | 1 hour | First anniversary |
| Anniversary photo session | $$$ | Out | 1 to 2 hours | A keepsake every few years |
| Plant a tree together | $ | Outdoors | 2 hours | Fifth anniversary |
| Hot air balloon ride | $$$ | Outdoors | Half day | A once-in-a-lifetime memory |
| Wedding menu recreation | $$ | At home | 3 hours | Food lovers |
| Bed and breakfast weekend | $$$ | Away | Weekend | Couples who need a break |
| Sunset sail | $$$ | Outdoors | 2 to 3 hours | Summer anniversaries |
| Anniversary time capsule | Free | At home | 1 hour | Starting a tradition |
First anniversary date ideas
The traditional first anniversary theme is paper, which suits ideas built on words, tickets and memories. The first year also sets traditions you can repeat for decades, so pick one you would happily do again.
Year-in-review letters
- Free
- At home
- 1 hour
Each of you writes a letter about your first year: the best day, the hardest week, the thing that surprised you most about the other. Read them aloud over dessert. Keep them, and write a new pair every year.
Eat the top tier of the wedding cake
- Free
- At home
- 30 minutes
If you froze the top tier, now is the time. Thaw it in the fridge overnight. If it tastes like the freezer (it might), order a small cake from the same bakery and eat that instead.
Paper ticket date
- $$
- Out
- Evening
Lean into the paper theme with something that comes with a printed ticket: a play, a concert or a show. Keep the stubs and start an anniversary ticket collection in a frame.
Watch your wedding video
- Free
- At home
- 2 hours
Watch the full video or flip through every photo, including the ones the photographer did not pick. Pause on guests and tell each other what you remember about them that day.
Paper lantern night
- $
- Outdoors
- 1 hour
Write wishes for your second year on paper lanterns or floating candles. Skip sky lanterns, which are banned in many places and can start fires. String paper lanterns in the yard instead and eat dinner under them.
Honeymoon flashback dinner
- $$
- At home
- 2 hours
Cook a meal from where you honeymooned, play music from there and look at the photos. If you didn’t take a honeymoon, cook from the place you would have gone and start a savings jar.
1 year anniversary ideas for dating couples
One year together deserves a celebration even without a wedding. These ideas fit a dating anniversary, from the first date to the first year.
Relive your first date in order
- $$
- Out
- Evening
Go back to the same places in the same order, and wear what you wore if you can. Halfway through, tell each other what you were really thinking that night. If you need a refresher, our first date ideas may jog your memory.
Year of us photo book
- $$
- At home
- 2 hours
Pick a photo from each month of your first year and order a small printed book. Write one line under each picture. It takes a couple of weeks to arrive, so plan ahead.
Guess-me quiz night
- Free
- At home
- 1 hour
After a year, how well do you really know each other? Write ten questions about yourselves, answer secretly and guess. Try our how well do you know me questions or the couples quiz.
First trip together
- $$$
- Away
- Weekend
If you haven’t traveled together yet, a short weekend away is a great one-year milestone. Choose somewhere within a few hours’ drive so you aren’t spending the whole weekend getting there.
Twelve-stop memory walk
- Free
- Out
- Half day
Plan a walk past places from your first year: where you first kissed, your go-to cafe, the bench where you had a big talk. At each stop, one of you shares a memory from there.
Fifth anniversary date ideas
Wood is the traditional theme for year five, a nod to something that has taken root. These ideas are about building something that lasts.
Plant a tree together
- $
- Outdoors
- 2 hours
Pick a tree that suits your yard and climate, or ask a local nursery. Plant it together and take a photo next to it every anniversary. If you rent, try a dwarf fruit tree in a big pot.
Woodworking class
- $$$
- Out
- Half day
Many makerspaces and woodshops run one-day classes where you build a cutting board, a small shelf or a box. Burn or carve your initials and the date into it.
Cabin in the woods
- $$$
- Away
- Weekend
Rent a cabin with a fireplace and no plans. Bring board games, books and ingredients for a slow breakfast. Choose one with bad cell signal on purpose.
Five-year highlights dinner
- $$
- Out
- 2 hours
Go out to dinner and name one highlight from each of your five years before the mains arrive. Then each name one thing you want in the next five.
Reread your vows
- Free
- At home
- 1 hour
Pull out your vows and read them to each other. Talk about which ones you have kept best, and add a new promise for the next five years.
10th anniversary date ideas and beyond
The traditional tenth anniversary theme is tin or aluminum. By ten years and beyond, many couples want either a big trip or a quiet way to honor everything they’ve built.
The trip you kept postponing
- $$$
- Away
- A week or more
Every couple has a "someday" destination. Make your tenth the year it happens. Start planning a year ahead and put a savings jar (tin, if you like the theme) on the counter.
Small vow renewal
- $$
- Out
- Half day
Renew your vows at a beach, a park or your backyard with a handful of people, or just the two of you. Write new vows that reflect who you have become, not who you were.
Ten favorites list
- Free
- At home
- 1 hour
Each of you writes ten favorites from your ten years: trips, meals, songs, silly moments. Compare lists over dinner and see how many overlap. Frame the combined list.
Recreate an old photo
- Free
- Out
- 1 hour
Find a photo of the two of you from your early days and recreate it in the same place, same pose, similar outfits. Post them side by side, or just keep them for yourselves.
Celebrate with the people who were there
- $$
- Out
- Evening
For a 20th, 25th or later anniversary, invite your wedding party or oldest friends to dinner. Ask everyone to bring one story about the two of you. Plan for laughter and maybe tears.
Revisit your honeymoon
- $$$
- Away
- A week
Go back to where you honeymooned and see what has changed, in the place and in you. Stay in the same hotel if it still exists.
Anniversary date ideas at home
Staying in can be just as meaningful as a big night out. For more ideas, see our at home date night ideas.
Wedding menu recreation
- $$
- At home
- 3 hours
Cook a version of what you served at your wedding (or your first date dinner). Ask the caterer for the recipe if you are brave. Play your wedding playlist while you cook.
Anniversary time capsule
- Free
- At home
- 1 hour
Each year, add a few items to a box: a letter, a photo, a receipt from a meaningful night. Open it on a big milestone like your tenth.
First dance redo
- Free
- At home
- 30 minutes
Dress up a little, push the furniture back and dance to your first dance song in the living room. Then let each of you pick one more song.
Anniversary breakfast in bed
- $
- At home
- 1 hour
Wake up early, make their favorite breakfast and bring it to bed on a tray with a card and a flower from the yard. Take the morning slow before the day’s bigger plans.
Hire a private chef
- $$$
- At home
- 3 hours
A private chef comes to your kitchen, cooks a multi-course dinner and cleans up. It feels like a restaurant without leaving the house. Book well ahead.
Anniversary question night
- Free
- At home
- 1 hour
Light candles and take turns asking each other questions about your years together: your favorite version of us, the day you felt proudest of me, what you hope we never stop doing. Our questions to ask your husband and questions to ask your wife have plenty more.
Anniversary date ideas away from home
Return to where you got engaged
- $
- Out
- Half day
Go back to the exact spot. Bring a bottle of something and two glasses, and retell the proposal from both sides. The one who didn’t propose usually remembers different details.
Anniversary photo session
- $$$
- Out
- 1 to 2 hours
Most couples have no good photos of themselves after the wedding. Book a photographer for an hour somewhere meaningful. Repeat every five years and you will have a lovely record.
Hot air balloon ride
- $$$
- Outdoors
- Half day
Balloon flights usually leave around sunrise, when the air is calm. Book ahead and keep a backup date, since weather cancels flights. Many end with a toast on landing.
Sunset sail
- $$$
- Outdoors
- 2 to 3 hours
Look for sunset cruises or small sailboat charters near the coast or a big lake. Bring a jacket, because it gets cold on the water after dark.
Bed and breakfast weekend
- $$$
- Away
- Weekend
A small inn a few hours away gives you quiet, a big breakfast and hosts with good local tips. Ask for their best room and mention it is your anniversary when you book.
Couples massage
- $$$
- Out
- 2 hours
Book side-by-side massages at a spa, then use the pool or sauna if there is one. Follow it with a slow lunch so you don’t undo all the relaxation.
Concert by your wedding band or song
- $$
- Out
- Evening
Check whether the artist behind your first dance song is touring, or find a local cover band. Hearing your song live with thousands of strangers is something else.
Learn something new each year
- $$
- Out
- 2 to 3 hours
Make your anniversary the day you try a new class together: glassblowing one year, a cooking class the next, sailing the year after. In a decade you will have ten new skills and ten stories.
How to pick an anniversary date idea together
- Decide on surprise or shared. Some couples love a surprise, others hate it. Agree on which this year will be.
- Plan early for the big ones. Balloon rides, trips and private chefs book up. Start a few months out for a fifth or tenth.
- Start a tradition. The letters, the photo, the time capsule: anything you repeat becomes more meaningful every year.
- Swipe on ideas first. Unsaid has a Date ideas format where you each swipe yes or no on ideas and only see the ones you both want. Save a match as a plan with the date, and your anniversary plan is set.
- Keep the budget honest. A free anniversary with a heartfelt letter beats an expensive one that causes stress. See cheap date ideas for low-cost options.
Frequently asked questions
What should we do for our 1 year anniversary?
Look back on the year and start a tradition. Relive your first date, write each other year-in-review letters, make a photo book with one picture from each month or take your first weekend trip together. Married couples can eat the top tier of the wedding cake or watch the wedding video.
What are traditional anniversary themes?
The traditional anniversary themes most people use start with paper for the first, cotton for the second and leather for the third, then wood for the fifth, tin or aluminum for the tenth, silver for the 25th and gold for the 50th. They make fun prompts for dates as well as gifts.
What can couples do for an anniversary on a budget?
Reread your vows, write letters, recreate an old photo, start a time capsule, cook your wedding menu at home or walk past the places that matter in your story. Thought and planning matter far more than money on an anniversary.
How do you celebrate an anniversary at home?
Treat the evening like an event. Dress up, cook a meaningful meal (your wedding menu or first date dinner), dance to your first dance song and finish with letters or a question night about your years together. Put phones away for the night.
What is a good surprise anniversary idea?
Book something your partner has mentioned wanting but never booked: a balloon ride, a concert, a cabin. Or plan a memory walk to places from your relationship with a note waiting at each stop. Check calendars quietly first so the surprise doesn’t clash with work.
Should you celebrate a dating anniversary?
If it matters to you both, yes. Many couples celebrate the day they met, their first date or the day they made it official. It doesn’t need to be big. A dinner at your first date spot or a short letter is enough to mark it.
Keep reading
Planning other nights? See date night ideas, at home date night ideas and cheap date ideas. To keep things fresh between anniversaries, read how to keep the spark alive. More in date ideas and marriage.
More in date ideas.