Tweet

Congrats on 25 years of marriage! By now, many gifts have been given over the years. Get her something different with these unusual 25th anniversary gifts.

You are to be saluted! 25 years of shared delight, wonder, harmony, and unity of purpose. And probably a tidge of contention now and again. An enduring marriage takes work, and yours has stood the test of time.

The tradition of silver 25th anniversary gifts to mark this occasion dates back a thousand years or more. It began to be documented regularly in 18th-century German culture.

Some say a husband would crown his longtime bride with a silver wreath on the 25th anniversary of their wedding day. Others believe the couple's friends would also crown the wife to recognize her fortitude for having endured a quarter century with her husband.

Whatever the origin might be, your 25th wedding anniversary celebration is a milestone deserving of extra special care. Let us, by all means, be original in honoring our spouses' long-suffering, gentleness, and near divinity.

There is nothing wrong with popping online and searching for "25th anniversary gifts" or "silver anniversary gift."

A man's duty is to delight his lady with the truly one of a kind. Especially if the idea has started to go a bit dry after a quarter century of presents.

Here are 10 ideas for unique silver anniversary gifts to inspire you to new heights of creative gift-giving for that very special woman.

1. Silver Basics

Let's take care of the obvious first.

If somehow you've survived 25 years without gifting your wife with a silky, shimmery silver robe, it's time.

After a quarter century, you know her style and her size, so get thee to the robe store. (To be safe, ask her best friend for help in choosing one, discretion being the better part of valor and all that.)

2. Compose a Silver Scarf

That's not quite what you think, though if you can handcraft a scarf from a silver thread, more power to you.

To create your own DIY scarf, procure a scarf-sized length of fabric. Iron it flat then secure it to a desk or table. With a silver paint pen, start writing about the past 25 years of marriage.

It probably sounds intimidating, but once you get going, you'll be amazed at what flows from your pen. Relive shared moments. Retell cherished stories.

Here's the cherry on top: Do not first draft this, edit it to perfection, then transcribe it. The strikethroughs and misspellings are part of what makes it exude romance.

She'll have a story to tell everywhere she goes when she wears it.

3. Compose a Silver Plate

To be fair, it may be 90° year round where you live. So ditch the scarf idea.

Instead, get a plain white dinner plate, or platter if you feel you'll need the space, and write on it all the things you love about your wife.

You could be very Prussian and write linearly, left-to-right, top-to-bottom, but where's the fun in that?

Write a paragraph a few inches wide. Rotate the plate 39.3° and write another few sentences—upside down. Repeat.

Don't stop until the plate has been covered with declarations of your adoration. 

4. Silverplate Your Wedding Goblets

If you still have those special vessels from which you shared your first toast as husband and wife, take them to a silver restoration service.

Ask them to coat your treasured goblets with that magical substance that throughout the ages has been known for its brilliance, durability, and purity.

5. Two for the Price of One

In Silver Dollar City, in Branson, Missouri, you can, among many other fun activities, have a special silver ring crafted while you wait. 

That's two 25th anniversary gifts for the price of one (more or less). Can't beat that. (Fortunately, Silver Airways doesn't fly to Branson. That would just be too much.)

6. Silver Musical Walking Tour

Take her on a leisurely stroll among the shoppes you've frequented over the years. Eventually, she'll notice that in every store, a song with "Silver" in the title was playing.

Yes, you will have arranged this with shopkeepers beforehand. Don't rely on blind chance.

End the day any way you like. You've just spent ten hours delighting your lady. You can do no wrong now.

7. Silver Picnic

Trick Suggest to your beloved a walk in the park—where you happen to have setup a lovely spot under a shade tree. Silver tinsel draped from the boughs. A gleaming white, silver-trimmed picnic blanket. A silver candelabra, real plates, real silverware, and champagne.

We suppose it's possible to take the silver anniversary gift idea too far, but in the spirit of love and fun, it's really hard to do.

8. Silver, Silver Everywhere

Conceal small silver trinkets through your home for your bride to find at random throughout the day.

If you're feeling particularly adventurous, and your lady is notably observant, you can even hide some elsewhere. In the centerpiece at your favorite restaurant, say, or on the seat of a nearby carousel. (You might want to collude with the carousel operator for the latter.)

9. Silver Roses

Some women claim they don't like to receive flowers, and we suppose some of them even mean it.

And we get it. You cut a rose from a bush, present it with a flourish, and it withers a few days later. But what if you could capture the eternal beauty of the rose in such a way that it could last forever?

A rose dipped in purest silver is something to behold. It reflects your lady's beauty, delicacy, and strength.

10. Don't Be So "Silver"

There's no need to take the "silver" in "silver wedding anniversary" so literally.

Have a special beach memory? Walk barefoot with her in the surf and marvel at the silver moonlight on the waves.

Love movies? Curl up with a vat of popcorn and binge on films with "silver" in their titles. You'll find more than you can get through in a single day.

Of a more whimsical bent? Drench your hair, or virile bald pate, with silver glitter and be silly all day. No music is more beautiful than the laughter of the woman you've loved for so long.

25th Anniversary Gifts Come from the Heart

Let's agree on this if nothing else: Do not reserve romance for calendar-mandated anniversary gifts.

By the same token, neglect them to your sorrow.

In the end, the key is to give a gift your lady would never have expected but will recognize as absolutely perfect.

If hand-made is your style, imbue your creation with the love and loyalty 25th anniversary gifts are intended to carry. If shopping is more to your taste, none of the above says you can't do some excruciatingly careful hunting for that just-right romantic anniverary gift.