5 Year Anniversary Gift Ideas: Traditional and Modern

Five years is a sweet spot: you’ve got roots, stories, and inside jokes, plus a milestone that comes with clear symbols to riff on. 

The traditional theme is wood, the modern is silverware, the gemstone is sapphire, the flower is the daisy and the palette often leans blue (and pink). Think of these as creative guardrails you can play within for something personal and memorable. 

• Plant-a-Tree Date + Living Certificate
  
  Make your “wood” gift literal and lasting: plant a tree together at a local park program (or plant one at home), then frame the planting certificate with a note about why you chose that species. It’s symbolism you can watch grow year after year exactly why wood shows up for year five.
  
  

• Custom-Map Cutting Board
  
  Commission a board engraved with the coordinates of your first home, wedding venue, or favorite vacation spot. Practical, beautiful, and a daily reminder of “us.” 
  
  Cutting boards and serving pieces are go-to wooden crowd-pleasers for this milestone.
  
  

• A Hand-Carved “Love Spoon”
  
  A romantic nod to old-world craft: a decorative wooden love spoon, traditionally carved as a token of affection. 
  
  Choose symbols that tell your story (hearts, knots, anchors) and add a date engraving on the back.
  
  

• Wooden Time Capsule
  
  Fill a lidded keepsake box with ticket stubs, a playlist QR code, notes from friends, and five favorite photos from each year. 
  
  Seal it and set a “reopen at 10 years” reminder. (Bonus points for a small engraved plaque on the lid.)

• Mix-and-Match Flatware Upgrade
  
  Swap your everyday forks and knives for a set that reflects your style, matte black, vintage-inspired, or Scandinavian minimalist. 
  
  The modern gift is all about silverware, symbolizing the meals you’ve shared and the ones to come.
  
  

• Two-Place Settings, One Story
  
  Curate a tiny tablescape-in-a-box: two napkins, two place mats, two name cards, and a pair of monogrammed dessert forks. 
  
  Add a hand-written menu for a five-course “greatest hits” dinner at home.
  
  

• Heirloom Serving Pieces
  
  Instead of a full overhaul, pick one special piece you’ll use for celebrations, like a cake server engraved with your wedding date or a serving set for your signature pasta night. (It still hits the silverware note.)

• Sapphire Pendant or Cufflinks
  
  Sapphire is the classic gem for year five and it’s not limited to blue, look for pink, yellow or green hues to match their style. Even a petite stone carries weight when the symbolism is spot on.
  
  

• Blue-Glass Barware
  
  If fine jewelry isn’t your thing, echo sapphire with deep-blue handcrafted glass coupes or rocks glasses. 
  
  It’s a luxe nod to the gemstone without going full jewelry case. (Blue is also one of the common color cues for this anniversary.)
  
  

• Birth-Month + Sapphire Combo
  
  Commission a small piece ring, pendant, or charm that pairs their birthstone with sapphire. It’s meaningful, custom, and still true to the year-five theme.

• Daisy Bouquet + Photo Re-Create
  
  Order cheerful daisies and recreate a wedding-day or early-dating snapshot holding the bouquet, then frame the side-by-side. 
  
  Daisies are the traditional flower for year five, symbolizing faithful, “forever” love.
  
  

• Pressed-Flower Art
  
  Have a floral artist press fresh daisies into a glass frame with a tiny plaque (“Five years of us”). It’s minimal, modern, and lasts far beyond fresh blooms.
  
  

• Daisy Dessert Night
  
  Bake (or buy) daisy-iced cupcakes and pair them with a playlist of songs from your wedding year. Sweet, low-stress, and theme-savvy.

• His/Her Robes in Signature Shades
  
  Choose plush robes, one in deep sapphire blue, one in a rosy pink and stitch tiny initials inside the cuffs. Cozy meets color symbolism in a way you’ll actually use.
  
  

• Art Print in Your Anniversary Palette
  
  Commission an abstract print in your shared colors with five subtle marks or motifs tucked into the composition (one for each year). Sign it on the back together.

• Wood-Fired Night Out
  
  Book a pizza-making class with a wood-fired oven; gift a small wooden peel at the end. Boom: wood, a shared memory, and ongoing date-night potential.
  
  

• Blue-Hour Photo Stroll
  
  Hire a photographer for a golden-to-blue-hour mini shoot in a meaningful neighborhood. Wear something blue or pink for a quiet nod to the year’s palette.
  
  

• Picnic for Two (Silverware Included)
   
  Pack real flatware (not plastic) with a small daisy bouquet and sapphire-blue enamel cups. Snap polaroids and slip them into that wooden keepsake box.

• Traditional: Wood: think lasting, rooted, practical-beautiful gifts. 

• Modern: Silverware: shared meals, hospitality and daily rituals. 

• Gemstone: Sapphire: classic choice, not only blue.

• Flower: Daisy: cheerful fidelity and “forever” love.

• Colors: Blue & pink: easy palette cues for robes, glassware or art.