Wedding Anniversary Ideas: Traditions For Your Anniversary Celebration

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It’s that time again! Time to celebrate your love and the anniversary of your wedding day. Whether you’ve been married for 1 year or 50, these wedding anniversary ideas are great to start some beautiful traditions together that you can do for every wedding anniversary. 

Romantic Anniversary Ideas To Celebrate Each Year

Wedding Anniversary Celebration Ideas: 

We love celebrating anniversaries, and celebrating your wedding anniversary is a big deal.

This should be a very special day together when you get to look back and remember what a beautiful day your wedding was. 

Now we all know life is crazy, so even if you can’t celebrate on the exact day, be sure to schedule a day where you both get to celebrate this special day together. 

Here are some of our favorite wedding anniversary ideas for you to start:

Have Cake and Watch Your Wedding Video 

On your first anniversary, if you did it the traditional way, you’ll have the top tier from your wedding cake to eat. 

But even if it’s not your first anniversary, we think this idea is so fun to adopt. 

Head to the store or bakery and order a cake or cupcakes in your wedding cake flavor. If you happen to live near the store where your wedding cake came from, you can always order a mini cake or cupcakes from them as well. 

Take your cake or cupcakes home, and watch your wedding video together as you eat your cake. 

Watching the footage back from your most special day is always a fun way to remember what went on that day. 

If you don’t have a video, flip through your pictures from your wedding and talk about how you felt and your favorite memories from the day. 

pink frosted cupcake

Say Your Vows To Each Other Again

Each anniversary, you can both take turns reciting your vows to each other again.

This doesn’t have to be a full vow renewal ceremony, but you can both read them to each other in private. 

Take a moment to listen to the words you promised each other, and look back over the last year and see how you did.

This is the perfect time for a relationship check up and see what you both want to improve in your marriage together. 

Go On An Anniversary Mini Moon

Who says honeymoons are just for when you get married?! Start a tradition to take a “mini-moon” or mini honeymoon each year around your anniversary. 

Going on a trip together every year for your anniversary can help keep your relationship exciting. When you go away together, you get to refresh and spend some real quality time together.

That’s so important in a marriage, so an anniversary trip can be perfect for you!

couple having a candle lit dinner for their wedding anniversary celebration

Follow The Traditional Gift Ideas

You’ve probably heard of the traditional wedding anniversary gifts like 1st year is paper, 5th year is wood, 10th year is tin, etc. 

Follow these traditional gift ideas and be creative coming up with an idea for each. 

If you like tradition, and you like having help starting off with a gift idea, this would be a great tradition to follow. 

Dance To Your First Dance Song 

Play your first dance song and dance together at home each year. 

Your first dance song is probably a very memorable song for the two of you. Hearing the song again each year can help bring you back to that moment when you were dancing with your brand new spouse. 

This is an easy tradition to add to your anniversary date, and only takes up a few minutes, but can mean so much. 

couple dancing in the field

Eat The Same Meal You Ate At Your Wedding 

Whatever type of food you had served at your wedding, head out to a restaurant that serves that same type of meal. 

Or make it together at home each year. 

We did food stations with tacos, sushi, and pizza, so depending on what is going on during our anniversary day, we’ll most likely mix it up between the different foods. 

However, we had an awesome ice cream bar at our wedding, so I plan to have ice cream on every anniversary!

wedding menu on table setting

Create A New Tradition 

It is never too late to start a new tradition for your wedding anniversary. This is the perfect time to start a tradition you want to do every year. 

Think of ideas of a tradition you might want to start together. Maybe it’s getting family together to eat dinner at the restaurant that catered your wedding, or spending your day walking around your venue, etc. 

These will be personal to you and can be anything you can imagine!

Give Gifts According To The Number Of Years Married

Another great idea to give anniversary gifts is to give a gift based on the years you have been married. 

Example being: Married 2 years, you can get your spouse a pair of ski passes…married 6 years, buy them a 6 month date night subscription box, etc. 

This is a fun one to get creative with the number of things you can gift them. 

envelope and letter written for wedding anniversary tradition

Write A Love Letter To Each Other To Open The Next Year 

This is probably my favorite wedding anniversary tradition on this list. At our wedding, we both wrote a quick note to each other and exchanged gifts before walking down the isle.

Now, each year, we plan to write each other a love letter and not read it until the next year. 

So every year, we’ll get to read the love letters we wrote the year prior, and then write a new love letter for them to read next year.

This is a great way to share how you are feeling one year and look back to see how much has changed…you love each other more deeply, you had kids, etc. 

Keep all of these love letters together in a box where you can look back on them each year. 

Make A Year In Review Photo Book

Each year, we like to make a small photo book of all the pictures we took together that year.

It’s a great way to keep all your memories from each year together, where you can sit down and enjoy remembering all the good times you’ve had together. 

Doing this for each year you’ve been married can be a great start, and you can build on your collection with every wedding anniversary. 

Open book with book saying "love" on cover

Anniversary Journal

Start an anniversary journal! We heard of this one through some friends, who started a journal their first year of marriage.

Each of you can write your version of the year in the journal on your anniversary.

Keeping every year together in a journal is a great way to have the perfect book for your love story. 

You can even answer the same questions every year, and see how each year differs. 

Answer anniversary questions like: 

  • What was the hardest thing for you this year? 
  • Name one memory from this year you’ll cherish forever? 
  • What did your spouse do this year to make you feel extra loved?
  • What do you want to change about this new year? 

Anniversary Photo Shoot

We love the idea of having an anniversary photo shoot every year. And no, this doesn’t have to be as crazy as getting your wedding photographer. 

We plan on snapping our own anniversary shoots with a remote on our camera, or a timer. 

You can do the same poses as you did on your wedding day. Or do it in a similar location, or mix it up every year. 

This is such a fun way to see how you two have changed together throughout the years. 

couple photo shoot for wedding anniversary ideas

Anniversary Photo Holding Wedding Photo

Another fun idea we’ve seen, is couples taking a photo holding their wedding portrait on year one.

On year two, the couple can hold the photo they took on their first anniversary so it’s a photo in a photo in a photo…

Do this every year, and see the photos get smaller and smaller. 

Picnic At Or Near The Place You Got Married

Pack a picnic and head to the church or place you got married. Spend the day outside enjoying your lunch and reminiscing of your day. 

If you’re not in the area where you got married, you can have a picnic somewhere that reminds you of your ceremony or reception site too. 

Couple sitting on blanket on the beach

Anniversary Hotel Night

Relive your first night as a married couple. Head back to the same hotel, or one similar and spend the night doing married things. 

Bring your cake, first dance song, and video to enjoy in the hotel room. 

Come up with awesome surprises for each other that you can do each year and keep building on it year after year. 

The important thing about your wedding anniversary celebration is to look back and remember the day you got married.

Some years you might not feel like celebrating, especially if it’s been a difficult year. But spending time together and remembering the day and how you felt on that day is always something to be celebrated. 

Sara, a seasoned expert in wedding planning and date ideas, brings a wealth of experience to our couples blog. With a background in the television industry and hands-on involvement in a dozen weddings, including working as a wedding assistant on "My Fair Wedding with David Tutera," Sara has an innate understanding of the magic that makes weddings truly special. Growing up with four sisters has given her unique insights into the dating world, making her a go-to source for practical and heartfelt dating advice. Her knowledge and enthusiasm make her the perfect guide for couples seeking to infuse their relationships with creativity and love.

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1 thought on “Wedding Anniversary Ideas: Traditions For Your Anniversary Celebration”

  1. Hi there! This is my first visit to your blog! I was looking for some ideas for our upcoming wedding anniversary, and your article really helped. I’ll be doing the cake and watching our video for sure. I’ll try to find our vows to read those again too.

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