• Etiquette maven Emily Post
• Suggestions for each anniversary year
• GiftElan.com
• Love note boxes
• Newspapers as gifts
• Clogs
• Wood chairs
• Fencing lessons
• Folding bicycles
• Canoes
• The meaning of flowers
• Anniversary jewelry
• Stone meanings
• Scavenger hunts
• Skydiving

The Perfect Gift

Almost as long as people have been getting married, people have been asking, "What am I supposed to give for this anniversary?"

In the 1920s, Emily Post suggested some guidelines for each anniversary year - cotton for a second anniversary, leather for a third, china for a twentieth, etc.

"The logic of such designations is that of hierarchical value, based on market prices," explains Sharman Robertson, Hallmark's resident historian. "The idea is that happiness, or at least stability, deserves rewards, and the more stability, the greater the reward."

Today, we don't have to take these suggested categories quite so seriously, according to gift-etiquette expert Sherri Athay of GiftElan.com. Here are some of her suggestions for putting a clever spin on traditional gifts:

FIRST (Paper)

Put a love note in a beautiful box and promise that there will be more notes to follow. If you're celebrating another couple's anniversary, you can surprise them with a framed newspaper from their wedding day.

FIFTH (Wood)

If you are celebrating your own landmark year, consider getting your significant other a pair of wooden shoes and tickets for a trip to Holland. If you're looking for a gift for another happy couple, a pair of Adirondack chairs is a comfy option.

TENTH (Aluminum)

Strap on an epée, pick up an aluminum sword, and treat you and your sweetheart to fencing lessons. Other fun metal-inspired gifts include matching folding bicycles or a canoe.

The key to good gift giving, says Athay, is personalizing each gift. "If you give flowers, pick them according to their meanings," she says. "You can also make the gift of jewelry a little more special by choosing to, say, give sapphires because they remind you of your wife's blue eyes, or by giving the same number of stones as the number of years you've been married." (Like flowers, stones also have meanings).

If nothing seems special enough, however, try giving a gift that will involve an adventure - like a custom scavenger hunt, or even a skydiving gift certificate with a note saying you want to take this relationship to new heights.

"It'll put the thrill back into a marriage," says Athay. "And it'll be something unforgettable to brag about for years to come."

 

Posted on February 06, 2006