Twenty-five years is silver, and it is the anniversary where a party stops being optional. It is also the one where the couple is usually the last to organise anything, so this guide is written for both them and their children.
In this guide
- Silver gifts that are not a photo frame
- Party planning, at a sensible scale
- Details that make a milestone party land
- If you are their children
- Gifts from the couple to each other
- Budget bands
Silver gifts that are not a photo frame
- A silver-engraved keepsake box for the letters
- Champagne flutes etched with both dates — married, and today
- A silver serving tray with the family surname
- A piece of jewellery remade from something inherited
- A silver-plated pen set, if either of them still writes
- A commissioned silver ring in place of a worn wedding band
Party planning, at a sensible scale
A twenty-fifth party is a dinner or a garden gathering, not a second wedding. Forty to sixty guests, one long table or a marquee, and the same music. The people who were at the wedding should be invited first; everyone else is a bonus.
Ask the couple one question before booking anything: would you rather have a party or a trip? Half of all couples say the trip, and children planning a surprise party rarely check.
Details that make a milestone party land
- Wedding photographs enlarged and displayed, not in an album
- The original cake flavour, remade
- The first dance song, played again, with everyone watching
- A printed menu with both dates on it
- A guest book of memories from people who were at the wedding
- A short slideshow — five minutes, not twenty
If you are their children
Involve them in the guest list even for a surprise; there is always someone whose absence would hurt. Ask their oldest friends for photographs six weeks ahead. And book somewhere with seating and manageable acoustics — the guest list is twenty-five years older than it was.
Gifts from the couple to each other
This is a common year for renewing vows privately, upgrading rings, or booking the trip they postponed when the children were small. Whatever it is, do something that produces a photograph — twenty-five years is the anniversary couples most often mark with nothing they can look at afterwards.
Budget bands
Under $100: engraved glassware or a keepsake box. $100 to $400: a commissioned piece, a good dinner for the family, professional photographs. Over $400: the party, the trip, or the jewellery.
From Sagevow
A personalised keepsake — names, date, the vows themselves — outlasts every other anniversary gift on the list.
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