An anniversary gift list the family can ask about every year
Every year somebody asks what the two of you would like, and every year the answer is "oh, nothing". An anniversary wishlist answers once, rolls over to next year on its own, and still leaves room for a surprise.
Anna & Tom's wedding list
8 gift ideas ·Wedding ·in 245 days ·1 already reserved
Cast-iron pan, 28 cm
The heavy kind that outlives us both.
Linen napkins, set of 8
Espresso machine
Big one — very happy for people to club together.
Picnic blanket
One list for the two of you, kept from year to year
An anniversary is a recurring occasion here, like a birthday. Give the list the date once and it counts down to this year’s; the morning after, it quietly counts down to next year’s instead. The link you send the family in 2026 is the link they already have in 2027.
That is the whole point. Most couples do not want a fresh list every year; they want one place that says what the two of you would use, edited when something changes. Parents and siblings bookmark it and stop guessing.
The mechanics are the same as for the birthday wishlist: paste a link from any shop and the title, photo and price come across, or type a wish in plain words. Mark one or two as top wishes so the relative who wants to get it right has a straight answer.
Gifts by anniversary year: the traditional materials
The old list of materials by year is a prompt, not a rule, and it is useful mainly because relatives have usually looked it up before they ask. Put something on the list that nods to the year, and let the rest of the list be whatever you actually want.
| Year | Traditional material | A wish that fits |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Paper | A framed print, a book you will both read, tickets to something |
| 2nd | Cotton | Good bed linen, a hammock, table linen you would never buy yourselves |
| 3rd | Leather | A weekend bag, a belt or wallet to replace the worn one, a leather-bound notebook |
| 5th | Wood | A chopping board, a garden bench, a tree for the garden, a wooden toy if there is a child now |
| 10th | Tin | Something for the kitchen you have put off for a decade, or a trip rather than an object |
| 15th | Crystal | Good glasses, a carafe, a night somewhere with a view |
| 20th | China | The dinner service you have talked about, a pottery course together |
| 25th | Silver | A piece of jewellery, a silver frame for the wedding photo, a contribution to a trip |
| 30th | Pearl | Jewellery, or a dinner for the whole family that the family gives |
| 40th | Ruby | Something red and daft alongside something they would really use: a case of good wine, a meal out |
| 50th | Gold | A party the children give, a photo book of the fifty years, a journey back to where you married |
| 60th | Diamond | Time: a lunch with everybody there, an album, help with something practical |
For the early years the list is mostly for the two of you and the in-laws. From the 25th onwards it tends to be read by children and grandchildren, who are the ones who will ask the question and who are most likely to want to give something together.
Milestones: 10, 25 and 50 years
A silver or golden wedding is the anniversary where the family wants to give something bigger than a bottle, and where several of them want to give it together. An experience for the two of you — a few days away, a dinner for the whole family, the course you keep saying you will do — is what most milestone lists come down to.
Write it as one wish and say in the note that people are welcome to club together. Whoever reserves it then knows to gather the others rather than pay for it alone, and everybody else sees it is spoken for and chooses something else. The group gift page explains how that usually works, and the example list below does it twice: a cooking class and a night in Lisbon, both open to a group.
Keep a few smaller things beside the big one, so a grandchild with pocket money has something that is theirs to give and a neighbour can bring something without joining a collection.
What goes on an anniversary list
Ten to fifteen wishes across a spread of prices covers an ordinary year; a milestone can carry a few more. Think in kinds of wish rather than products, and make sure there is something for the two of you, something for the house and something that gets used up.
| Kind of wish | Examples | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| For the house together | The good pan, a lamp for the bedroom, a rug, a tool for the garden | €30 to €250 |
| Things that get used up | A case of the wine you like, coffee, olive oil, flowers delivered on the day | €15 to €80 |
| An evening for two | Dinner at the place you went on your first date, theatre tickets, a concert | €40 to €200 |
| Time away | A night in a hotel in the next city, a weekend by the sea, a spa day | €100 to €400, or a share |
| Something for each of you | A book, a piece of kit for a hobby, a scarf — one wish each, so a gift for the couple can still be personal | €20 to €120 |
| Contributions | A night of a longer trip, the big dinner, a course for two | Any amount |
Prices are a guide for the person reading, not a target. The list is shown in the order you put it in, with no sorting by price and no running total, so a mixed list reads as generous rather than as a bill.
Asking for a contribution to a trip or a dinner
After a few years of marriage most couples have the toaster. What they want is a trip, or a dinner that is better than they would book for themselves, and asking for that is only awkward if it is written as an invoice.
This site handles no money: no payments, no funds, no fees. A contribution is simply a wish written in plain words — "A night of our week in Lisbon, any amount welcome" — which people reserve like any other gift and then give however they already give money: a transfer, an envelope, a payment app. The guide to asking for money instead of gifts has the wordings that land well and the ones that do not.
Two habits keep it gracious. Say what the money is for, because "towards the ferry to Sicily" is a gift and "cash" is not. And keep your account details off the list itself, since anyone with the link can read it; "ask us for the details" in the note does the job.
Two of you, one surprise: how the privacy rule works for a couple
The rule here is that the owner of a list never sees which gifts are reserved, only how many; everybody else who opens the link sees who is bringing what. That is enforced on the server.
For a couple there is an honest wrinkle. The list belongs to one account, and it is that account the reservations are hidden from. If one of you signs up and the other opens the shared link in an ordinary browser, the second one is a visitor like anyone else and sees every reservation. The site cannot tell your partner from your sister.
So agree on one of two arrangements. Either you both use the one account to add wishes and neither of you opens the public link, which keeps the surprise for both of you. Or one of you owns the list, does the editing and does not peek, and the other simply stays away from the link until the day. The same applies when the children run a golden-wedding list on their parents’ behalf: the parents should not be sent the link at all, or they will read it as guests do.
When to send an anniversary list
Anniversaries are easier than Christmas because the date is yours alone and nobody is posting forty parcels. Three moments cover most years:
- About a month before. Share the link once in the family chat for an ordinary year. Early enough for anybody who orders, late enough that it says what you want now.
- Six to eight weeks before a milestone. A silver or golden wedding usually comes with a party and a group gift, and a collection needs time to form around the big wish before the small ones are taken.
- The year after. Nothing. The list has rolled over, the date has moved on by a year, and the people who bookmarked your address last year find it current. A one-line reminder in the chat is plenty.
Keep editing after you share it: the page is live, so a new wish needs no second link, and adding late tells you nothing about what has already been chosen.
Wording that does not read as a demand
A list someone asked for is never rude; the guide on whether it is rude to send a wishlist goes through why. The sentence around the link matters more than the list, and for an anniversary it is usually one of these:
- When a parent asks. "You asked, so here it is — anything from here would make us happy, and honestly a card and a phone call are plenty: [link]."
- In the family chat before anyone asks. "It is our tenth on the 14th. To save the usual round of messages, our list is here, same one as last year: [link]. No pressure at all."
- For a milestone the children are organising. "Mum and Dad’s golden wedding is in June. We have put a few ideas in one place so nothing arrives twice; the big one is open to anyone who wants to join in: [link]."
Each list has a line that shows at the top for visitors. "No pressure, a card is plenty" is what most people write there, and it sets the tone before anybody has read a single wish.
From the wedding list to the first anniversary
If you married this year, the wedding gift list you made is a one-off and stops counting after the day. An anniversary list is the one that carries on: start it with whatever the wedding list did not cover, give it next year’s date, and it will be waiting when the first "what would you two like?" arrives.
Everything sits under one profile address, yourwishpage.com/your-names, so a relative who has it has every list you publish: the anniversary one that comes back each year, a birthday each, and whatever one-off comes along.
Is it free?
Yes. Making the list, adding wishes and sharing the link are free, with no ads and no affiliate links, and there is nothing for your family to pay or install.
Do relatives need an account to reserve something?
No. Anyone with the link opens it, types a first name and reserves. Only the person who owns the list needs an account.
Can both of us add to the list?
Yes. The list lives under one account; sign in with the same details and either of you can add or change wishes. There is no separate couple account to set up.
Will we see who has reserved what?
Not from the account that owns the list: it shows only how many gifts are taken. A partner who opens the shared link without being signed in is a visitor, though, and sees the reservations, so agree between you who edits and who stays away from the link.
Does the list carry over to next year?
Yes. An anniversary is a recurring occasion, so once the date has passed the countdown moves to next year on its own. The link does not change; edit the wishes whenever you like.
Can we ask for money towards a trip?
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What do people give for a 25th or 50th anniversary?
Traditionally silver for the 25th and gold for the 50th, but in practice families give an experience together: a trip, a dinner for everybody, a photo book of the years. Put that on the list as one wish that is open to a group, with a few smaller things beside it.
How do relatives club together for one gift?
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Is a list for a dating anniversary any different?
No. Give it the date and the occasion and it behaves the same way: it recurs every year, and the list hides reservations from whoever owns it. The traditional materials are for wedding anniversaries, but nobody is checking.
Can we print it or put a QR code on a party invitation?
Yes. Every list has a QR code you can download and print, and the list page prints as a clean sheet without buttons. For a golden-wedding party, the code on the invitation lets a guest open the list with a phone camera and nothing to type.
