Anniversary Date Ideas & Celebration Tips

If you’d like to skip traditional anniversary gifts this year and surprise your spouse with a fun or romantic experience instead, you’ve come to the right place! Let’s take a look at some fun and romantic anniversary date ideas and anniversary party tips and ideas.

Fun & Romantic Anniversary Ideas for Her

When you're looking beyond the traditional anniversary gifts, check out these unforgettable anniversary date ideas that are perfect for your wife. 

• Dance Lessons. Swing, salsa, or foxtrot your heart out with lessons from a professional dance instructor. Have fun while learning an important skill that’s sure to come in handy the next time you hit the dance floor!

• Spa Day. Book some time at a local resort and treat yourself to a couple’s massage, hot tub, and more. Can’t afford a resort? Stage a spa day at your home with a nice bubble bath, face masks, champagne, chocolates, and strawberries. 

• Adventure Time. Get out of your comfort zone and go skydiving, bungee jumping, or roller coaster riding together. It doesn’t get much more exciting than that!

• Honeymoon Vacation. Extend your date night into a week by returning to your honeymoon spot. It’s the perfect way to relive fond memories and make new ones! 

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Fun & Romantic Anniversary Ideas for Him

Here are a few anniversary date ideas that your husband is sure to love. 

Mixology Class. Seriously up your cocktail game by learning how to craft the latest popular drinks or old classics. The best part of this experience is that you get to sip and sample with your spouse!

First Date. Have a fun first date story? Recreate it! Take a trip down memory lane and surprise your hubby back in the spot where your love story began.

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Soak Up Some Sun. Get outside! Take a hike, go on a romantic picnic, or head to the beach to relax. Whatever you choose to do, enjoy the fresh air and each other's company!

Spontaneous Vacation. Grab a map, blindfold your husband, and let him randomly point to a spot on the map. Wherever he points is where you’ll go! Consider using a regional map if you can’t travel internationally :) 

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Tips & Ideas for Anniversary Celebrations

Some say that the best way to honor and celebrate a marriage milestone is to surround yourself with family and friends. Anniversary parties are the perfect opportunity to let loved ones know how much they mean to you and how they're a part of your marriage journey. Whether you want to plan an event for your parents, good friends, or spouse, below are a few party tips and ideas to help get you started. 

Celebration Tips for Any Anniversary 

Let’s take a look at some basics to help you plan an amazing anniversary party. 

Guest List. Start your party planning with a list of guests. Invite immediate family members and close friends for a small gathering or invite extended family, both old and new friends, and colleagues for a large celebration. Decide in advance whether or not to invite young children.

Budget. Setting a budget is one of the most important party planning tasks. Set aside a small percentage of your total budget as a cushion in case you incur any unexpected costs during the party planning process.

Venue. Pick a local party venue based on your budget and the number of guests that will be in attendance. Venue options include a local hall, function room, restaurant, residence, or backyard party. Pick a place that goes with a specific theme or one without décor to act as a blank slate.

Invitations. Share important event details and easily collect RSVPs with online anniversary invitations. Digital invitations can be sent right from your phone and are especially helpful if the party is a surprise! Be sure to send text or email your invites 3-4 weeks in advance to give everyone enough time to RSVP.

Anniversary Video. Before the party, gather video messages of love and congrats from guests to create a beautiful anniversary video that you can play at the party. Email the link to the group video to guests and long-distance loved ones who can’t attend the party, collect video clips of heartfelt messages, then combine the clips into a group video that can be shown on a big screen at the event! The happy couple will be surprised and touched to see and hear from so many of their friends and family.

Not sure how to make an anniversary video? Check out these helpful anniversary video tips and ideas. 

10-Year Anniversary Celebration Ideas

A decade together is an important milestone, so make the celebration memorable and fun! An anniversary party theme that revolves around famous couples is the perfect way to celebrate and get guests excited to attend. Encourage guests to bring a plus one and dress as real or fictional couples like Beyoncé and Jay-Z; Bill and Hillary Clinton; Will and Jada Pinkett Smith; Sandy and Danny from Grease; and Johnny Castle and “Baby” from Dirty Dancing.

Create a glitz and glam atmosphere by setting up a red carpet for guests to walk down when they arrive (a red tablecloth or velvet fabric that’s securely tacked down will do!). Gather pictures of the special couple from over the years, glue or tape them to large gold stars, and place them on the walls. Be sure to also set up a VIP spot for the guests of honor by decorating their chairs with balloons and streamers and placing them at the head of the table with a nice bottle of chilled champagne.

The traditional stone for a 10th anniversary is a diamond, which plays well into a swanky party. While it’d be nice to decorate the space with real diamonds, it’s not very budget-friendly! An easy alternative is to use twinkling string lights throughout the party space and fill glass vases with acrylic diamonds for stunning centerpieces. 

25-Year Anniversary Celebration Ideas

Help the happy couple commemorate and reflect on 25 years of marriage by taking them back to their honeymoon! If they were lucky enough to visit a tropical paradise, throw them a fun luau anniversary party. Before the party, ask the couple for photos from their honeymoon, turn them into posters, and hang them around the event space to enhance the atmosphere. Have guests wear Hawaiian shirts, dresses, or grass skirts and welcome them to the party by placing a lei around their neck. Serve drinks in coconuts with little umbrellas and hold a hula dancing contest! 

This milestone is traditionally known as the silver anniversary, so hosts should try to incorporate elements of this metallic color throughout the party space. Purchase silver mylar balloons with the number 25 on them, personalize a banner with the couple’s name and wedding date in silver, and place tropical flowers in silver vases or tie them with silver ribbons for elegant centerpieces. 

50-Year Anniversary Celebration Ideas

Bring the happy couple and guests back half a century with a Decade Party. For example, if the wedding was in 1972, plan a 70s theme party! Guests should be prepared to wear 70’s attire and dance the night away to popular 70s tunes from a playlist or local band. Have a prize ready for the most realistically dressed guest or best dancer.  

Because this major milestone is known as the golden anniversary, be sure to incorporate splashes of gold throughout the party space in addition to any decade-themed decorations. Gather photos of the special couple and place them in gold-colored frames throughout the space. To create beautiful table settings, use white tablecloths with gold table runners and accent the table with gold napkins. Scatter gold confetti in the center of the tables and polish the look off with gold balloons for a centerpiece. 

Lastly, before the party, bring a picture of the original wedding cake to a bakery so they can recreate the original for the party. The guests of honor will be so surprised to see their wedding cake from way back when! 

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Whether you throw a party or choose a fun or romantic date idea for your anniversary, your spouse is sure to appreciate all the love and attention. Happy Anniversary!