A 20th wedding anniversary is a cause for celebration, which means you need a great gift idea for your significant other. However, not everyone is great at thinking of meaningful gifts, which is why we’re here to help with some of the best 20-year anniversary gift options.
Capture celebrated our 20th anniversary in 2019 and throughout our time preserving memories for millions of families, it’s always been our mission to make your special moments as memorable as possible.
So, keep reading to learn about the traditions behind 20th anniversary celebrations, some of the most popular gift ideas, and inspiration including traditional platinum gifts, modern gift ideas, and unique 20th anniversary presents that are sure to make him or her smile.
Jump to:
- The Tradition Behind 20 Year Anniversary Gifts
- Popular Platinum Gifts for the 20th Anniversary
- Unique and Modern Takes on China Anniversary Gifts
- Celebrating Two Decades Together: Experiential & Memory Gifts
- DIY 20th Anniversary Gift Ideas
The Tradition Behind 20 Year Anniversary Gifts
A 20th anniversary is a great milestone in your love story and celebrates 2 decades of marriage. It’s also a time to look back on your relationship, reminisce over family memories, see how much you’ve grown as a couple, look back at old video camera home movies, and of course give gifts to celebrate the special day.
While the traditional 50th anniversary gift is gold and silver is for 25th anniversary gifts, the traditional 20th anniversary gift is China or porcelain. It’s fine, delicate, and downright gorgeous. This often includes dinnerware, teacups, decorative figurines, or porcelain home decor. However, if you want something traditional that offers more practicality, coffee mugs or teapots might be good choices too.
When it comes to traditional gifts for two decades of marriage, you can also go with the China aster, a beautiful flower that comes in many different colors. You can also mix and match these 20th anniversary flowers with daylilies, pansies, tulips, or roses for a great gift.
Finally, emeralds are the traditional gem to celebrate 20 years as a happy couple. The bright, emerald-green 20th anniversary gemstone symbolizes growth and is also associated with Venus, the Roman goddess of love.
While traditional 20-year anniversary gifts are great, there are some modern gifts as well. For example, recently many people have been giving platinum gifts for 20th anniversaries. It represents a strong and everlasting love.
Whatever you choose, just like with 50th anniversary gifts or birthday presents for dad or mom, it’s important that your 20-year anniversary gift is meaningful and fits your marriage, partner, and feelings. That’s why we included several types of gifts to choose from, starting with modern platinum gifts.
Popular Platinum Gifts for the 20th Anniversary
Popular platinum gifts to celebrate 20 years of marriage include jewelry like rings, necklaces, and bracelets as well as figurines, home décor, and things like cutting boards, picture frames, coffee mugs, or other practical gifts that have platinum edges or engravings.
For men, a platinum watch is a great choice that’s both stylish and useful. You can also get platinum cufflinks engraved with your wedding date or a message to your loved one for the special occasion. For women, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets are all great and you can get them engraved as well. Another option is a platinum locket with a picture of the lovebirds inside.
Regardless of the platinum option you choose, it’s a sentimental gift that celebrates the milestone anniversary as well as the durability and lasting nature of your marriage. However, it’s not for every married couple, which is why we included many other 20th wedding anniversary gift ideas that you might prefer.
Unique and Modern Takes on China Anniversary Gifts
While China, aster flowers, and emerald gems are traditional gifts and platinum is becoming a popular option as well, they don’t have to be used in the traditional way. For example, instead of getting a bone China teacup set, you can get an engraved crystal with a China setting. With laser-engraved crystal, you can include messages, wedding dates, or even a photo of you and your loved one.
Another option is to combine China with a special message. You can have China engraved by sellers on Etsy to place a special message directly on the delicate porcelain surface. While it’s not practical to use China for dishes and dinnerware every day, doing this makes it double as a great decorative piece for the kitchen or even a bedroom or other living area.
If you browse Amazon, you can also find China clocks, picture frames, jewelry, and tons of other great modern takes on traditional 20th anniversary gifts. However, you can also choose to go a different route with experiences, memories, and other thoughtful gifts that don’t involve similar gifts that you would give as 50th birthday gift ideas.
Celebrating Two Decades Together: Experiential & Memory Gifts
Some of the most thoughtful gifts revolve around experiences and memories. One way to add thoughtfulness to a gift is through personalization. For example, you could have a gift engraved, place a special photo into a picture frame, or figure out how to digitize photos to create a digital photo album. You can even give your loved one the gift of preserving memories with our digitizing gift ideas.
There are tons of keepsakes that you can personalize as a 20-year wedding anniversary gift, but we always recommend getting something that’s personal to you and your husband or wife. Think of their hobbies whether they like what was popular in the 80s or early silent films. Then, find a gift to personalize that’s based on those interests.
You might also consider planning an experience like a romantic getaway, vacation, or trip to your husband or wife’s favorite place. You can even plan an entire anniversary date around the place where you originally met or got married.
Another option is to transfer VHS tapes to digital to preserve all the great memories you’ve made over the last 20 years. By doing so, you not only help your partner preserve their special memories forever but can also share the nostalgia of looking back at old home movies together. Then, you can even restore pictures and home videos of your wedding day or add personal touches, chapters, or messages.
Finally, don’t forget about parties, date nights, or renewal of vows as a meaningful and unique gift. This type of gift helps you celebrate the memories of the last 20 years while also creating new memories and ensuring a happy anniversary.
DIY 20th Anniversary Gift Ideas
Some of the most perfect 20th anniversary gifts are things that you can do yourself. These DIY gifts can go with another type of gift or be meaningful as a standalone perfect 20th anniversary gift.
You can make your own anniversary card with private messages, poems, memories, and photo gifts for him or her. If you know how to scrapbook, you can create different pages to showcase memories from each year of your marriage like vacations, birthdays, Christmas get-togethers, and so much more from your 20-year marriage.
Other hand-made gifts include things like writing a song for your partner, creating a collage, making them breakfast in bed, making hand-crafted candles or jewelry, or painting your home in the style that they’ve always wanted.
Conclusion
You have lots of 20-year anniversary gift options to choose from and we hope that some of the gift ideas on this page have helped inspire the best gift for your husband or wife. Whether you choose anniversary jewelry for 20 years, traditional China, an anniversary day experience, or a DIY keepsake, your anniversary is sure to be magical.
If you want to preserve all the special memories, home movies, and photos from the last 20 years of your marriage, Capture can help. Our professional digitization services have the fastest turnaround time in the industry so even if your anniversary is less than 30 days away, you can still choose us to give the gift of memories. Click here to get started!
