The 5th wedding anniversary is traditionally celebrated with a gift made from wood. Five years of marriage is a solid milestone, and the wood theme is a good one to work with if you want the gift to mean something. Here are some ideas for marking it properly, along with two 5th wedding anniversary gifts from A Year of Dates made for exactly this occasion.
What is a wood anniversary?
The 5th wedding anniversary is called the wood anniversary. The traditional materials for each year of marriage have been around for centuries, and wood is one of the most fitting. After five years together, a relationship has put down roots. It has grown through the early adjustments, the first home, the first big decisions made as a couple. Wood as a symbol for that is not a stretch. It suggests something that has taken time to become strong, and has the potential to last a great deal longer.
How to celebrate a 5th wedding anniversary
Five years does not always feel like a milestone in the way that ten or twenty-five might, but it is worth marking. A few approaches that tend to work well:
- A night away somewhere neither of you has been. It does not have to be far. A new place for two nights can feel like more of a reset than a longer trip to somewhere familiar.
- A meal at a restaurant you have talked about going to but kept putting off. Five years is a reasonable occasion to finally book it.
- Something that gives the couple more to do together through the year ahead, rather than a one-off treat that is over by the end of the evening.
- A gift made from wood, to keep the traditional theme — particularly if you are buying for someone else’s 5th anniversary.
5th wedding anniversary gift ideas
If you are looking for a wood anniversary gift, here are two options from A Year of Dates. One gives the couple date ideas to work through together through the year ahead. The other gives them a keepsake box to hold the memories they have already made.
5th wedding anniversary gift (wood)
A Year of Dates Wooden Date Box
A personalised hinged wooden box containing 52 sealed date cards, colour-coded by type: blue for evenings at home, yellow for nights out, green for days out together and orange for surprises. There are also 5 blank cards to add your own ideas into the deck. Personalise the lid with names and a short message in your choice of four fonts. A year’s worth of dates to enjoy together, then a keepsake box to keep once the cards are done. Free UK delivery.
Shop the Wooden Date Box
5th wedding anniversary gift (wood)
Personalised 5th Wedding Anniversary Wooden Box
A solid pine keepsake box with a birch ply lid, personalised with the couple’s names and an optional wedding date and message. Choose from natural print finish or add silver or gold foil for an extra touch. Available in four sizes from small (21cm x 12cm) to extra large (40cm x 30cm), so there is room for whatever they want to keep inside. Supplied empty. The natural grain means every box is slightly different. Free UK delivery.
Shop the Wooden Memory BoxFive years of marriage is worth more than a card and a bunch of flowers. A gift that gives the couple something to do together in the year ahead, or somewhere to keep the things that matter to them, tends to feel more fitting for the occasion than something that gets unwrapped and forgotten by the weekend.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the traditional gift for a 5th wedding anniversary?
The traditional gift for a 5th wedding anniversary is wood. In practice this means a gift made from wood, or something that takes the wood theme as its starting point. At A Year of Dates, we make a personalised wooden date box with 52 sealed date card ideas for couples celebrating 5 years of marriage, as well as a solid pine keepsake box personalised with names and a wedding date. Both are made in the UK and come with free delivery.
What do you buy for a wood anniversary UK?
A personalised gift made from wood tends to work well for the 5th anniversary. Options that go down well include a wooden date box that gives the couple something to look forward to through the year ahead, or a keepsake box they can fill with mementos from five years together. The wooden date box from A Year of Dates comes personalised with names and a message on the lid, and contains 52 colour-coded date ideas to open one at a time. The keepsake box is available in four sizes and can be personalised with natural, silver or gold foil print.
Why is the 5th anniversary called the wood anniversary?
The tradition of associating each wedding anniversary with a material dates back centuries, with wood assigned to the 5th year. The symbolism is to do with strength and growth. After five years, a relationship has had time to put down roots and become more established. Wood, as a material, reflects that — it takes time to grow and becomes more durable with age.
Is 5 years a big wedding anniversary?
It is one of the earlier named anniversaries on the traditional calendar, which gives it more weight than the years around it. Most couples reaching their 5th anniversary will have been through a fair amount together in a short time. It is worth marking properly rather than letting it pass with a last-minute card.
Browse all anniversary gifts at A Year of Dates. Gifts for every year, from paper to gold.
