Paper anniversary gifts: 30 first wedding anniversary ideas for him, for her and for couples

UK lists agree on paper for the first year; the flower and colour vary between retailers, so treat them as optional.

• Your wedding vows printed and framed side by side.
• An illustrated map of the places that matter: where you met, the venue, your first flat.
• A photo book of your first year, with one caption from each of you per page.
• A box of 52 envelopes: one date idea a week for your second year.
• A star map of the sky over your venue on the wedding night.
• The order of service, the menu and a pressed flower from the bouquet, framed together.
• A subscription to a magazine you both read on Sunday mornings.
• Your first year written as a novel, from the proposal to your first anniversary.

• Tickets to a match, a gig or a comedy night, printed and hidden in a book.
• A first edition or a signed copy of a book he loves.
• A leather notebook with a letter from you on the first page.
• A framed print of the ground, the circuit or the mountain he cares about.
• A vintage map of the town he grew up in.
• A paperback of his favourite novel with your notes in the margins.
• A book of the speeches from your wedding day, typed up and bound.

• A love letter for each month of your first year, in twelve envelopes.
• Paper flowers that will not wilt, in the colours of her bouquet.
• Theatre or ballet tickets with dinner booked before.
• A personalised stationery set with her new or unchanged name, her choice.
• A framed sheet of the music from your first dance.
• A cookbook from the restaurant where you had your wedding dinner.
• Her wedding speech or yours, beautifully printed.

• A wall clock for the first home, engraved with your wedding date.
• A watch for each of you, set to the time you said "I do".
• A vintage carriage clock from the year one of you was born.
• A sunrise alarm clock for whoever finds winter mornings hardest.

• A night back at your wedding venue or honeymoon hotel.
• A papermaking, bookbinding or calligraphy workshop for two.
• A dinner recreating your wedding menu at home.
• A day trip to the place you got engaged.

Paper is the material of stories, so the most literal paper anniversary gift is a book about the two of you. With a Notre Livre anniversary book, one of you (or a son or daughter) tells the story in a guided conversation: how you met, the wedding, the homes, the children, the hard years and the good ones. It becomes a novel of 80 to 200 pages, written in the first person with AI assistance. Nothing is invented, the first page is free to read before paying, and every chapter is reviewed before printing.

£29 digital, £55 or £75 as a hardback printed in the UK, VAT and UK delivery included. See the prices page.

• "One year down, and you are still the person I want to tell everything to first."
• "Happy paper anniversary. Here is to filling a lot more pages."
• "Twelve months, one flat, two families, zero regrets. Happy anniversary."
• "The best thing I did last year was marry you. The best thing I'll do this year is stay."

A rough guide. Prices for third-party gifts vary by retailer; Notre Livre prices are the ones charged on this site.