Being married for 1,825 days will have seen you both grow together more than you possibly could have imagined. No longer newly-weds, the milestone fifth wedding anniversary is the perfect time to focus on appreciating each other and reaffirming your love for one another. To celebrate your special day, you can choose to celebrate in a way that acknowledges how far you have come as well as looking ahead to the future in gratitude for all that you have and all that you have worked for. Here are the most effective ways to celebrate five years of married life:

Most Effective Ways to Celebrate Your 5th Wedding Anniversary    

Gifts

For those married five years, the traditional anniversary gift is wood. The simplest gift could be a wooden picture frame to hold a photo of you both on this day. A gift idea that keeps on giving would be to plant a tree together in your own garden or in a place that is special to you both. An oak tree symbolizes strength, but you could also plant a fruit tree and each season enjoy harvesting and eating its produce as you watch the tree change and grow.

If you do not have space in your garden for a tree, planting a rose bush is another option that you can both enjoy in the years ahead. Yet 5th wedding anniversary gifts do not have to be alive, consider a rose that lasts for eternity that you can display indoors at home made from wood, silk or a real rose preserved in its natural color, or one is in sapphire blue since that is the gemstone for this anniversary.

A meal for two

The modern gift for your 5th wedding anniversary is silverware. This could link nicely to a special dinner out at a fine restaurant in the evening, or if arranging that is difficult, consider an afternoon tea with a silver tea set at a top-rated hotel.

In the summer a picnic in a wooded park an arboretum or forest could combine both elements of the anniversary gift ideas. A picnic in springtime amongst daisies, links with the flower of that symbolize the fifth anniversary, depicting love, purity, loyalty, and innocence.

Otherwise, create a special meal at home and if you have children arrange for them to have a sleepover with their grandparents, other relatives or friends. You can share the preparations and be relaxed about your evening alone together without talk of children, challenges at work, finances or other daily living concerns. Decorate your table with arrangements of daisies that can be found year-round at florists, as well as sprigs of wood.

Experiential celebrations

Whilst every anniversary should include a gift, and celebrations can continue into the next year.  A subscription to a magazine on a topic that interests you both, or a subscription to a delivery service that ensures that each month or at regular periods of your own choosing, you receive flowers, a dozen bottles of craft beer or a crate of wine, will give you an excuse to remember your anniversary throughout the next twelve months.

This can also be a great time to reignite interest in old interests, to see your favorite team play at their home ground, watch your favorite band play or have a night out at the theatre. Taking up an evening class together, whether to learn astrophysics or salsa dancing, can create time for you simply as a couple together.

Charitable giving

As well as celebrating your anniversary with a gift, share your good fortune with those less fortunate. If there is a cause that you are both passionate about, donate to that cause. If you met when volunteering in Indonesia, send a donation there. Donate to an animal rescue or any of the thousands of charities helping homeless veterans, researching cancer or other disease care and cures, charities fighting for human rights and much more. Making a gift to a cause that matters in your joint names is a special way to share love more widely than just between the two of you and sometimes it is just nicer to give than to receive.