15th Anniversary Gift Ideas for the Crystal Year

Fifteen years is long enough to have lived through a few homes, a few jobs and at least one year you would not repeat. The traditional 15th anniversary gift is crystal and the modern one is a watch, but the gift that lands is the one that shows you remember how you got here. Here are 11 ideas for a husband or wife, from a pair of glasses to a time capsule. Our top pick is a song about your fifteen years, because it tells your story in a way a crystal vase cannot.

Listen to a real Songbond song

This one was made for another family. Yours would carry your names and your stories.

11 15th anniversary gift ideas

1. A song about your fifteen years ($39.90). Tell Songbond about every address you have shared, the car that broke down on the way to the wedding and the names you call each other. Songbond turns it into an original song, ready within 24 hours.
2. Two engraved crystal glasses. Wine, whisky or champagne, whichever you actually drink together, with your initials and wedding date cut into the side. Usually $40 to $120 for a pair.
3. A watch. The modern 15th gift, and a sensible one: something worn every day that marks the year. Engrave the date on the back. Expect $150 to $800.
4. A crystal decanter and something to fill it. Pour in the same kind of bottle you shared on an early date. It sits on the shelf and comes out for every toast after. $60 to $200.
5. A crystal vase with your wedding flowers. Look at the wedding photos, work out what was in the bouquet and order the same flowers. $50 to $150 together.
6. A crystal suncatcher for the kitchen window. When morning light hits it, small rainbows cross the room while you make coffee. $25 to $60.
7. A map of every address you have lived at together. A printed map with a small marker for each apartment and house, each one dated. $40 to $100.
8. Tickets to the band from your early dates. If they still tour, go, and stand near the front like you used to. $80 to $250.
9. A hotel night with a view. The room you could not afford when you were starting out. One night is enough. $200 to $500.
10. Fifteen photos in one frame. One photo from each year of marriage, in order, in a single long frame. The years with no good photo tell their own story. $40 to $90.
11. A time capsule for your 25th. Each of you writes a letter to open in ten years. Seal them in a box with a photo from this week. It costs almost nothing and gives you something to look forward to.

Crystal, a watch or something personal

Crystal suits couples who entertain and like pretty things on the table. A watch suits someone who already wears one every day. If neither fits, skip the theme and give something from your own history. The material is a tradition, not a rule.

• If they like to host: the glasses or the decanter.
• If they are sentimental: the song, the fifteen photos or the time capsule.
• If they want time with you: the hotel night or the concert.

Pair a crystal gift with the story behind it

Crystal on its own can feel like something off a wedding registry. What makes it personal is what goes with it. Tuck a note in the vase about the flowers you carried at your wedding. Tie a tag to the decanter saying which bottle you poured first and why. With the glasses, plan the first toast, and say one thing you know about each other now that you did not know at the altar. The crystal is the reminder. The words are the gift.

Make a song for your 15th

Create a 15th anniversary song with your own stories in it. It is ready within 24 hours, and express delivery gets it to you in about an hour if the date has crept up on you.

Also in the Journal: a custom song as an anniversary gift and songs about the day we met.