25th Anniversary Gift Ideas for Your Parents

Your parents' 25th anniversary is often the first big one their children are old enough to plan. The best 25th anniversary gift for parents is something the whole family puts into, so it says thank you from all of you, not just a card from one. Here are 11 ideas, from their wedding video finally rescued from a tape to a garden bench with their names on it. Our top pick is a song about their 25 years, told by the kids who watched it happen.

Hear a real Songbond song first

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

11 25th anniversary gift ideas for your parents

1. A song about their 25 years, from the kids ($39.90). Each of you sends a few memories: road trips, house rules, the proposal story. Songbond turns it into an original song, ready within 24 hours.
2. Their wedding video, digitized and edited. If it lives on a tape in a closet, have it transferred and cut into a short film they can watch on the television. The grandchildren have likely never seen it, and the dancing alone is worth the cost. Usually $30 to $100.
3. An engraved silver serving tray. Their names, wedding date and 25 years across the center. It comes out at every family holiday. $60 to $200.
4. A weekend at a bed and breakfast. Paid, booked and planned by the kids, with someone lined up to feed the dog. $300 to $600.
5. A family photo session. Everyone together, partners and pets included, before the family spreads out any further. $150 to $400.
6. A scrapbook of 25 years, made by the kids. Each child takes a stretch of years and fills those pages with photos and notes. $30 to $60 in materials.
7. A slideshow for the party. Photos from every year, set to songs that were on the radio when they married. It costs nothing but an evening at the computer.
8. A silver keepsake box. For the wedding cards, the invitation and the notes they wrote each other when they were dating. $40 to $100.
9. Tickets to a show they would never buy themselves. The musical, the comedian or the concert in the city. $100 to $300.
10. An engraved garden bench. A small plate with their names and date, set where they have coffee in the morning. $200 to $600.
11. A letter from each child. What you learned from watching their marriage, written by hand. It costs nothing and is often the gift that makes them cry.

How to choose a 25th anniversary gift for your parents

Start with how they like to spend a Saturday. Parents who love a crowd will want the party and the slideshow. Parents who guard their quiet will want the weekend away. Most will want at least one thing that came from all of you together. If you are unsure, ask the friend they call first with good news. They usually know exactly what your parents have been wishing for.

• If they are sentimental: the song, the letters or the scrapbook.
• If they never take time off: the bed and breakfast or the show.
• If they love their home: the garden bench or the silver tray.

How siblings can split a 25th anniversary gift

Pick one person to organize. Group gifts stall when everyone waits for someone else to start. Agree on a budget early, and let each sibling give what they can without anyone keeping score. Divide the work, not just the cost: one sibling books the weekend, one collects the photos, one gathers memories for the song. Set a deadline a week before the date so there is time to fix anything that goes wrong. On the day, give it together, with everyone in the room or on a video call.

Make a song for their 25th

Create a 25th anniversary song for your parents with stories from every sibling. It is ready within 24 hours, and express delivery gets it to you in about an hour.

Also in the Journal: 25th anniversary song ideas and anniversary songs for parents.