5th Anniversary Gift Ideas for Your Husband

Five years of marriage is the wood anniversary, which is good news if your husband likes things he can hold, use and keep. The best 5th anniversary gifts for a husband are solid and practical, with a line inside only he will understand. Here are 12 ideas, most of them in wood, a couple in silver. Our top pick is a song about your five years together, because it is the one gift on this list he could never buy for himself.

Hear a real song from Songbond

This one was made for someone else. Yours would carry his name and your stories.

12 fifth anniversary gift ideas for your husband

1. A song about your five years ($39.90). Share how you met, the wedding and what the last five years have held, and Songbond turns it into an original song. It is ready within 24 hours.
2. A wooden valet tray for his nightstand. A place for his keys, wallet and watch, with your date burned into the wood. Usually $40 to $100.
3. A small oak barrel for aging his own spirits. He fills it, waits a few weeks and tastes the difference. Usually $50 to $120.
4. A chef's knife with a walnut handle. If he does the cooking, a good knife is the upgrade he will use every night. Usually $80 to $200.
5. A wooden game board with your date inlaid. Chess, backgammon or cribbage, whichever you two play. Usually $60 to $200.
6. An engraved baseball bat. For the sports fan, a full-size wooden bat with your names and wedding date. Usually $60 to $120.
7. Hand tools with wooden handles. A set of chisels, a mallet or a block plane for the man who fixes things. Usually $60 to $200.
8. A day on the water in a wooden canoe. Rent one on a quiet lake, pack lunch and leave the phones in the car. Usually $50 to $120.
9. A good acoustic guitar. If he plays, or keeps saying he will learn, a solid wood guitar lasts decades. Usually $200 to $600.
10. A letter of five thank-yous. One for each year: the thing he did that you never properly thanked him for. It costs nothing.
11. Silver cufflinks or a tie bar. Silver is the modern fifth anniversary gift. Engrave a small initial on the back. Usually $50 to $150.
12. Cedar grilling planks and a night at the grill. A stack of planks, a good piece of salmon and an evening outside together. Usually $30 to $60.

How to choose for your husband

Think about where he goes when he has an hour to himself: the kitchen, the garage, the yard or the couch with a game on. Give him a wooden gift for that room.

• If he is a maker: the hand tools or the guitar.
• If he is a cook: the chef's knife, the grilling planks or the oak barrel.
• If he is sentimental: the five thank-yous, the valet tray or the song.

When he says he does not want anything

Plenty of husbands say this every year, and they usually mean it about things, not about attention. Take him at his word on the stuff and give him something he did not know to ask for. That is why the letter of five thank-yous and a song work so well here. Neither adds clutter, and both say out loud what five years of daily life rarely leave room to say. If you want something for him to unwrap as well, keep it small and useful, like the valet tray. Give it after dinner at home, not in public, so he can react however he likes.

Make his fifth anniversary song

Create a fifth anniversary song for your husband. It is ready within 24 hours. If your anniversary is today, express delivery gets it to you in about an hour.

Also in the Journal: 5th anniversary songs and an anniversary song for your husband.