Anniversary Gift Ideas for Your Girlfriend

An anniversary gift for your girlfriend should feel like it could only be for her. The best anniversary gifts for a girlfriend come from things she has already told you: the book she rereads, the class she keeps meaning to take, the scent that reminds her of a trip. Here are 12 ideas at every budget. Our top pick is a song about her, because it turns the things you notice into something she can hear.

Play a real Songbond song

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

12 anniversary gift ideas for your girlfriend

1. A song about her ($39.90). Share how you met, what makes her laugh and the things you have never said out loud, and Songbond turns it into an original song. She can play it on a bad day, which is when it will matter most.
2. Clothbound editions of the books she rereads. Find handsome hardback copies of her two or three favorites. Usually $20 to $40 each, and they will sit on her shelf for good.
3. A necklace with the coordinates of where you met. Small, plain and only readable to the two of you. Usually $50 to $150.
4. A candle or scent from a place you went together. If you took a trip, find a candle or perfume that smells like it: pine, sea salt, orange blossom. Usually $30 to $90.
5. A framed screenshot of an early text. The first message where you knew this was going somewhere. Print it small and frame it. Usually $25 to $60.
6. Flowers every month for three months. A flower subscription means the gift keeps arriving long after the day. Usually $35 to $60 a delivery.
7. A sunrise picnic. Coffee, pastries and a blanket at a spot that matters to you both. Wake her early and do not tell her where you are going.
8. Two film cameras and a day out. Spend the day photographing each other, then develop the rolls together a week later. Usually $30 to $50 including developing.
9. Lessons in the thing she keeps saying she will learn. Piano, Italian, watercolor, ceramics. Book a block of lessons so she has no excuse. Usually $100 to $300.
10. A spa appointment with the time already cleared. Book it, pay for it and cover whatever she would have had to do that afternoon. Usually $80 to $200.
11. Cashmere socks and a good robe. Something soft for the evenings she spends at home. Usually $50 to $150 together.
12. A bundle of open-when letters. Open when you miss me, open when you cannot sleep, open when work was awful. Five or six envelopes, and it costs nothing.

How to choose for her

Think about the last month, not the last year. What has she mentioned, pointed at or sighed about? Many of the best gifts for a girlfriend are already sitting in your messages.

• If she is sentimental: the open-when letters, the framed text or the song.
• If she loves to learn: the lessons or the clothbound books.
• If she is always busy: the spa appointment, the flowers or the sunrise picnic.

How to give a song so it lands

A song is not like a sweater. It needs a few quiet minutes and her full attention. Do not play it in a loud restaurant or send it while she is at work. Play it in the car on a drive with nowhere to be, or at home with one pair of headphones split between you. Do not explain it first. Tell her you made something for her, press play and let her listen. Afterward, send her the link so she can hear it again on her own, because she will want to.

Make a song for your girlfriend

Create an anniversary song for your girlfriend. It is ready within 24 hours. Cutting it close? Express delivery gets it to you in about an hour.

Also in the Journal: why a custom song makes a romantic anniversary gift and songs for a promise ring.