Gift ideas
Anniversary gift ideas in Bangladesh, by year and by budget
11 min read
Key takeaways
Choose an anniversary gift by the year you're marking, then by budget. The traditional list gives each year a material: paper for the first, cotton for the second, leather for the third, silver for the 25th and gold for the 50th. Each has a Bangladeshi handmade match, and for the first ten years most cost under ৳5,000.
On this page12
- What is a good anniversary gift?
- What are the traditional anniversary gifts by year?
- What should you give for the first anniversary?
- What should you give for the 2nd to 10th anniversary?
- What should you give for a 25th or 50th anniversary?
- What should you give your husband on your anniversary?
- What should you give your wife on your anniversary?
- What should you give your parents on their anniversary?
- Personalised and made-to-order gifts
- Last-minute anniversary gifts
- Ordering an anniversary gift online
- What should you write in an anniversary card?
What is a good anniversary gift?
One that marks the year you're celebrating and is meant for your spouse alone, not for the household. Start from the number: the traditional list gives every anniversary a material, and almost every one has a Bangladeshi handmade match. Then fit it to your budget and add a few lines in your own handwriting. The note is the part that gets kept.
Two rules hold at every budget. Skip appliances: a blender is a household purchase, however you wrap it. And match the gift to the occasion: a first anniversary needs care, not gold.
Anniversary gifts by budget, at a glance
| Budget | What works | A price we found |
|---|---|---|
| Under ৳1,000 | Roses and a letter, a leather belt, a kantha cushion cover, a clay tepa putul | Rose: ৳15–৳20 each on an ordinary day (2026); leather belt: ৳350–৳1,000 (2025) |
| ৳1,000 to ৳5,000 | A Tangail cotton sari, a panjabi, a kansa plate, a hand-painted wooden piece | Tangail cotton sari: ৳1,200–৳3,000 (2026); kansa plate: ৳1,400–৳1,600 (2024) |
| ৳5,000 to ৳20,000 | A full Nakshi Kantha, a fine jamdani, silver jewellery, a short trip | Full Nakshi Kantha: ৳8,100–৳14,000 (2026); 80-count jamdani: ৳8,000–৳17,000 (2024) |
| ৳20,000 and up | Gold, usually for a 25th or 50th | 22-carat gold: ৳2,17,592 a bhori (31 October 2026) |
The prices come from dated press reports and shop listings, so expect some drift, and gold moves several times a month. The sections below go year by year, then person by person.
What are the traditional anniversary gifts by year?
The list most people quote is American and not very old. According to the Emily Post Institute, Emily Post's 1922 book Etiquette named only a handful of years: paper for the first, wood for the fifth, tin for the tenth, then crystal, china, silver and gold. In 1937 the American National Retail Jeweler Association filled in most of the rest, which is why the later years are all gems and precious metals.
It isn't a Bangladeshi custom, so treat it as a source of ideas, not a rule. Here is the Institute's classic list, with a handmade match from Bangladesh for each year:
| Year | Traditional material | A Bangladeshi match |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Paper | A handwritten letter, a framed wedding photo, a painting for your first home |
| 2nd | Cotton | A Tangail cotton sari, a cotton panjabi, a kantha |
| 3rd | Leather | A wallet, belt or bag from Hazaribagh |
| 4th | Fruit or flowers | Roses from Shahbagh, a basket of seasonal fruit, a plant |
| 5th | Wood | A hand-painted wooden piece, a wooden jewellery box |
| 6th | Iron | A hand-forged iron karai, if one of you cooks |
| 7th | Copper or wool | A copper jug, a woollen shawl for winter |
| 8th | Bronze | Kansa, the bell-metal tableware of Islampur and Dhamrai |
| 9th | Willow or pottery | Terracotta, or a tepa putul clay doll from Rajshahi |
| 10th | Aluminium or tin | Rickshaw art, painted on tin |
| 15th | Crystal | Glass, or a watch, the modern gift for the year |
| 20th | China | A good dinner set |
| 25th | Silver | Silver jewellery, one piece each |
| 30th | Pearl | Pearl earrings or a pendant |
| 40th | Ruby | A ruby, or anything in deep red |
| 50th | Gold | Gold, or a family celebration |
What should you give for the first anniversary?
Paper, by tradition, and it's the easiest year to get right, because the best paper gift is one you write yourself.
- A letter about the year. The first flat, the first fight, the first Eid with the in-laws. If one letter feels thin, make a set of open-when letters; our handmade gift ideas explain how.
- A framed wedding photo, printed properly, for the wall rather than the phone.
- Your names and date in thread. Ask a kantha maker to stitch them into a cushion cover. Kantha cushion covers cost under ৳600 at Dhaka's Karupally in January 2026 (Prothom Alo), and the stitching is what makes this one yours.
- Art for the home you set up together. A painting on canvas isn't paper, but it does the job paper is meant to: it stays on your wall for decades. The first is a one-of-a-kind textured painting by Dhaka maker Karunika, and the other two are textured canvases by another JADUZ maker:
One of a kind
What should you give for the 2nd to 10th anniversary?
Each year below has a handmade match you can find in Bangladesh, with the prices we found.
- 2nd, cotton. A Tangail sari. In October 2026, mercerised cotton Tangail saris made in Pathrail cost ৳1,200 to ৳3,000 and half silk ৳1,000 to ৳3,000 (Prothom Alo). For him, a cotton panjabi. Our Tangail saree price guide explains the types.
- 3rd, leather. A wallet, belt or bag. Hazaribagh in Dhaka now has more than 160 shops that sell nothing but leather, and belts there cost ৳350 to ৳1,000 in June 2025 (The Business Standard). The shop owners' association says anything that isn't real leather must be labelled; ask anyway.
- 4th, fruit or flowers. Roses cost ৳15 to ৳20 each at Shahbagh on ordinary days, against ৳40 to ৳50 the day before Valentine's Day 2026 (bdnews24). Unless your anniversary falls on 14 February, a big bunch is cheap. In summer, a basket of mangoes or lychees does the same job.
- 5th, wood. A hand-painted wooden wall piece: Aayan Bazar listed one, 15 × 8.5 inches, at ৳2,500 in October 2026. A carved wooden jewellery box works too.
- 6th, iron. A hand-forged iron karai, if one of you cooks. It will outlast every non-stick pan you buy after it.
- 7th, copper or wool. A copper jug, or a woollen shawl if the date falls in winter.
- 8th, bronze. Kansa. Bronze and kansa are both made from copper and tin, according to the government's Karushilpi Batayon craft portal, so bell metal is the closest Bangladeshi match. A one-kilo kansa plate cost ৳1,400 to ৳1,600 in December 2024, and a brass plate ৳650 to ৳700 (Daily Inqilab).
- 9th, pottery. Terracotta, or a tepa putul clay doll from Rajshahi at ৳100 to ৳400 (The Daily Star, December 2025). A clay vase you keep filled with flowers is the grown-up version.
- 10th, tin or aluminium. Rickshaw art, which is painted in enamel on tin. A hand-painted tin panel or tray is bright, light and made in Dhaka; our rickshaw art guide explains how to buy from a painter.
On JADUZ, for the 2nd: Tangail cotton saris hand-stitched by the maker Boshon; for the 5th: hand-painted wooden bangles and earrings:
−16%What should you give for a 25th or 50th anniversary?
Silver for the 25th and gold for the 50th. These are usually your parents' anniversaries, so the gift often comes from all the children together.
- Silver for the 25th. On 31 October 2026 Bajus set hallmarked 22-carat silver at ৳300 a gram (Dhaka Tribune), so a 10-gram piece is about ৳3,000 in metal before the making charge. Give a matching piece to each of them.
- Gold for the 50th. The same day, 22-carat gold was ৳2,17,592 a bhori (11.664 grams) and 18-carat ৳1,78,459. A quarter bhori of 22-carat is over ৳54,000 before the making charge. Bajus changed the rate four times between 28 and 31 October alone, so check it on the day you buy, and ask the making charge, which depends on the design.
- The family alternative. Not every couple wants jewellery. A 25th or 50th is often better marked by gathering everyone: dinner at home, their wedding photo restored and framed, and a memory album with a page from each child and grandchild.
What should you give your husband on your anniversary?
Something he uses every day and would never replace himself. Many men carry the same wallet and wear the same belt until it splits.
- A leather wallet or belt from Hazaribagh, the year-three gift that works in any year.
- A panjabi for the next wedding or Eid. Panjabis ran from ৳1,000 to ৳5,000 on Elephant Road and from ৳1,200 to ৳18,000 at Aarong in March 2025 (Prothom Alo).
- The perfume he already wears, not a new one you hope he'll like.
- A watch for the 15th, the modern gift for that year.
- Time together. Book a table at the restaurant from your early days, or plan a day out with the children looked after. Research from the University of Toronto in 2016 found that experiences make people feel closer than objects do.
Skip the gadget he has been researching for months. He wants to choose it himself.
What should you give your wife on your anniversary?
The year list suits her well, because so many of its materials become saris and jewellery: Tangail cotton for the 2nd, silver for the 25th, and kantha or jamdani in any year. A coarse 40-count jamdani cost ৳2,500 to ৳5,000 and a fine 80-count ৳8,000 to ৳17,000 in November 2024 (Prothom Alo). A full Nakshi Kantha ran ৳8,100 to ৳14,000 at Kumudini in January 2026. Our gift guide for your wife covers her birthday, Eid and the wedding night too, and what to avoid.
A half silk jamdani and two bangle sets from JADUZ makers:
What should you give your parents on their anniversary?
Pool with your brothers and sisters and give one thing they will both use or keep, not two separate gifts.
- Their wedding photo, restored and framed. Most parents have one faded print. A photo studio can clean it up; hang it where guests sit.
- A kantha with their names and wedding date, stitched to order.
- A pair of kansa glasses, or matching shawls for a winter anniversary.
- The trip they keep putting off: the tea gardens of Sylhet, the sea at Cox's Bazar, or the village one of them grew up in. Book and pay for it, so they can't say no.
- Their wedding menu. Cook it or order it, and invite the people who were there.
On a tighter budget, our list of gifts under ৳500 and ৳1,000 has ideas with prices.
Personalised and made-to-order gifts
A gift with your names and date on it is one nobody else can buy. Kantha, calligraphy, a portrait painted from your wedding photo and engraved jewellery all work.
- Order it first. Ask the maker how long it takes, then add a week for delivery. Handwork takes longer than you expect.
- Spell it exactly. Send the names the way you want them written, in Bangla or English script, and check the date twice: a maker stitches or paints what you send.
- Ask for a photo of the finished piece before it is packed.
If you make personalised gifts yourself, you can apply to sell them on JADUZ: see selling personalised gifts.
Last-minute anniversary gifts
Remembered this morning? Three things still work on the day:
- Flowers and a letter. Roses are cheap on an ordinary day, and a page about the year costs nothing.
- An evening you plan. Book the table or cook, and clear everything else.
- A small hamper you put together: their favourite sweets, good tea, a candle and a note. Our gift box and hamper guide compares buying one with building your own.
Ordering an anniversary gift online
Order at least a week ahead, and earlier for anything made to order. Have the parcel delivered to you, not your spouse, so the surprise holds and you can check it first.
On JADUZ every piece comes from a vetted maker and is approved before it goes on sale. Every order is cash on delivery anywhere in Bangladesh, with a call to confirm it. Open the parcel in front of the rider before you pay. If it's damaged or wrong, hand it back and pay nothing: the doorstep check is where every order is accepted or handed back. The delivery and returns pages have the details, and the gift finder sorts pieces by budget.
What should you write in an anniversary card?
Write about this year, not marriage in general: one thing that happened, and one thing you're looking forward to. A few lines to adapt:
- "One year, one flat, two very different ideas about the AC. I'd choose you again."
- "Ten years, and you still save me the last piece of fish."
- "শুভ বিবাহ বার্ষিকী। আরও অনেক বছর একসঙ্গে, ঠিক এভাবেই।"
- For parents: "Thank you for showing us what 25 years together looks like."
