Wood is the traditional gift for a fifth wedding anniversary. The idea is that by five years a marriage has put down roots, the way a tree does. It's also a practical tradition: a well-made wooden piece gets used every day and lasts long enough to still be around at the fiftieth.
Here are a few ideas, all made to order in my workshop in Warren, Michigan, and all personalized, so the piece is about the two of you rather than off a shelf.
An engraved cutting board
The classic choice: your names and your wedding date engraved into a board that lives on the counter. Maple with a walnut stripe suits an anniversary well: the engraving reads clearly on the maple, and the walnut makes it look finished. It gets used, it gets seen, and it gets better with oil and age.
Design a personalized cutting board
A board in the shape of your state
For a couple who met in Michigan, married there, or just love it, a cutting board cut to the outline of the state with your names or a date engraved on it. Any state works, so it can also be the place you started out together.
Your family name in wood
A word cutout of your last name, or a single word that means something to the two of you, cut from wood for a wall, a mantel or a shelf. It's the kind of gift that marks a home as yours.
Engraved coasters
A set of coasters with a monogram, your initials or your date. Smaller and easy to give alongside something else, and used every day.
Something nobody else has
If you have a particular piece in mind, a sign for the house, a carving of something meaningful, a small table, tell me about it. I'll draw it and quote it before anything is made.
Ordering in time
Everything here is made after you order, not pulled off a shelf. You approve a proof first, a drawing of your exact layout, names and wood, and the lead time on each product page runs from that approval. If your anniversary is close, ask me before you order and I'll tell you whether I can meet the date.
Because each piece carries your names, it can't be returned. That's exactly why the proof comes first: changes at that stage cost nothing.