Parties

• A bottle of sparkling wine and some sweets will complete your private party.Goodshoot RF/Goodshoot/Getty Images
  
  Make your first anniversary party the social event of the season. Invite everyone you know to celebrate with you. Hold the party at a hotel or a large restaurant's group room, or in a friend's large home and have the party catered. Give the party a theme, such as "Number One." Have guests create a costume representing their favorite musician's number-one song. Or, invite just your family and friends and have a more intimate celebration at your favorite bar or a cookout on the beach. You could also keep the guest list to just two and enjoy a private romantic picnic in a park or spend the night in a luxurious hotel and order room service.
  
  

Trips

• Play like kids together on the beach.Jupiterimages/Creatas/Getty Images
  
  Take a second honeymoon, even if it's just for the weekend. Head to a couples' spa and relax together, or rent a mountain cabin and enjoy the seclusion and privacy. Get some couple friends and share a condo on the beach for a few days. If you're on a budget, try a "staycation." Get a guide to your city and explore like a tourist. Eat at restaurants you've never tried or shop at an organic grocery store and cook new meals together. Or, buy a tent and some camping supplies and go camping together. Build a fire and enjoy a romantic evening under the stars.
  
  

Activities and Outings

• Take your spouse for a posh anniversary dinner.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Get tickets to a comedy club and laugh the night away with your spouse. Go to a themed playhouse, such as Medieval Times, or a murder mystery dinner theater production. Or, create a romantic scavenger hunt for your spouse around your town. Include your favorite spots in the clues and have a big prize at the end. Put together and bury a time capsule from the day of your first anniversary and agree to unearth it on your 10th anniversary.
  
  

Gifts

• Awesome anniversary gifts don't have to come in big packages.Thinkstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images
  
  Although the first anniversary's traditional gift is paper, you don't have to stick to tradition. Create a scrapbook of your first year together for your spouse. Give her a one-hour photography session to capture the two of you and your families on film. Give him a new watch with a loving message engraved on the back, or give her a locket with a picture of the two of you inside. Or, start a gift-giving tradition and give each other one gift for every year you're married.