Josh Allen and Hailee Steinfeld mark first anniversary with paper gifts

Josh Allen and Hailee Steinfeld turned their first wedding anniversary into a case study in how to make a milestone feel personal without turning it into a production. Steinfeld said the couple celebrated at 5 p.m. at their dining room table, with their baby girl in a bouncy chair between them, over tortilla soup, homemade mushroom pappardelle and gooey butter cake. Then they did the part that makes the whole night land: they rewatched their wedding video and revisited their first-ever pictures together.

The gift angle is the easiest part to borrow. Steinfeld said she and Allen had recently learned the traditional anniversary gifts by year and loved the idea of the paper anniversary as a blank slate and new beginnings. Her gift to Allen was a set of playing cards featuring a photo from their wedding, which is clever because it turns a small object into something used, not shelved. Allen answered with framed photos for the house, a smart move for anyone who wants a gift that feels thoughtful but still gets out of the closet and onto a wall. Realistically, a custom deck of cards usually lands around $20 to $35, while a simple frame and print pairing can run from about $25 to $75, depending on size and finish.

The rest of the night mattered just as much as the presents. The couple wrote each other anniversary cards, which is the cheapest part of the whole setup and maybe the most useful. A handwritten note forces specificity, and specificity is what makes an anniversary card worth saving. Steinfeld said anniversaries are a chance to reflect on the year, check in and ask each other thoughtful questions about how life has changed. That is the kind of ritual that works whether the dinner is at a restaurant or at home with a baby monitor nearby.

Their wedding on May 31, 2025, in Santa Barbara, California, followed a rehearsal ceremony the day before, and they had asked for a no-phone wedding so guests could stay present. That same preference for intimacy has shown up before. In December 2023, they exchanged matching Miyabi Kaizen chef’s knives in different colorways, then traded quarters to sidestep the old superstition that a knife gift can cut a relationship short. They first became publicly linked in May 2023, Allen made things Instagram official in July 2024, and they announced their engagement in November 2024.

Now that Steinfeld welcomed a baby girl with Allen in April 2026, the anniversary felt even more grounded in real life. That is the appeal of this whole story: the best first-anniversary gift does not have to be grand, it just has to feel like the life you are building.