Night In

• If you plan to cook dinner at home for your spouse, evaluate your cooking skills before attempting a grandiose meal. Romantic dinners generally focus around a principle protein that is expensive, rare or invokes romantic memories. Quality seafood items such as salmon, scallops, oysters and clams are not as commonly used in everyday meals as chicken or sausage, imbuing them with the feel of a special occasion. Other glamorous proteins include top-quality steaks, lamp chops, pheasant, quail and duck. Prepare either a fruit or liqueur sauce to accompany game fowl and mint sauce with lamb. Side dishes generally should include some form or cooked vegetable or raw salad and a carbohydrate, such as risotto, potatoes or polenta. Serve your spouse's favorite wine and favorite dessert to make the evening more personal.
  
  

Restaurant

• A night out at a restaurant is a classic wedding anniversary dinner choice for couples who prefer not to cook at home and who enjoy a public environment. When choosing a restaurant, lean toward a sophisticated or new restaurant so as to elevate the occassion above a dinner out on any other day of the year. A special occasion requires a special restaurant. Try to choose a restaurant that you know your spouse has been wanting to visit for a while or return to the restaurant where you had your first date or where you proposed marriage. As long as the restaurant is special or holds a special meaning, it is appropriate for a wedding anniversary.
  
  

Personal Chef

• If you prefer an evening at home but are not confident in your cooking skills, hiring a private chef to prepare a romantic dinner in-home for you is an useful option, particularly since it can also double as a surprise for your spouse. Ask your chef to have appetizers and glasses of wine ready when you arrive home to keep you satisfied as she is preparing your dinner in your kitchen. Once the dinner is made and you are served, the chef will pack up her utensils and depart, leaving you with a romantic professionally home-cooked meal. Contact a local private caterer to inquire about hiring a personal chef.
  
  

Takeout

• The right style of anniversary dinner depends on the couple. If you and your partner prefer to stay away from a cliché romantic fancy dinner and wish to simply celebrate your marriage through a simple meal that you already know you enjoy, there is nothing stopping you. Ordering takeout from your favorite Chinese, Indian or pizza joint to enjoy in your home with a bottle of wine, some music and maybe a few candles is a meaningful way to celebrate your marriage as long as it makes both partners happy.
  
  

Wedding Dinner

• For ambitious romantics, attempting to recreate the dinner served at your wedding reception or a favorite meal from your honeymoon is a thoughtful and sentimental gesture. If it's impossible to recall the exact recipes served at your wedding, try to mimic the concept. If salmon and rice were served, serve a salmon and rice recipe. If you honeymooned in Thailand, put together an intricate Thai-style meal. If it has been a while since your wedding or honeymoon, review your photographs together to help refresh your memory concerning dinner.