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There’s something about anniversary celebrations that can tax even the happiest marriages, from pressure to make the day a special one to money wasted when it turns out all wrong. But you don’t have to spend a fortune to say, “I’d do it all over again.” Focus on spending time together, and you can create a romantic celebration without breaking the bank.

Relive Your Honeymoon
Mary Beth Messner’s husband did just that on their first anniversary. As a surprise for her, he recreated the sights, smells and flavors of their honeymoon at their North Canton, Ohio, home. “We had gone to Maine for our honeymoon, and visited the Nubble Lighthouse,” she says. “On the day of our first anniversary, Adam arranged for me to be out of the house for the day. While I was gone, he printed out a huge picture of the lighthouse -- it took almost 50 sheets of paper.”

When Messner came home, she found lobster grilling on the deck, blueberry buckle in the kitchen and the Nubble Lighthouse on her living room wall. “I was astounded; it was really very sweet,” she says. “Remembering your honeymoon is a really romantic way to celebrate.”

Wine and Dine for Lunch
For Christine Larson of Sacramento, Calif., and her husband, Rich, looking for a little romance -- or just a chance to reconnect -- was high on the list for their eighth anniversary. “We had twin boys who were just about to turn 2. We were exhausted, and our finances were in horrible shape; the cost of daycare was more than our mortgage,” she says. “We had been on hiatus from our weekly date night. We needed to do something special.”

Dinner and a babysitter was a budget buster. But that expensive daycare did double duty on their anniversary, when they went to lunch at one of the nicest restaurants in Sacramento, taking advantage of the fact that lunch costs much less than dinner. And, carving 90 minutes out of their hectic schedule, says Christine, “was like dating again. We agreed after that we should have lunch together once in a while.”

Make Cooking “Personal”
Another way to save on the cost of babysitting: hire a personal chef. Siobhan Morello, a personal chef in New Jersey, says that clients will often ask her how they can entertain on a budget.

“I had a client ask me to prepare a private breakfast for two in his home,” says Morello. “It was a very unexpected surprise for his wife. I was at work in her kitchen when she got up, the house smelled good and I did the kind of menu that they wouldn’t have made for themselves.” Morello says the cost to the client was comparable to a nice hotel brunch, “but the advantage was that they could eat in their pajamas. And they had little children, who were quite happy to play in another room.”

Spend Time, Not Money
The success of an anniversary celebration depends on how you use your time, not your cash. “Especially now that we have kids,” says Larson, “it’s more important to spend time one on one. I’d rather have experiences than gifts.”

Messner agrees. “People tend to make a big deal about the big anniversaries, like a diamond ring for the tenth or a big trip for the twentieth. But really, it’s all about spending time together, remembering how much you love each other -- and reminding each other of that.”