The tradition of buying specific gifts for different wedding anniversaries has been around since the early 1900s. When the idea was first introduced it was meant to act as a loose guide for couples, with a different gift trend depending on how far into a marriage they were.
The gifts for each year would focus around a material that was stronger than the year before, representing the strengthening of a couple’s relationship over time. The earlier gifts would generally be more affordable, as couples would still be recovering from the financial pressure of marriage.
Over time, the wedding anniversary gift guide has been re-worked to align with modern trends, but many of the key milestones have remained the same. It’s also become more common for close friends and family members to buy gifts for a couple’s most important anniversaries.
Most couples will be aware of the silver, gold and diamond anniversaries, but what other important anniversaries are there?
1st Anniversary – Paper
The gift recommendation for the first anniversary gives couples a lot of leeway. If you’re still balancing the budget from your wedding, you could get your partner something more affordable like a spa day, a romantic meal at their favourite restaurant or another sort of experience day. Another popular idea is a canvas painting or photograph that you could hang up inside your home; you could even use some of your favourite shots from your wedding day.
If you’d rather buy something a bit more luxurious, then why not treat your partner to a holiday to celebrate your first year together? You could even revisit your honeymoon destination or stay at the place that you actually tied the knot if you want a more sentimental getaway.
2nd Anniversary – Cotton
The second anniversary gift suggestion gives couples the opportunity to get pretty creative. Popular gift ideas include personalised cushions, pillowcases or bed covers with your wedding date and a sentimental quote printed on. We’ve also seen couples use this as an opportunity to buy matching dressing gowns or pyjamas with “
Mr X” and “
Mrs X” stitched in.
5th Anniversary – Wood
The traditional wedding gift for celebrating five years together focuses around wood. One of the most popular things that we’ve seen couples buying for this milestone is wooden photo frames to hold photos from their wedding day, honeymoon and other important events from their journey together. Another nice idea is some sort of romantic wooden sign for either inside your home or out in the garden.
10th Anniversary – Tin
A couple’s tenth anniversary is no small feat, and it deserves a truly sentimental gift to celebrate. One nice gift idea is a tin plant pot – inside it, you can start growing a small tree which you’ll later be able to plant in your garden. Over the years, you can follow the growth of the tree and see how it becomes stronger each year, much like your relationship. Another great idea is to buy a memory tin which you can use to put in your most important keepsakes from the first ten years of your marriage. The idea is that you open it together on your 25
th anniversary as a reminder of the early stages of your relationship.
15th Anniversary – Crystal
The gift recommendation for couples celebrating their 15
th anniversary is crystal. Some popular crystal gifts include
quartz rings, earrings or a
necklace; you could also
include an engraving with the date of your wedding and a personalised message to your partner. Another popular idea is a crystal alcohol decanter, again complete with an engraved message to your partner.
20th Anniversary – China
Traditionally, couples celebrating their 20
th anniversary together would buy each other a gift made of china. As you can probably imagine, one of the most popular gifts for this milestone is a set of china plates and bowls, but couples have also been known to buy personalised mugs and teapots. The modern alternative for couples celebrating their 20
th anniversary is platinum, so if you’d like to treat your partner to something a bit more luxurious you could even buy a pair of earrings or
a platinum eternity ring.
25th Anniversary – Silver
Often referred to as the “silver wedding anniversary”, the 25
th anniversary is one of the most well-known milestones for couples. It’s common to celebrate by buying each other a piece of silver jewellery such as
a bracelet,
a pair of earrings or matching watches, complete with a personalised message engraved on them. Some couples also choose to buy each other something more abstract like a silver pen, a pocket watch or another gift that could be passed down as a family heirloom. Don’t forget to open the memory tin from your 10
th anniversary too!
30th Anniversary – Pearl
The traditional anniversary gift for couples celebrating their 30
th anniversary focuses on pearls. The most popular gift for this milestone is a pearl necklace, but other popular gifts include
pearl rings, bracelets or
brooches. If you’d prefer to treat your partner to something a bit different, you could even buy some sort of pearl-based ornament such as a clock or statue.
40th Anniversary – Ruby
After 40 years of marriage, it’s likely that you know pretty much everything there is to know about your partner, therefore it should be fairly easy to find a gift that does justice for such a big milestone. Of course, if you want to stick to the traditional gift suggestions then you’ll need to ensure that your gift is made of a ruby gemstone. Popular traditional 40
th anniversary gift ideas include
a pair of ruby earrings, a necklace, or even
a diamond and ruby eternity ring.
50th Anniversary – Gold
50 years of marriage is no small achievement, and something that needs to be celebrated properly! Many couples choose to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary with friends and family at a social gathering, but even so you can’t forget to treat your partner to a special anniversary gift too.
If you’re sticking with traditions then your 50
th anniversary gift to your partner should focus on gold. This gives you a much wider variety of options compared to some of the other milestones on this list. You could treat your partner to a
solid gold eternity ring,
a pair of earrings, a necklace, a bracelet or even matching
gold watches. If you’d prefer to get something a bit different then how about a pair of gold champagne flutes and an expensive bottle of champagne?
55th Anniversary – Emerald
The traditional gift recommendation for the 55
th anniversary focuses on emeralds. As you can imagine, choosing a suitable gift that’s made out of the emerald gemstone is often easier said than done, so some couples choose to buy gifts that are an emerald-green colour instead. For example, we’ve seen couples treating their partner to a green handbag, jumper or watch. Many couples choose to celebrate by treating their partners to an
emerald gemstone ring,
earrings or a
necklace, but these certainly aren’t your only options.
60th Anniversary – Diamond
Did you know that the word ‘diamond’ comes from the Greek word ‘Adamas’,
which means invincible or indestructible? That’s exactly the idea behind naming the 60
th wedding anniversary the “diamond anniversary”. Couples celebrating 60 years of marriage often treat each other to diamond jewellery, most commonly with a diamond eternity ring. Saying that, other popular gifts for a couple’s diamond wedding anniversary include
diamond earrings,
a necklace or even
a tennis bracelet.
70th Anniversary – Platinum
Last but certainly not least, couples celebrating their 70
th wedding anniversary traditionally buy each other gifts made of platinum. You could treat your partner to
a platinum eternity ring, a pair of stunning platinum earrings or even a necklace to celebrate this milestone. It’s also common for couples to ‘upgrade’ their wedding ring on this special anniversary by coating it in platinum.
So there you have it, all of the most important anniversary milestones and the associated gift recommendation.
Did we miss out any important anniversary milestones? Why not drop us a message on
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visit our jewellery store in Hatton Garden, London? Our team of jewellery experts will be more than happy to share some gift ideas for the anniversary that you’re celebrating.