Wedding Anniversary Gifts

Each wedding anniversary that a married couple has marks an important event in their lives. It brings with it a certain amount of nostalgia, because a couple remembers that very special day when they said the words I do to each other in front of many witnesses, promising to love and cherish each other for all time.

Wedding anniversaries are a time of joyous celebration, and what better way to commemorate this wonderful event than with the traditional giving of gifts! Wedding anniversary gifts are indeed very special in that they serve as a remembrance of another year spent as husband and wife.

List of Anniversary Gifts

Because of the fact that these wedding anniversaries are so special, there is actually a traditional designated list of gifts that is given depending on how many years a couple's anniversary actually is. The longer the wedding anniversary, the more expensive the gifts. This is to connote that there is a greater value given, the longer a couple has been married. Hence, it has since become traditional to give certain objects as a gift in order to symbolize that a certain anniversary has been celebrated.

These are some of the traditional wedding anniversary gifts according to the long number of years a couple has had their anniversary.

  • For the 25th anniversary, it is silver
  • 30th anniversary, pearl
  • 35th anniversary, coral
  • 40th anniversary, ruby
  • 45th anniversary, sapphire
  • 50th anniversary, gold
  • 55th anniversary, emerald
  • 60th anniversary, diamond
  • 65th anniversary, blue sapphire
  • and for 70th anniversary, platinum

There are also some wedding anniversary gifts designated for anniversaries during the early years of marriage. For the 1st anniversary, it is paper; 2nd anniversary, cotton; 3rd anniversary, leather; 4th anniversary, linen or silk; 5th anniversary, wood; 6th anniversary, iron; 7th anniversary, wool or copper; 8th anniversary, bronze; 9th anniversary, pottery; 10th anniversary, tin or aluminum; 11th anniversary, steel; 12th anniversary, silk; 13th anniversary, lace; 14th anniversary, ivory; 15th anniversary, crystal; and for the 20th anniversary, china.

There is also a more modern version of the list of wedding anniversary gifts, though, which you can check out in the Internet.

History of Anniversary Gifts

Have you ever wondered, though, how all of these wedding anniversary gifts came to be chosen?

For the silver wedding anniversary gift in celebrating the 25th year anniversary, it has been traced back to Middle Europe centuries ago. Husbands would give their wives a silver garland in order to celebrate their 25 years of marriage.

Meanwhile, for the diamond wedding anniversary gift to celebrate the 60th wedding anniversary, this has been said to have originated from Queen Victoria, the English monarch who celebrated her Diamond Jubilee on her 60th anniversary in order to mark her 60-year reign. Ever since then, the diamond has been used in order to mark 60th wedding anniversaries.

Getting the Gift

So now, it is your wedding anniversary and you're thinking about what gift to give your special someone. Well, it can be one of the traditional wedding anniversary gifts mentioned earlier; but the thing is, you don't really have to. It's not a rule or a requirement that you give these gifts to your special someone just because it's your anniversary. You can give your spouse any kind of gift, just as long as it comes straight from your heart. Just accompany your gift with those three little words that he or she will never tire of hearing, and trust me, you'll never go wrong.

See Also:

Groomsmen Gift Ideas