Wedding Anniversary Gifts – A Year By Year Guide

Everybody knows that there are wedding anniversaries that have a special connotation to them, but do you actually know what the years are and their gift? Here is the start of a new series of articles to inspire you on gifting for each different anniversary year focusing on materials, stones, colours and flowers.  

 

Wedding anniversaries are a really special time to be with your partner; to celebrate your lives together and reaching another milestone. Whether it is your first year anniversary or your 40th anniversary, there are some beautiful gifts you can give to reflect how many years it has been. Each year has its own traditional meaning and associated gift, with some also having wedding stones associated with them.   

 

Wedding Anniversary Gift Ideas - A Year By Year Guide

 

While researching we discovered that there are traditional gifting anniversary years but also modern associations that are more recent too. This list is based on the UK anniversaries and might differ slightly around the world.  This tradition stems back to the medieval period when gifts were chosen for good fortune and prosperity for the couple and the marriage. It didn’t really take off until the Victorian era, with the thought that the longer you invest in the marriage, the more you needed to invest in the gifts! Although it seems strange that the gifts for your 85th anniversary are wine but your 75th is diamonds! 

 

What are the traditional and modern gifts?  

 

1st: Traditional –  Paper / Modern – Clocks   

2nd: Traditional –  Cotton / Modern – China  

3rd: Traditional –  Leather / Modern – Crystal / Glass 

4th: Traditional –  Flowers and Fruits / Modern – Linen / Appliances 

5th: Traditional – Wood / Modern – Silverware 

6th: Traditional –  Sugar / Modern – Iron 

7th: Traditional – Copper and Wool  / Modern – Desk set  

8th: Traditional – Salt / Modern – Linen and Lace 

9th: Traditional –  Willow and  Pottery  / Modern – Leather  

10th: Traditional –  Aluminium / Modern – Diamond

11th: Traditional –  Steel  / Modern – Jewellery

12th: Traditional –  Silk / Modern – Pearls 

13th: Traditional – Lace  / Modern – Textiles / Fur  

14th: Traditional –  Ivory  / Modern – Gold jewellery  

15th: Traditional – Crystal  / Modern – Watches 

16th: Traditional – Wax / Modern – Silver Holloware 

17th: Modern – Furniture 

18th: Modern – Porcelain 

19th: Modern – Bronze 

20th: Traditional –  China  / Modern – Platinum 

21st: Modern –  Brass / Nickel                 

22nd: Modern – Copper  

23rd: Modern – Silver plate 

24th: Modern – Musical Instruments 

25th: Traditional –  Silver / Modern – Silver  

30th: Traditional – Pearl and Ivory /Modern – Diamond  

35th: Traditional –  Coral / Modern – Jade 

40th: Traditional – Ruby / Modern – Ruby 

45th: Traditional – Sapphire / Modern – Sapphire  

50th: Traditional –  Gold /  Modern – Gold 

55th: Traditional –  Emerald / Modern – Emerald 

60th: Traditional –  Diamond / Modern – Diamond 

65th: Traditional –  Sapphire / Modern – Sapphire 

70th: Traditional – Platinum / Modern – Platinum 

75th: Traditional –  Diamond / Modern – Diamond  

80th: Traditional –  Oak  / Modern – Oak 

85th: Traditional – Wine  / Modern – Wine 

90th : Traditional –  Stone /  Modern – Stone 

 

 

Wedding Anniversary Gift Ideas - A Year By Year Guide

 

What are the colours linked to anniversaries?

1st: yellow or gold

2nd: linen white or red

3rd: jade green or white

4th: blue or green

5th: turquoise, blue or pink

6th: turquoise, purple or white

7th: yellow, onyx or off white

8th: tanzanite, bronze or tourmaline

9th: purple, green, terracotta, lapis lazuli

10th: blue or silver

11th: yellow or turquoise

12th: oyster white, jade or opal

13th: white or citrine

14th:: ivory or opal

15th: ruby red

16th: red, silver or emerald green

17th: yellow

18th: blue

19th: bronze

20th: white or emerald green

21st: orange

22nd: green

23rd: silver

24th: lavender

25th: silver

30th: green

35th: coral

40th: ruby red

45th: sapphire red

50th: gold

55th: emerald green

60th: diamond white

65th: sky blue

70th: platinum

75th: diamond white

80th: ruby red

 

Wedding Anniversary Gift Ideas - A Year By Year Guide 

What are the flower gifts linked to anniversaries?

1st: Carnation

2nd: Lily of the Valley

3rd: Sunflower

4th: Hydrangea

5th: Daisy

6th: Calla

7th: Freesia

8th: Lilac

9th: Bird of Paradise

10th: Daffodil

11th: Tulip

12th: Peony

13th: Chrysanthemum

14th: Dahlia

15th: Rose

20th: Aster

25th: Iris

28th: Orchid

30th: Lily

40th: Gladiolus

50th: Yellow rose and violet

60th: Poppy

 

There you have the list of all of the wedding anniversaries from the 1st year to the 90th. Whatever you decide to do to celebrate your anniversaries, make it special and meaningful to you both. We hope this gives you a great idea of different gifting options too so keep a lookout for our top anniversary gifts for each year coming soon. We’ll be also creating Pinterest boards too!

 

If you found this useful why not pin it!

Wedding Anniversary Gifts - A Year By Year Guide

 

Get more gift ideas here:

For the Father of the bride

Bridesmaid gifts

Grooms gifts

 

 

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