On Sunday my husband and I will celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary. I got to wondering what kind of gift is associated with year 12. I knew year one was paper, the 25th Silver, and (thanks to his grandparents) the 50th is Gold and 60th Diamonds. But what’s 12? Or any of the others for that matter?
So I started hunting around. Another blogger had my same train of thought a year or so ago and wrote Anniversary Gifts and Their Meanings, but she only covered anniversaries one through ten.
So I dug farther and eventually found what I was looking for, which I’ve listed below. You’ll see there are two lists, one traditional and one modern. Sometimes the years have gifts in common, sometimes they’re very different. I don’t know how useful these lists are, but they’re kind of fun to look at…and get ideas from.
Wedding Anniversary Gift Ideas
Traditional
1st Paper
2nd Cotton
3rd Leather
4th Linen (Silk)
5th Wood
6th Iron
7th Wool (Copper)
8th Bronze
9th Pottery (China)
10th Tin, Aluminum
11th Steel
12th Silk
13th Lace
14th Ivory
15th Crystal
20th China
25th Silver
30th Pearl
35th Coral (Jade)
40th Ruby
45th Sapphire
50th Gold
55th Emerald
60th Diamond
75th Diamonds
Modern
1st Clocks
2nd China
3rd Crystal, Glass
4th Appliances
5th Silverware
6th Wood objects
7th Desk sets
8th Linens, Lace
9th Leather goods
10th Diamond
11th Fashion jewelry
12th Pearls, Colored gems
13th Textiles, Furs
14th Gold jewelry
15th Watches
16th Silver holloware
17th Furniture
18th Porcelain
19th Bronze
20th Platinum
21st Brass, Nickel
22nd Copper
23rd Silver plate
24th Musical instruments
25th Sterling silver
26th Original pictures
27th Sculpture
28th Orchids
29th New furniture
30th Diamond
31st Timepieces
32nd Conveyances (transportation, like a car or maybe bike)
33rd Amethyst
34th Opal
35th Jade
36th Bone china
37th Alabaster
38th Beryl, Tourmaline
39th Lace
40th Ruby
41st Land
42nd Improved real estate
43rd Travel
44th Groceries
45th Sapphire
46th Original poetry tribute
47th Books
48th Optical goods
49th Luxuries of any kind
50th Gold
55th Emerald
60th Diamond
75th Diamonds, Diamond-like stones, gold
80th Diamond, Pearl
85th Diamond, Sapphire
90th Diamond, Emerald
95th Diamond, Ruby
100th 10-carat Diamond
Things I Found Interesting:
• That the list went all the way to 100 years. Can you imagine? I wonder if anyone ever celebrated that one?
• The traditional list lists gifts for every year up to anniversary 15. After that it lists gifts for every five years. The modern list, however, lists gifts for every year up to the Golden Anniversary of 50. After that it joins the traditional list in only associating gifts every five anniversaries.
• I couldn’t find any gift designations for years 65 and 70, but it seems that after 60 diamonds remain the popular gift since anniversaries 75-100 all list them.
• Years 44 and 48 in particular cracked me up. I can see maybe needing vision enhancement tools by a 48th anniversary. (“Here, honey, I got you some glasses to see me better with.”), but if I get a sack of groceries on my 44th it better be full of chocolates!