In this day and age when getting a divorce is just as common as getting married, celebrating a wedding anniversary has become more important. The longer a couple has been married, the more special each anniversary becomes. The passing of each anniversary makes the vows that couples make when they wed more meaningful, especially that part of the vow that says “Till death do us part.”
The way people celebrate a wedding anniversary varies depending on which country they live in and their own traditions surrounding the occasion. In the western world, the first, the fifth, the 10th, the 15th, the 20th, the 25th, the 50th and each anniversary following that are often celebrated lavishly. But it ultimately depends on the married couple how they wish to spend their wedding anniversary.
Traditional and Modern Wedding Anniversary Gifts
Couples celebrating a wedding anniversary are customarily given specific gifts corresponding to the number of years they have been married. According to historians, this custom is a carry-over from the Middle Ages, wherein people believed that tokens given after a certain number of years of a couple’s marriage are supposed to bring more luck to the couple. Aside from being tokens of good luck, each gift also represents the irreplaceable investment that the couple has made on each other while they are married.
Here is the list of traditional and modern anniversary gifts as compiled and popularized by the Chicago Public Library:
Year
Traditional
Modern
Flowers
1st
paper
clocks
carnation
2nd
cotton
china
lily of the valley
3rd
leather
crystal, glass
sunflower
4th
linen, silk
appliances
hydrangea
5th
wood
sliverware
daisy
6th
iron
wooden objects
calla lily
7th
wool, copper
desk sets
freesia
8th
bronze
linens, lace
lilac
9th
pottery, china
leather goods
bird of paradise
10th
tin, aluminum
diamond jewelry
daffodil
11th
steel
fashion jewelry
tulip
12th
silk
pearls, colored gems
peony
13th
lace
textiles, furs
chrysanthemum
14th
ivory
gold jewelry
orchid
15th
crystal
watches
rose
16th
silver hollowware
17th
furniture
18th
porcelain
19th
bronze
20th
china
platinum
aster
21st
brass, nickel
22nd
copper
23rd
silver plate
24th
musical instruments
25th
silver
sterling silver
iris
30th
pearl
diamond
lily
35th
coral, jade
jade
40th
ruby
ruby
gladiolus
45th
sapphire
sapphire
50th
gold
gold
yellow roses
55th
emerald
emerald
60th
diamond
diamond
Ideas for Celebrating a Wedding Anniversary
Beyond the gifts that a couple is supposed to give each other or to receive from friends and family, a wedding anniversary is ideally a time to rekindle the love that brought the two people to the decision to marry. It is always great to celebrate a wedding anniversary with friends and family, but the best way of celebrating it is to do something with just the two of them.
A quiet, candlelit dinner, whether at home or at a restaurant, is always desirable. This gives the couple a chance to see each other in a way that they may have forgotten in the passing years of their marriage. Dinners by candlelight are not only romantic. They also offer a glimpse of the lovely girl he proposed to, and the handsome guy she said yes to – beautiful faces that they may have taken for granted in the passage of time together.
Nothing, however, beats going on a romantic getaway to celebrate a wedding anniversary. Even if it is just a picnic at the park, an overnight stay in a luxury hotel, or a weekend at a beach resort, spending time away from the family and reliving the days when they were still in the early days of their relationship, is the best way of celebrating a wedding anniversary.
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