Traditional Anniversary Gifts
Traditional Wedding Anniversary Gift Ideas
By Carly Wickell, About.com
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Traditional wedding anniversary gifts are chosen from a list of materials that are designated for each year. The first wedding anniversary is symbolized with paper, and from there traditional anniversary gifts become more precious or scarce to reflect the growing number of years a couple has remained together.
Wedding Anniversary Customs
No one is certain just when the traditional gift list came into existence, but it probably evolved over time. Calling years twenty-five and fifty ‘Silver’ and ‘Gold’ may have originated in medieval Europe, where wives were given a silver wreath to celebrate their twenty-fifth year of marriage and a gold wreath for their fiftieth wedding anniversary.
Diamond Wedding Anniversaries
Diamonds are traditional anniversary gifts in both the sixtieth and seventh-fifth years. Year sixty probably became a part of existing traditions when Queen Victoria celebrated her Diamond Jubilee after sixty years on the British throne.
The traditional list may seem somewhat boring for the early years, but it doesn’t have to be if you get creative. There are many ways you can turn each year’s anniversary theme into a special gift.
Anniversary Gifts for the First Years, Paper and Cotton
That’s the idea. There are plenty of personal and decorative gifts for each year and I’m positive you can come up with something special.
Anniversary Gifts with a Twist
You can celebrate the yearly tradition even if you want to break away from it — make that year’s theme material a carrier for your gift instead of the actual gift.
When a Traditional Anniversary Gift Won’t Work
Traditional Anniversary Gifts by Year
First: Paper
Second: Cotton
Third: Leather
Fourth: Fruit or Flowers
Fifth: Wood
Sixth: Candy or Iron
Seventh: Wool or Copper
Eight Bronze or Pottery
Ninth: Pottery
Tenth: Tin
Eleventh: Steel
Twelfth: Silk or Linen
Thirteenth: Lace
Fourteenth: Ivory
Fifteenth: Crystal
Twentieth: China
Twenty-Fifth: Silver
Thirtieth: Pearls
Thirty-Fifth: Coral
Fortieth: Ruby
Forty-Fifth: Sapphire
Fiftieth: Gold
Fifty-Fifth: Emerald
Sixtieth: Diamond
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