The historic origins of wedding anniversaries date back to the Holy Roman Empire, when husbands crowned their wives with a silver wreath on their twenty-fifth anniversary, and a gold wreath on the fiftieth. Later, principally in the twentieth century, commercialism led to the addition of more anniversaries being represented by a named gift. In the Commonwealth realms, one can receive a message from the monarch for 60th, 65th, and 70th wedding anniversaries, and any wedding anniversary after that. (Wikipedia)
The history of wedding anniversary
In the 1920s, Emily Post, an American author, published a book titled “Etiquette”. The book made a list of commemorative topics and what gifts to give for the anniversary. However, only a handful of Anniversary Years were included in the book, the first, the fifth, then the fifth every year until the 25th wedding anniversary.
In 1937, the National Association of Retail Jewelers of the United States has added additional years to the list, including all years up to 14 years of marriage and every 5th year up to 50 years of marriage. These are known as traditional themes associated with each year. More recently, a contemporary list was created, and today all anniversary years 1 to 30 are associated with a theme or document, and then every five years thereafter up to 75 years of marriage.
Wedding anniversary themes by year
Each of the themes has been chosen for a special reason and represents the various stages that you pass through in your marriage. Let’s share the actual list of wedding anniversary themes by year. This is the list that most people consider to be traditional, and we’ve decided to compile a list that encompasses both UK and US traditions.
Traditional List of Anniversary Gift Themes by Year
Year 1 – Paper
Year 2 – Cotton
Year 3 – Leather
Year 4 – Linen/ Silk
Year 5 – Wood
Year 6 – Iron
Year 7 – Copper/ Wool
Year 8 – Bronze
Year 9 – Pottery/ China
Year 10 – Tin/ Aluminum
Year 11 – Steel
Year 12 – Silk/ Fine linen
Year 13 – Lace
Year 14 – Ivory
Year 15 – China/ Crystal
Year 20 – China
Year 25 – Silver
Year 30 – Pearl
Year 35 – Coral
Year 40 – Ruby
Year 45 – Sapphire
Year 50 – Gold
Year 55 – Emerald
Year 60 – Diamond
Year 65 – Blue sapphire
Year 70 – Platinum
Year 80 – Oak
Year 85 – Wine
Year 90 – Stone
Follow Camellia Bees‘s blog to receive tips for choose your gifts by year and many interesting knowledge.
