Wedding Anniversary Gifts by Year

Every year has a name, a material and a stone attached to it. Here is the whole list, from paper at one to diamond and gold at seventy-five.

TL;DR

  • Traditional is the older list built around materials. Modern is the twentieth-century rewrite.
  • The big ones are 1, 5, 10, 25 (silver), 40 (ruby), 50 (gold) and 60 (diamond).
  • Years 1 to 30 are listed individually. After that the tradition only marks every fifth year.
  • Nobody is checking whether you followed it. Use it for the idea, not the rule.

Showing all 39 years

Anniversary Gifts by Year

YearNameTraditional ModernGemstoneFlower
1st Paper Paper Clocks Gold jewellery Carnation
2nd Cotton Cotton China Garnet Cosmos
3rd Leather Leather Crystal or glass Pearl Sunflower
4th Linen Linen and silk Appliances Blue topaz Geranium
5th Wood Wood Silverware Sapphire Daisy
6th Iron Iron Wood Amethyst Calla lily
7th Wool Wool and copper Desk sets Onyx Freesia
8th Bronze Bronze and pottery Linens and lace Tourmaline Lilac
9th Pottery Pottery and willow Leather Lapis lazuli Bird of paradise
10th Tin Tin and aluminium Diamond jewellery Diamond Daffodil
11th Steel Steel Fashion jewellery Turquoise Tulip
12th Silk Silk and fine linen Pearls Jade Peony
13th Lace Lace Textiles and furs Citrine Chrysanthemum
14th Ivory Ivory Gold jewellery Opal Dahlia
15th Crystal Crystal Watches Ruby Rose
16th Silver holloware Silver holloware Silver holloware Peridot Rose
17th Furniture Furniture Furniture Watches Carnation
18th Porcelain Porcelain Porcelain Cat's eye Orchid
19th Bronze Bronze Bronze Aquamarine Chrysanthemum
20th China China Platinum Emerald Aster
21st Brass Brass and nickel Brass and nickel Iolite Iris
22nd Copper Copper Copper Spinel Iris
23rd Silver plate Silver plate Silver plate Imperial topaz Iris
24th Musical instruments Musical instruments Musical instruments Tanzanite Iris
25th Silver Silver Silver Silver jubilee Iris
26th Original pictures Original pictures Original pictures Jade Iris
27th Sculpture Sculpture Sculpture Amethyst Iris
28th Orchids Orchids Orchids Rose quartz Orchid
29th New furniture New furniture New furniture Beryl Orchid
30th Pearl Pearl Diamond Pearl jubilee Lily
35th Coral Coral Jade Emerald Lily
40th Ruby Ruby Ruby Ruby Gladiolus
45th Sapphire Sapphire Sapphire Sapphire Blue iris
50th Gold Gold Gold Golden jubilee Yellow rose and violet
55th Emerald Emerald Emerald Emerald Yellow rose
60th Diamond Diamond Diamond Diamond Yellow rose
65th Blue sapphire Blue sapphire Blue sapphire Blue sapphire Yellow rose
70th Platinum Platinum Platinum Platinum Yellow rose
75th Diamond and gold Diamond and gold Diamond and gold Diamond Yellow rose

Traditional or Modern: Which List Should You Use?

The traditional list is the old one. It came out of Europe and was formalised in the United States, and it is built entirely around materials: paper, cotton, leather, wood. Each material was picked to say something about how a marriage changes. Paper tears. Wood has roots. Iron can be reheated and reshaped without breaking.

The modern list was drawn up in the twentieth century by a retail association, and it does what you would expect a retail association to do. It replaces the awkward gifts with things people actually want to be given. Year one stops being paper and becomes clocks. Year nine stops being willow and becomes leather.

Most couples use whichever one gives them the better idea. There is no rule saying you have to pick a side, and plenty of people take the material from one list and the stone from another.

The Anniversaries People Actually Celebrate

Highlighted rows in the table above are the ones that get parties. A quick summary of why each matters:

YearKnown asWhy it stands out
1stPaperThe first one you get to have. Usually the most sentimental and the least expensive.
5thWoodThe point where a marriage stops feeling new and starts feeling like the normal state of things.
10thTinFirst double-digit year. Often the first one that gets a proper trip attached to it.
25thSilverA quarter century. The first anniversary people throw a party for without being asked.
40thRubyThe first of the serious gemstone years, and the one that tends to bring family in from far away.
50thGoldHalf a century. In several countries the head of state will send a card if you ask.
60thDiamondNamed for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897 and still the one everybody recognises.

How to Pick a Gift Without Overthinking It

  1. Start with the material, not the object. "Wood" is not a gift. A carved box, a tree planted in your garden, or tickets to somewhere with a wooden boardwalk all are.
  2. Check what they complained about this year. The best anniversary gifts are usually the thing they mentioned wanting in March and then forgot about.
  3. Write something. Whatever you buy, the card is the part they keep. Our guide to writing a love letter covers the structure, and the letter generator will draft one if you are stuck.
  4. Do not save it for the evening. Give it in the morning. The whole day is better when it starts that way.

Working out the exact date or number of days? The anniversary calculator does the arithmetic. If you want ideas for the day itself, try the date ideas generator, and our anniversary ideas guide goes year by year on what tends to work.

Frequently Asked Questions

The traditional list runs from paper in year one through wood at five, tin at ten, silver at twenty-five, gold at fifty and diamond at sixty. Each year has a material chosen to reflect how a marriage has changed by that point.

The traditional list is the older European and American one built around materials. The modern list was drawn up in the twentieth century and swaps in items people were more likely to want, so year one becomes clocks instead of paper.

No. The list is a prompt, not a rule. Most couples use it as a starting point for an idea and then ignore the letter of it. Nobody is checking.

One, five, ten, twenty-five, forty and fifty get the most attention. Twenty-five is silver and fifty is gold, and those two are the ones people usually throw a party for.

Finding the Year You Need

Every row in the table opens a full page for that year, with gift ideas at four price points, things to do instead of buying, and card messages you can copy. Start with the year you are on and work from there.