Wedding Anniversary Gift Traditions

This is the definitive list of Wedding Anniversary Gift Traditions – both modern and traditional, and even the flowers associated with each year. 

Year

Traditional

Modern

Flower

1st Paper Clock Orange Blossom
2nd Cotton China Daisy
3rd Leather Glass/Crystal Carnation
4th Fruit/Flowers Appliance Violet
5th Woodenware Silverware Pansies
6th Candy/Iron Woodenware Tulip
7th Wool/Copper Desk Set Camellia
8th Bronze/Pottery Linen/Lace Cat’s Tail
9th Pottery/Willow Leather Item Hollyhock
10th Tin/Aluminum Diamond Jewelry Sweet Pea
11th Steel Fashion Jewelry Lilac
12th Silk/Linens Pearls Lily
13th Lace Textiles/Furs Hydrangea
14th Ivory Gold Jewelry Daffodil
15th Crystal Watch Calla Lily
20th China Platinum Iris
25th Silver Silver Yellow Rose
30th Pearls Diamond Jewelry Poppy
35th Coral Jade Peony
40th Ruby Ruby Mum
50th Gold Gold Red Rose
55th Emeralds Emeralds Jasmine
60th Diamonds Diamonds White Rose

The wedding anniversary gift traditions include modern and traditional gift themes, as well as traditional flowers, and even colours!

These wedding gift traditions have been around since medieval times and were all seen as items of good luck to help the marriage to stay prosperous throughout the years.  The gift traditions became very popular in Victorian times when ‘hidden’ meanings in everything from flowers to days of the week were taken very seriously. Since then, the modern gift traditions have expanded to be less gender specific (as they always leaned towards ‘rewards’ for wives previously!), although even this dates back to a publication (by jewellers of course) in 1937!

So how do you use this list of gift themes?  Well, we recommend that rather than taking it as a ‘rule book’ for what you should give your partner on their anniversary, why not use it as a quirky list of inspirational ideas?  Even the ‘modern’ list was written 77 years before any form of LGBTQ+ marriage was allowed in the UK!  It doesn’t have to mean anything, but it is a cute way to show your partner that you thought and researched for their present rather than grabbing a box of chocolates on your way home.