Question · Anniversary symbols
What are the wedding anniversary gifts by year?
The wedding anniversary gifts by year follow the UK traditional list, which assigns a material to each year — paper at one, wood at five, tin at ten, and on up to gold at fifty and diamond at sixty.
The traditional UK anniversary list runs: 1st paper, 5th wood, 10th tin, 15th crystal, 20th china, 25th silver, 30th pearl, 40th ruby, 50th gold, 60th diamond — with plenty of named years in between (2nd cotton, 3rd leather, 7th wool, and so on). Early years use soft, modest materials; later years move to metals and gems, roughly tracking how a marriage settles and hardens over time.
Worth knowing: a separate "modern" list exists alongside the traditional one, and the two don't always agree — year one is clocks on the modern list, for instance, against paper on the traditional. Most UK couples and gift-givers default to the traditional list, which is also what this list follows throughout. See traditional wedding anniversary symbols for how the tradition works, or browse anniversary keepsakes for gift ideas by year.
Written by Craig Fearn, Printed Weddings.