We’re back with the second instalment of our two-part wedding anniversary stories and symbolism series. If you didn’t read the first part, you can check it out here.
When your wedding anniversary reaches double figures, the recommended traditional gifts get shinier and more expensive. So, what should you give your spouse to celebrate your anniversary from 25 years onwards?
25th – Silver
25 years is quite the milestone, so it definitely deserves something precious to mark the occasion. Here jeweller Ernest Jones explains the meaning behind the silver gifts that are synonymous with 25th wedding anniversaries:
“Silver is the most malleable of the precious metals. This perhaps symbolises that by your 25th wedding anniversary, you’re still growing and moulding to fit into a life that’s busy with family and work commitments, whilst still making time for one another. Silver can bend and change as time goes on, and it needs care to keep it in perfect order. Much like a marriage. Giving silver jewellery on this significant wedding anniversary is a beautiful gesture.”
30th – Pearl
If your partner prefers jewellery with a little more lustre, holding out five more years will provide a welcome reward! Pearl is the traditional gift for the 30th wedding anniversary, with the pearl’s beauty, purity and wisdom all defining characteristics of a long marriage.
There’s plenty of inspiration for pearl wedding anniversary gifts. Yet more and more married couples are choosing to mark their 30th wedding anniversaries with the modern gift of diamonds, for obvious reasons!
40th – Ruby
Jewel tones are the ideal way to add sparkle to your winter wedding day. Fast forward four decades and the popular jewel-tone ruby is also used to mark a very significant wedding anniversary.
The colour and durability of the ruby is a celebration of love, strength and enduring passion. After 40 years of marriage, your love will run much deeper than it did all those years ago when you said “I do”.
50th – Gold
Giving a gift of gold is how most couples celebrating 50 years of marriage mark the occasion. It’s both the traditional and contemporary gift for half a century together with its warmth, strength and optimism the perfect reflection of marriage after five decades.
When gifted as flowers, the symbolism of a golden wedding anniversary gets even stronger. A gift of yellow roses or violets is a fitting symbol of the happiness and friendship couples share at this stage.
60th – Diamond
While the modern gift for the 30th wedding anniversary, the diamond reappears as a traditional gift three decades later. Hardwearing yet fine and precious, 60 years of marriage couldn’t be better represented by a diamond wedding anniversary gift.
70th – Platinum
Celebrating 70 years of wedded bliss is a truly remarkable achievement so it should come as no surprise that the traditional gift is platinum for this marriage milestone.
As one of the most expensive and precious metals on the planet, platinum is the symbol of rarity, endurance and purity, three qualities that you might just use to describe the genuine love and affection shared by couples married for this incredible amount of time.
