Wedding anniversaries
Traditional anniversary materials, year by year
Paper for the first, wood for the fifth, silver for the twenty-fifth… The traditional lists aren’t official and British sources don’t always agree, so we show two: Debrett’s etiquette guide and the 1978–79 Pears Cyclopaedia list (as reproduced on Wikipedia). Pick the year to see personalised ideas made in that material.
| Year | Debrett’s | Pears Cyclopaedia (1978–79) | Gift ideas |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Paper | Cotton or paper | 23 ideas |
| 2nd | Cotton | Paper or cotton | 23 ideas |
| 3rd | Leather | Leather | 6 ideas |
| 4th | Flowers, fruit | Linen, silk | 9 ideas |
| 5th | Wood | Wood | 10 ideas |
| 6th | Sugar | Sugar | none yet |
| 7th | Wool, copper | Wool | 3 ideas |
| 8th | Bronze, pottery | Bronze, salt | 5 ideas |
| 9th | Willow, pottery | Copper | 4 ideas |
| 10th | Tin | Tin | 2 ideas |
| 11th | Steel | — | 3 ideas |
| 12th | Silk, linen | Silk and fine linen | 8 ideas |
| 13th | Lace | — | none yet |
| 14th | Ivory | — | none yet |
| 15th | Crystal | Crystal | 3 ideas |
| 20th | China | China | 1 idea |
| 25th | Silver | Silver | 5 ideas |
| 30th | Pearl | Pearl | none yet |
| 35th | Coral | Coral | none yet |
| 40th | Ruby | Ruby | none yet |
| 45th | Sapphire | Sapphire | none yet |
| 50th | Gold | Gold | 3 ideas |
| 55th | Emerald | Emerald | none yet |
| 60th | Diamond | Diamond | none yet |
| 65th | — | Blue sapphire | none yet |
| 70th | Platinum | Platinum | none yet |
| 75th | — | Diamond, gold | 3 ideas |
| 80th | — | Oak | 2 ideas |
Using the lists
Treat the material as a starting point rather than a rule. A paper first anniversary might be a printed star map or a map of where you met; a fifth (wood) might be an engraved board or a carved Welsh lovespoon; a tenth (tin) can be pewter, which is mostly tin.
Where a material is hard to give literally (sugar, salt, coral), many people choose something in the colour or theme instead — or simply something personal.