24 karat gold rose

Wedding Anniversary Themes and Gifts

Wedding anniversaries are a wonderful time to bring all the family and friends together for a joyful celebration. Whether a couple has survived the trials and tribulations of their first year of marriage or have a union that has endured for 60 years, their special day is a cause for happiness, and is a good excuse to reveal to your loved ones the extent of your affection and esteem.

While the 25th wedding anniversary is famous around the world for being linked with the precious metal silver, many other anniversaries are not so well known. Key occasions, such as the golden, silver and ruby weddings are marked out for special attention worldwide, however, there are more wedding anniversaries that deserve celebration than just those classic milestone years. If you take the time to do your research, you can discover that there are in fact traditions and themes connected with every year of marriage, although these can vary from culture to culture and through different countries worldwide.

While some years have been celebrated as key milestones for generations, others have received their theming more recently. The silver and golden wedding anniversaries have their origins in Medieval Europe, but it wasn’t until the 1930s that a formal list was drawn up, finalising the material linked with every year of marital bliss.

happy anniversarySince the 1930s, this list has been updated and some of the items have been altered or replaced with a more contemporary version. This is because some of the original materials that featured on the first list are no longer appropriate or accessible, such as ivory for example. Alternatives for these items have been presented as options to gift givers, with modern items such as appliances and desk sets being just two of the possibilities.

Today, we often use these lists when seeking out information about other wedding anniversaries and gifts that are less well known, as they help us to find inspiration for traditional or themed presents. There are, however, no set rules or regulations regarding the purchase of wedding anniversary gifts, so you needn’t feel obliged to use, or even read either of these lists. Often, we know better than anyone what our loved ones will truly appreciate, and we should feel free to select anything that we know the couple will cherish and love. It is vital to bear in mind that cost is never the most important factor when choosing a token of esteem, rather it is the sentiment and emotion that the gift represents. Even the most inexpensive surprise will mean everything to the recipient if it is significant, meaningful and heartfelt.

Flowers for Anniversary Years

If you are doing your research about the materials associated with different years of marriage, you will probably discover that not only is there a specific substance linked with every happy year, but there is also a particular flower connected with almost every one.

If you are interested in giving your loved ones a meaningful or symbolic gift, flowers could be the way to go as it is a clever way to convey your message of appreciation. During the Victorian period, the language of flowers was popular and well known. Each blossom was given its own special meaning, and if you wanted to share a message of love with your sweetheart, you could select the appropriate blooms to add to your bouquet to show your lover just how much they meant to you.

Today, you could do the same, by finding out the sentiments reflected by each type of flower and choosing the ones that perfectly capture your emotions. Alternatively, giving a floral display of the variety that is linked to the anniversary year is another meaningful and heartfelt way to mark the day out as special. If a floral bouquet doesn’t quite fit the bill because of its short lifespan, you could opt for a more long-lasting floral gift instead. A potted plant can be transplanted into a garden, window box or planter as a flourishing tribute to the marriage, and will last for years if tended correctly.

Unfortunately, some couples lack the green fingered touch, however there are solutions for enduring floral gifts that require no gardening skills at all. A glazed rose, created from a real flower and preserved in an intricate and complex glazing process, is a perfect gift for a couple who adore flowers and appreciate art. Talented craftsmen produce these individual and unique masterpieces, which are finished with a luxurious 24 karat gold trim and presented in a gorgeous and sleek leather display case, ideal for adorning a shelf or mantelpiece in the couple’s home for many more happily married years to come.

Gemstones for Wedding Anniversary Gifts

Although we all know that rubies are connected with 40 years of marital union and pearls with the 30th, other wedding anniversaries and gifts are not so obvious. It may surprise you to know that all years of marriage not only have a linked flower and material, but also a gemstone that is traditionally given to mark out the day as a key event.

Whether you choose to give the happy couple a decorative ornament that features these gemstones or a piece of jewellery that features these jewels, this is another possible source of inspiration for more wedding anniversaries gifts for your loved ones, or for your spouse.

Non-Traditional Wedding Anniversary Gifts

While you may choose to mark the milestone event of the silver wedding anniversary with a themed gift, there is no pressure to do the same for any other year of marriage. If you would prefer to go with something a little more unique or out of the ordinary for your loved ones, you can be the best judge of what would be relevant and meaningful for the recipients.

The most important thing when choosing anniversary gifts is to find something that will be memorable and enduring, whether it is a long-lasting adornment for the home, a practical piece of household equipment that can be used for many more years of married life, or an experience that will create lasting memories of the occasion.