Wedding anniversary

A wedding anniversary is the anniversary of the date a wedding took place.

Official recognition

In the Commonwealth realms, one can receive a message from the monarch for 60th, 65th, and 70th wedding anniversaries, and any wedding anniversary after that.^[1] This is done by applying to Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom, or to the Governor-General's office in the other Commonwealth realms.^[2]

In Canada, one can also receive a message from the Governor General for the 50th anniversary, and every 5th anniversary after that.^[3]

The situation is similar in Australia, where one can receive a letter of congratulations from the Governor-General on the 50th and all subsequent wedding anniversaries; the Prime Minister, the federal Opposition leader, local members of parliament (both state and federal), and state Governors may also send salutations for the same anniversaries.^[4]

In the United States, one can receive a greeting from the President for any wedding anniversary on or after the 50th.^[5]

Roman Catholics may apply for a Papal blessing through their local diocese for wedding anniversaries of a special nature (25th, 50th, 60th, etc.).^[6]

Celebration and gifts

The names of some anniversaries provide guidance for appropriate or traditional gifts for the spouses to give each other; if there is a party these can be brought by the guests or influence the theme or decoration. These gifts vary in different countries, but some years have well-established connections now common to most nations: 5th Wooden, 10th Tin, 15th Crystal, 20th China, 25th Silver, 30th Pearl, 40th Ruby, 50th Golden, 60th Diamond. The tradition may have originated in medieval Germany where, if a married couple lived to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their wedding, the wife was presented by her friends and neighbours with a silver wreath to congratulate them for the good fortune that had prolonged the lives of the couple for so many years. On celebration of the 50th, the wife received a wreath of gold. Over time the number of symbols expanded and the German tradition came to assign gifts that had direct connections with each stage of married life. The symbols have changed over time. For example in the United Kingdom, diamond was a well known symbol for the 75th anniversary, but this changed to the now more common 60th anniversary after Queen Victoria's 60 years on the throne was widely marked as her Diamond Jubilee.

Traditional and modern anniversary gifts

Lists of wedding anniversary gifts vary by country. The traditional and modern U.S. versions were compiled by librarians at the Chicago Public Library.^{[7][8][9][10]} The origins of what is listed here as the "modern" US gift conventions date to 1937. Before that, only the 1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, 50th, and 75th anniversaries had an associated gift. In 1937, the American National Retail Jeweler Association (now known as Jewelers of America as a result of an organizational merger) introduced an expanded list of gifts. The revamped list gave a gift for each year up to the 20th, and then for every five-year anniversary after that. ^[11]

Year	Traditional (U.S.)	Traditional (UK)[12][13]	Modern (U.S.)
1st	Paper	Cotton	Clocks
2nd	Cotton	Paper	China
3rd	Leather		Crystal, glass
4th	Linen, silk	Fruit and flowers	Appliances
5th	Wood		Silverware
6th	Iron	Sugar	Wood objects
7th	Wool, copper	Woollen	Desk sets
8th	Bronze	Salt	Linens, lace
9th	Pottery	Copper	Leather goods
10th	Tin/Aluminium		Diamond
11th	Steel	Steel	Fashion jewelry
12th	Silk	Silk and fine linen	Pearls, colored gems
13th	Lace	Lace	Textiles, furs
14th	Ivory	Ivory	Gold jewelry
15th	Crystal		Watches
16th			Silver holloware
17th			Furniture
18th			Porcelain
19th			Bronze
20th	China		Platinum
21st			Brass, nickel
22nd			Copper
23rd			Silver plate
24th			Musical instruments
25th	Silver
26th			Original pictures
27th			Sculpture
28th			Orchids
29th			New furniture
30th	Pearl		Diamond
31st			Timepieces
32nd			Conveyances (e.g., automobiles)
33rd			Amethyst
34th			Opal
35th	Coral, jade	Coral	Jade
36th			Bone china
37th			Alabaster
38th			Beryl, tourmaline
39th			Lace
40th	Ruby
41st			Land
42nd			Improved real estate
43rd			Travel
44th			Groceries
45th	Sapphire
46th			Original poetry tribute
47th			Books
48th			Optical goods (e.g., telescope, microscope)
49th			Luxuries, any kind
50th	Gold
55th	Emerald		Emerald
60th	Diamond
65th		Blue sapphire
70th		Platinum[14][15][16]
75th	Diamond, gold		Diamond, gold
80th		Oak[17][18]	Diamond, pearl
85th		Wine	Diamond, sapphire
90th		Stone	Diamond, emerald
95th			Diamond, ruby
100th			Sky diving!

Flower gifts

Year	Flower
1st	Carnation
2nd	Lily of the valley
3rd	Sunflower
4th	Hydrangea
5th	Daisy
6th	Calla
7th	Freesia
8th	Lilac
9th	Bird of paradise
10th	Daffodil
11th	Tulip
12th	Peony
13th	Chrysanthemum
14th	Dahlia
15th	Rose
20th	Aster
25th	Iris
28th	Orchid
30th	Lily
40th	Gladiolus
50th	Yellow rose, violet

See also

• Hierarchy of precious substances

References

1. ^ "Who is entitled?". The Monarchy Today. http://www.royal.gov.uk/HMTheQueen/Queenandanniversarymessages/Whoisentitled.aspx. Retrieved 6 April 2009. 
2. ^ "Queen and anniversary messages". The Monarchy Today. http://www.royal.gov.uk/HMTheQueen/Queenandanniversarymessages/Anniversarymessages.aspx. Retrieved 6 April 2009. 
3. ^ "Invite the Governor General" (Requires access). The Governor General of Canada. http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=233. Retrieved 2 August 2010. 
4. ^ "It's an Honour - Anniversary Messages". Australian Government. 25 January 2008. http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/anniversary/index.cfm#what. Retrieved 11 February 2008. 
5. ^ "White House Greeting". About.com. The New York Times Company. http://marriage.about.com/od/postcards/qt/annivergreeting.htm. Retrieved 3 February 2010. 
6. ^ "To Request a Papal Blessing". The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson, Office of the Bishop. http://www.diocesetucson.org/officeofbishop2.html. Retrieved 28 January 2008. 
7. ^ "Wedding Anniversaries," compiled by librarians at the Chicago Public Library's Information Center (December 2000)
8. ^ Anderson, Charles "The Exchange," RQ 25 (1985): 175
9. ^ The World Almanac and Book of Facts, Mahwah, New Jersey: World Almanac Books, 1997.
10. ^ World Book Encyclopedia, 1997 ed., s.v. "Wedding Anniversary"
11. ^ Lee, Cookie (October 2001). Wedding Anniversaries: from Paper to Diamond. Ryland Peters & Small
12. ^ Pears Cyclopaedia, 1978-79 edition, "Wedding Anniversaries." L128
13. ^ "Traditional Wedding Anniversary Gifts (UK)". anniversarygifts.co.uk. 2011. http://www.anniversarygifts.co.uk/list.html. Retrieved 2 September 2011. "from Pears Cyclopaedia 1978-79 edition" 
14. ^ "The platinum wedding anniversary of Jim and Gladys Till". Lancaster Guardian. 8 January 2008. http://www.lancasterguardian.co.uk/news/local_2_8584/the_platinum_wedding_anniversary_of_jim_and_gladys_till_1_1171352. Retrieved 2 September 2011. 
15. ^ "Tenor and wife toast 70 years of marriage". North-West Evening Mail. 15 August 2008. http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/1.223036. Retrieved 2 September 2011. 
16. ^ Travis, Jeff (29 July 2008). "They've been around the world in 70 years". The News (Portsmouth). http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/local/east-hampshire/they_ve_been_around_the_world_in_70_years_1_1299018. Retrieved 2 September 2011. 
17. ^ Miller, Vikki (24 May 2008). "Britain's longest married couple celebrate a quiet 80th anniversary". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2020233/Britain%27s-longest-married-couple-celebrate-a-quiet-80th-anniversary.html. 
18. ^ "Facts and figures". Queen and anniversary messages. The Royal Household. 2011. http://www.royal.gov.uk/HMTheQueen/Queenandanniversarymessages/Factsandfigures.aspx. Retrieved 2 September 2011.