With the second wedding anniversary of William and Kate this week, I started thinking about anniversary traditions and celebrations.
Anniversary Symbols and Gifts
The historic origins of wedding anniversaries date back to the Holy Roman Empire when husbands crowned their wives with a silver wreath on their twenty-fifth anniversary and a gold wreath on the fiftieth. Later, principally in the twentieth century, commercialism led to the addition of more anniversaries being represented by a named gift.
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.
Here are some of the traditional gifts:
1st Anniversary – Paper
2nd Anniversary – Cotton
3rd Anniversary – Leather
4th Anniversary – Fruit and Flowers
5th Anniversary – Wood
10th Anniversary – Tin and Aluminum
20th Anniversary – China
25th Anniversary – Silver
30th Anniversary – Pearl
35th Anniversary – Coral
40th Anniversary – Ruby
45th Anniversary – Sapphire
50th Anniversary – Gold
55th Anniversary – Emerald
60th Anniversary – Diamond
75th Anniversary – Platinum
Celebrations
Most couples celebrate their wedding anniversary every year. It is a lovely time to reflect and reminisce on the previous year and re-live the memories of the special day you both had when you got married. I think it’s a lovely idea to surprise your other half with a trip away or a nice meal together. Our membership events at the Castle have become very popular for couples wanting to celebrate their anniversary in the surroundings where they tied the knot. I would love to hear your anniversary celebration ideas!
Katie at Clearwell Castle