All wedding anniversaries names and gifts

Every anniversary is worth celebrating, whether it's your first or your fiftieth. But when it comes to wedding anniversaries by year, there's a whole world of tradition, symbolism and gifting ideas behind each milestone that most people have never explored.

This guide walks you through every major anniversary year, what it represents, and how to make it truly memorable with an anniversary gift that feels personal.

Celebrating the first 1 to 10 years together

• 1 year: paper anniversary
• 2 years: cotton anniversary
• 3 years: leather anniversary
• 4 years: fruit & flowers anniversary
• 5 years: wood anniversary
• 6 years: sweets anniversary
• 7 years: wool anniversary
• 8 years: pottery anniversary
• 9 years: willow anniversary
• 10 years: tin anniversary

1 Year: Paper anniversary

One whole year. That might sound modest, but it is genuinely something to celebrate. You have navigated the everyday, the unexpected and the in-between. And you did all of this together.

The traditional material for a first wedding anniversary is paper. The modern alternative for year one is a clock, representing time and the fact that your time together is just beginning.

Gift idea: A personalised photo book filled with your favourite moments from the past year fits the paper theme perfectly. Alternatively a wooden clock with a photo of your wedding day is also a great gift that fits the more modern theme.

5 Years: Wood

Five years is a proper milestone. The traditional material is wood and this is because by now the couple has built something strong together, just like wood. The modern gift for year five is silverware, but it is the wood theme that tends to inspire the most personal gifts.

Gift idea: A personalised engraved wooden chopping board with your names and wedding date. It is a beautiful piece for the kitchen you share, it’s practical and fits perfectly with the wooden theme!

10 Years: Tin or Aluminium

Ten years. A full decade together. This is genuinely worth celebrating in style. The traditional material of the 10 milestone anniversary material is tin or aluminium, celebrating strength and versatility.

Gift idea: A personalised heart necklace engraved with your wedding date or a short message. Timeless, wearable and a step up from the everyday… It does justice to a full decade of marriage.

Major milestones worth celebrating

• 11 years: steel anniversary
• 12 years: silk anniversary
• 12.5 years: linen & lace anniversary
• 13 years: lace anniversary
• 14 years: ivory anniversary
• 15 years: crystal anniversary

12.5 Years: Linen and Lace (or copper)

Not every country or tradition marks twelve and a half years, but in many it is a recognised and celebrated milestone known also as a "copper wedding" or sometimes specifically as the linen and lace anniversary. It sits right between the ten-year and fifteen-year milestones and deserves its own moment. Linen and lace represents the real texture and depth that the couple developed so far.

Gift idea: A personalised couples pillowcase set with both names printed on them. Soft, intimate and perfectly suited to the linen theme, as well as a lovely way to mark this half-milestone.

15 Years: Crystal

Crystal is clear, brilliant and formed over time. It only reveals its full beauty when the light catches it just right. Fifteen years of marriage is exactly that kind of moment and the reason why crystal became the symbol of the 15th wedding anniversary mark.

Gift idea: A personalised champagne case with engraved flutes — engraved with your names and the date. Pour something special, raise a glass and celebrate fifteen years in the way they deserve. Alternatively you can also gift a pair of crystal wine glasses.

The huge milestone wedding anniversaries

• 20 years: china anniversary
• 25 years: silver anniversary
• 30 years: pearl anniversary
• 35 years: coral anniversary
• 40 years: ruby anniversary
• 45 years: sapphire anniversary
• 50 years: golden anniversary
• 55 years: emerald anniversary
• 60 years: diamond anniversary

20 Years: China

Twenty years of marriage is no small thing. The traditional material china is elegant and a result of craftsmanship. Like a long marriage, fine china looks effortless from the outside but takes real care and attention to maintain.

Gift idea: What about a personalised vase with a bouquet of fresh flowers? The flower vase can be used for many anniversaries celebrations to come.

25 Years: Silver

A silver wedding anniversary is one of the most recognised milestones in the gifting calendar and for very good reason. Twenty-five years of building a life together deserves something special.

The traditional material for the 25th wedding anniversary is, of course, silver. Many couples also choose to mark their silver anniversary with a trip or experience they have always talked about but never quite got around to booking.

Gift idea: A personalised piece of silver jewellery: an engraved necklace pendant or an engraved bracelet with your wedding date or a short message. Something they can wear every day as a quiet reminder of twenty-five years together.

30 Years: Pearl

Thirty years. Three full decades of partnership. The pearl anniversary is one of the most poetic milestones on the traditional list. Pearls are formed slowly, layer by layer, from something small and ordinary into something genuinely precious. There is no better metaphor for a thirty-year marriage.

Gift idea: Pearl jewelry if, of course, an option, especially if you want to hit the theme quite literally. Alternatively a personalised photo on aluminium print is beautiful, luminous and with that same subtle shimmer as a pearl. Choose a photo that captures a moment from your thirty years together and turn it into something to hang on the wall for the next thirty.

35 Years: Coral

The thirty-fifth anniversary is associated with coral: a living, growing structure formed over decades.

Gift idea: A personalised photo canvas. Choose a photo from a favourite holiday or a cherished family moment and let it take pride of place on the wall.

40 Years: Ruby

Forty years of marriage is extraordinary. The ruby anniversary is one of the most celebrated milestones after the golden and silver, and it deserves every bit of that recognition.

After forty years, the love between two people has been tested, refined and proven by time passing. It is no longer new and delicate; it is rich and full and genuinely rare, just as a ruby.

Gift idea: A personalised photo book contributed to by the whole family:children, grandchildren and closest friends each adding a photo and a message. Pair it with a personalised Moët et Chandon champagne gift set with engraved glasses to toast forty remarkable years together.

45 Years: Sapphire

The forty-fifth anniversary symbol is sapphire and it’s associated with wisdom and loyalty. Both feel earned after forty-five years.

Gift idea: A set of engraved cufflinks engraved with the year they married and the years they have shared.

50 Years: Gold

The golden wedding anniversary is the ultimate milestone and gold is the symbol of it. Fifty years together…There are few moments in life that carry this much weight, this much warmth, and this much joy.

Gift idea: A personalised piece of gold jewellery is the perfect gifts, such as an engraved gold necklace pendant or an engraved bracelet.

55 Years: Emerald

Emeralds are associated with renewal and vitality, a fitting symbol for a couple who have shared more than half a century together and are still going strong.

Gift idea: A personalised music picture light: choose their wedding song and have it transformed into a beautifully lit sound wave print. Personal, original and genuinely moving for a couple who have danced to the same song for fifty-five years.

60 Years: Diamond

A diamond wedding anniversary. Sixty years. This is one of the rarest milestones any couple will reach, and it deserves to be celebrated as such.

Diamonds are the hardest natural material on earth, formed under immense pressure into something extraordinary and lasting forever.

Gift idea: A personalised wooden memory box engraved with their names and sixty years of marriage. Fill it with meaningful keepsakes, handwritten notes from family members, and a few favourite photos.