Anniversary Gifts by Year: The British List, From Paper to Platinum

Every couple remembers the wedding day. Remembering the anniversary, every single year, is the harder part, and that is where the old list of anniversary materials earns its keep: it turns "what on earth do I buy?" into a theme.

This guide walks through the traditional British list, suggests a personalised idea for each of the big years and explains how to mark the very long marriages properly.

Where the list comes from

The custom of naming anniversaries after materials is old: silver and golden weddings were being celebrated in parts of Europe centuries ago, and the idea that each material is a little more durable than the last suits a marriage that grows stronger with time. The full year-by-year lists are much more recent and were popularised in the twentieth century by etiquette writers and retailers, which is why British and American versions disagree in places. Treat the list as inspiration, not a rulebook.

Year	Traditional theme	Personalised idea
1st	Paper	Framed wedding vows, a printed map of where you met, a letter written to be opened in ten years
2nd	Cotton	Embroidered pillowcases or an apron with both names
3rd	Leather	An embossed wallet, passport cover or luggage tags for a trip
4th	Linen (or fruit and flowers)	Monogrammed napkins, or a rose bush planted in the garden
5th	Wood	An engraved oak photo cube or a chopping board with the wedding date
6th	Iron (or sugar)	A cast-iron garden sign, or a personalised sweet jar
7th	Wool (or copper)	A wool throw, or a copper hip flask engraved with a private joke
8th	Bronze	A small bronze sculpture or bronze-finish cufflinks
9th	Pottery	A pair of printed mugs or a hand-thrown bowl with initials
10th	Tin (or aluminium)	An engraved tea tin filled with their favourite blend
15th	Crystal	Engraved crystal flutes or a decanter
20th	China	A bone china plate printed with a wedding photo
25th	Silver	A silver keepsake box, silver-plated frame or engraved jewellery
30th	Pearl	Pearl earrings or a pearl bracelet with an engraved clasp
40th	Ruby	Ruby-red glass, ruby jewellery or a ruby anniversary candle
50th	Gold	Gold-rimmed flutes, a gold-plated frame of the wedding photo then and now
60th	Diamond	A diamond-cut crystal vase engraved with every grandchild's name
65th / 70th	Blue sapphire / Platinum	A family photo book, or a party with everyone who was at the wedding

Lists for the years in between vary: you will see steel for the eleventh, silk for the twelfth, lace for the thirteenth, coral for the thirty-fifth, sapphire for the forty-fifth and emerald for the fifty-fifth.

The early years: small, personal, often handmade

Paper, cotton and leather are wonderful materials for personal gifts because they take printing, embroidery and embossing so well. A first-anniversary gift does not need to be expensive. A framed print of the first dance lyrics is a classic, but if you go down that route make sure the text is something you are allowed to reproduce, or write your own lines instead. Our guide to wording a personalised gift has ideas that do not depend on anyone else's words.

Silver, ruby and gold: the milestone anniversaries

From the twenty-fifth year onwards, anniversaries tend to become family events, and the gifts often come from children and grandchildren rather than from the couple to each other. Engraved glassware is a favourite because it gets used at the party itself: a pair of engraved champagne flutes with both names and the two dates (wedding and anniversary) will be raised on the night and kept for decades.

Red or black? The anniversary weekend in Monte Carlo

For a ruby or golden anniversary, plenty of couples skip objects altogether and give each other a trip. One of the most romantic is a weekend on the Riviera built around an evening at the Casino de Monte-Carlo, the belle époque gaming house on the Place du Casino whose gilded rooms have hosted honeymooners and anniversary couples since the nineteenth century. There is a natural symmetry for a ruby wedding: forty years in, one chip on red at the roulette table, for luck, and a photograph on the casino steps afterwards. Couples who prefer the neon to the chandeliers choose Las Vegas instead, where renewing vows in a wedding chapel and then spending the evening on the casino floor is practically a tradition in itself. We cover how to plan and wrap that kind of present in our guide to Las Vegas and Monte Carlo experience gifts.

Some families add a playful extra: a lottery ticket for the anniversary draw played with the wedding date as numbers. It is a sweet gesture, but if you do it, know the maths. Dates only use numbers up to 31, so lines built from birthdays and anniversaries are very common, and a jackpot won with them is more likely to be shared. Our explainer on giving a lottery syndicate as a gift covers how the draws work.

Sixty years and beyond: the royal message

In the United Kingdom, couples celebrating their 60th, 65th and 70th wedding anniversaries, and every anniversary after the 70th, can receive a message of congratulations from the King. It is not sent automatically: a family member applies in advance through the official royal website, with a copy of the marriage certificate. It is worth doing a couple of months before the date, and the card makes a lovely centrepiece next to the family's gifts.

Quick picks by budget

• Under £20: a printed mug pair, an engraved keyring with the wedding date, a personalised card.
• £20 to £50: engraved flutes or wine glasses, an oak photo cube, a leather passport cover pair.
• £50 and up: engraved jewellery, a silver keepsake box, an experience such as a night away or a show.

For more on how the engraving itself is done, and which materials suit which method, see how engraving works.

Written by the Ribbon & Tag editors.