Anniversary Gifts by Year

Quick answer: the traditional anniversary gifts start with paper (1st), cotton (2nd) and leather (3rd), then wood at 5, tin or aluminum at 10, crystal at 15, china at 20, silver at 25, ruby at 40 and gold at 50. Type your year above for its modern gift, gemstone and flower, as six published lists name them.

How to use it

Type the anniversary (1 to 60) or tap one, or give your wedding date and it finds your next anniversary, its date and the days to go. You get the traditional gift, the modern gift, the gemstone or metal and the flower. Each is shown with the lists that name it and, where the lists differ, what the others say. Copy the link to keep the year, or to send it to whoever is in on the surprise.

Where the lists come from

The first list was short. The Emily Post Institute: “Emily Post’s original 1922 Etiquette: in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home, included eight specific occasions and explained how they ought to be marked.” Then the jewellers filled it in: “In 1937 the American National Retail Jeweler Association filled out most of the rest of the list we are familiar with from this era”. Wikipedia adds who that association is today: “now known as Jewelers of America as a result of an organizational merger”.

So there is no single official list, and today’s lists differ. The six read here are the Emily Post Institute’s table, The Knot’s milestone guide, WeddingWire’s themes by year, Hallmark’s list (a theme for every year to 60), Wikipedia’s US list and the International Gem Society’s gemstones. The answer shown is the one most of them give. Where they split, the others are printed under it.

Six cells come from one list alone, because the others disagree: the 3rd year’s modern gift (Emily Post says glass, The Knot crystal or glass, WeddingWire crystal), the 11th’s modern gift and flower, the 13th’s modern gift, the 14th’s flower and the 55th’s gemstone (Emily Post emerald, The Knot alexandrite). The years in between (16 to 19, then 21 to 59) are on the chart above: most come from Hallmark’s list alone, and the chart says so.

What is ours: which entries count as the same answer (the same words once capitals, plurals, “jewelry”, “sterling” and “jubilee” are set aside, with “or” and “and” read alike), the order (most lists first), and the drawing.

Worked examples

• The 10th: aluminum or tin is the traditional gift; diamond jewelry the modern one; the stone is a diamond and the flower a daffodil. Every list agrees on tin and aluminum.
• The 6th: iron, by Emily Post, The Knot and Wikipedia. WeddingWire and Hallmark add candy, so iron or candy.
• The 25th: silver, in every column but the flower, an iris.
• Married on June 16, 2001: on October 12, 2026 the next is your 26th anniversary, on June 16, 2027, in 247 days. Only Hallmark names a gift for it: art.

Common mistakes

• Treating one list as official. None is: the lists differ, at least a little, on most years.
• Mixing up traditional and modern. The 1st is paper (traditional) or a clock (modern); the 10th is tin (traditional) or diamonds (modern).
• Taking the material literally. Paper can be tickets or a letter, and wood a frame or a tree.
• Forgetting the flower. A bunch of the year’s flower is the easiest gift on the list.

Frequently asked questions

On Needle Style

For the big ones: wedding ring ideas, ring stacking ideas for your wedding bands and date night outfits.

More free tools: the birthstone finder, the birth flower finder and the ring size chart.