lonely and desperate

Why is it that some people are able to find the perfect gift for every occasion whilst others can spend days in the shops and still come out empty handed?.

Some find the job of choosing gifts exciting, others find it exhausting…but spouses - when it comes to choosing wedding anniversary gifts - there’s an ‘official’ list of what you should get according to the year, which makes shopping a whole lot easier.  There are actually several different lists - traditional and modern - which have suggestions for anniversary gifts for the different years ranging from bedding to bronze, leather goods to linen and pearls to porcelain.

The traditions may vary from country to country and have changed over time, but there are some anniversaries that are well-established and recognised across the board.  Silver is always associated with a 25^th wedding anniversary , gold with a 50^th, emeralds with a 55th, diamonds with a 60^th and platinum with a 70^th.

Some examples of the difference between the traditional list and the modern list are:

The first wedding anniversary was traditionally celebrated with paper gifts, whereas the modern category is ‘clocks’, and the fourth anniversary used to be linen and silk, but according to the modern list, today’s gifts are meant to be appliances.  A more exciting change comes in the eighth anniversary, where lace and linen replace the traditional gifts of salt !  Go figure !. 

The modern list is also much more likely to appeal to those who like jewellery - with coloured gems and pearls replacing the silk and fine linen bedding of old for the 12^th anniversary, and rubies, jade, opal, sapphire, amethyst and of course, diamonds all featuring prominently. 

It really doesn’t matter whether you stick to the suggestions on the list or not, but it does give you something to aim at (both as the buyer of the gift AND as the married couple!)  After all, who’d turn their nose up at silverware (5^th anniversary), crystal and glass (3^rd), textiles (think bedding, stunning percale linen or cotton sheets) (13^th) or furniture (17^th)?.  Have fun !

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