Wedding anniversary gifts by year

What gift to get for an anniversary that doesn't have an associated theme?

You can of course pick something based on your anniversary’s theme but don’t let that stop you thinking outside the box. We find that for anniversary gifts the little sentimental touches make a big difference. And, personalised gifts always go down well as they show how much effort you’ve put in. You old romantic, you. 

Personalised photo gifts are a great idea as it’s a lovely way to pay tribute to either your favourite memories together or, of course, your wedding! A piece of jewellery is a classic gift for a reason and can be personalised with special details like their birthstone, date of your wedding or even a special engraving.

1st wedding anniversary gift ideas

Your first year as newlyweds, how exciting! For the 1st anniversary, the most popular and traditional gift is often paper as it’s an incredibly versatile material and literally represents you both starting a new chapter of your life. Think personalised photo prints, bucket list journals and more. Alternative gift ideas include clocks, carnations and anything in gold or yellow to represent your bright future together.

Traditional: Paper

Modern: Clocks

Gemstone: Gold

Flower: Carnation

Colour: Gold or yellow

2nd wedding anniversary gift ideas

For your second anniversary, the most popular choice for gifts is the traditional one, cotton representing the weaving of two lives together. This could be a snuggly new throw for your home, couple towels or even a piece of jewellery with a cotton cord. If that’s not your vibe, you could pick out a handmade vase, piece of garnet jewellery or a cosmos print.

Traditional: Cotton

Modern: China

Gemstone:Garnet

Flower: Cosmos

Colour: Red or linen white

3rd wedding anniversary gift ideas

Leather is the popular choice for your third anniversary as it symbolises strength, flexibility and resilience. Leather accessories are a common gift, whether it’s matching handmade keyrings with your initials or a personalised washbag. If you or your partner are vegan, vegan leather can also be a great alternative. Though, if you don’t fancy leather at all, you could go for the modern option of crystal or glass and get them a beautiful vase. Or, you could even get them pearls, sunflowers or something in this anniversary’s colours, white or jade green.

Traditional: Leather

Modern: Crystal or glass

Gemstone: Pearls

Flower: Sunflowers

Colour: White or jade green

4th wedding anniversary gift ideas

For your forth wedding anniversary, linen is the traditional choice. And, from personalised cushions to bespoke photo albums and hoops, you’ve got lots to choose from thanks to our creative small brands. Fruit or flowers is the more modern choice so a bouquet of fresh flowers or a fruit plant could also be an idea. Geranium, the 4th anniversary plant, is typically planted in April or May so could be a lovely choice to add to your garden if you have a spring anniversary. For sparkle lovers, beautiful topaz is this year’s gemstone tying in nicely with the 4th year colours, blue and green.

Traditional: Linen

Modern: Fruit or flowers

Gemstone: Topaz

Flower: Geraniums

Colour: Blue or green

5th wedding anniversary gift ideas

If you’re looking to embrace tradition on your fifth anniversary, wood is a solid choice (excuse the pun) representing the strength and stability of your marriage. There are so many heartfelt things that can be crafted from wood, from personalised couple matchboxes to planters and wedding date keyrings. Silverware is the more modern option, whether it’s a fancy set of embossed cutlery or some boujee salad servers. For this year, you’ve got a choice of colours, from turquoise tying in with the anniversary stone, sapphire, to pink. Daisies are also on the cards but this doesn’t need to be a bouquet of flowers. We’ve got lots of daisy-themed gifts on our marketplace, from daisy jewellery to beautifully crafted garden accessories.

Traditional: Wood

Modern: Silverware

Gemstone: Sapphire

Flower: Daisies

Colour: Blue, pink or turquoise

6th wedding anniversary gift ideas

On your sixth wedding anniversary, iron is a common and traditional choice symbolising the strength and durability of your marriage. Think beautiful birth baths, heart-shaped trivets and lucky horseshoes. If iron isn’t inspiring you, there are lots of fun alternatives for this anniversary, from calla lilies (a popular flower at the moment) to amethyst jewellery or anything purple, white or turquoise.

Traditional: Candy or iron

Modern: Wood

Gemstone: Amethyst

Flower: Calla lilies

Colour: Purple, turquoise or white

7th wedding anniversary gift ideas

Copper is the traditional seventh anniversary wedding gift, whether it’s a photo print, personalised artwork or heart-shaped candle holder. It represents the strength and durability of your marriage. If you can’t find any copper gifts you like, wool accessories or a desk set are other options you can go for that might feel a bit more modern. The seventh anniversary also boasts both an interesting flower and gemstone, fressias and onyx. So, the world really is your oyster.

Traditional: Copper or wool

Modern: Desk set

Gemstone: Onyx

Flower: Freesias

Colour: Onyx, yellow or off white

8th wedding anniversary gift ideas

The eighth wedding anniversary material is bronze, a great choice for eight years as it symbolises your lasting bond that only continues to strengthen. One cute way to mark the occasion? With a small bronze statue of an animal, whether it’s a robin or little spaniel. Another idea is to go down the modern route and choose a tablecloth made from linen or lace that you can treasure for years to come. How lovely!

Traditional: Bronze

Modern: Linens or lace

Gemstone: Tourmaline

Flower: Clematis and lilacs

Colour: Bronze

9th wedding anniversary gift ideas

Pottery is the go-to gift for your ninth wedding anniversary, whether it’s a set of beautiful, handmade ceramic tumblers, matching coasters or even a pottery class for two. Terracotta also happens to be the colour for the ninth wedding anniversary, so a terracotta plant pot could be a nice way to tie the two together.

Traditional: Pottery

Modern: Leather

Gemstone: Lapis lazuli

Flower: Poppies and birds of paradise

Colour: Terracotta

10th wedding anniversary gift ideas

Happy tin years! Sorry, we had to. If you haven’t guessed already, tin is the traditional and most common choice for tenth wedding anniversary gifts. Though we wouldn’t blame you if you’re a bit more tempted by the modern option, diamond jewellery.

Traditional: Tin or aluminium

Modern: Diamond jewellery

Gemstone: Diamond

Flower: Daffodils

Colour: Silver or blue

11th wedding anniversary gift ideas

What to get them for your eleventh wedding anniversary? Hmm… Well, traditionally something made out of steel is the choice as it represents your marriage being literally as strong as steel. You might be thinking, what gift can I get made out of steel? But actually, there are more options than you might think, from stainless steel jewellery to a personalised pizza cutter or photo print.

Traditional: Steel

Modern: Jewellery

Gemstone: Turquoise

Flower: Morning glories

Colour: Turquoise or yellow

12th wedding anniversary gift ideas

For your twelfth wedding anniversary, it’s typical to give something made from silk or linen. Think a beautiful sick scarf, a linen photo album or some luxury bed linen. Pearl jewellery is also a lovely choice alongside beautiful peonies which in our experience always go down well. 

Traditional: Silk or linen

Modern: Pearls

Gemstone: Jade

Flower: Peonies

Colour: Jade, opal or oyster white

13th wedding anniversary gift ideas

The traditional gift for your thirteenth wedding anniversary is lace, whether it’s jewellery with a lace texture or a sweet keepsake. And, for the modern choice it’s faux fur or textiles giving you lots of choice. Think faux fur gloves if you’ve got a winter anniversary or a fun, new tablecloth.

Traditional: Lace

Modern: Textiles or faux fur

Gemstone: Citrine

Flower: Chrysanthemums 

Colour: Citrine or white

14th wedding anniversary gift ideas

While your 14th wedding anniversary is ivory, it’s not traditional to give something made of ivory any more in order to protect elephants. Instead people tend to go for things in an ivory shade or even gifts that are elephant shaped as a twist on the tradition (aww!). Gold jewellery is the modern choice and is perfect if they’re a bit of a sparkle lover. 

Traditional: Ivory

Modern: Gold

Gemstone: Opal

Flower: Dahlias

Colour: Opal or ivory 

15th wedding anniversary gift ideas

For your 15th anniversary, it’s popular to either give something made from crystal or a watch to represent all your time together. When it comes to crystal, a keepsake plaque is a really meaningful idea, whether it’s engraved with your names or personalised with a photo.

Traditional: Crystal

Modern: Watches

Gemstone: Ruby

Flower: Roses

Colour: Ruby red

20th wedding anniversary gift ideas

Your 20th wedding anniversary theme? Anything made from china or porcelain, from a personalised anniversary plate to matching mugs. If you want to go for the modern choice, platinum is also one of the themes. Think platinum eternity rings and personalised decanters. 

Traditional: China or porcelain

Modern: Platinum

Gemstone: Emerald

Flower: Asters

Colour: Emerald green or white

25th wedding anniversary gift ideas

Your 25th wedding anniversary is known as your silver anniversary, so you may have guessed that sterling silver is the traditional choice. And, from sterling silver necklaces to bracelets, there are so many meaningful pieces to choose from on our small brand marketplace. Irises are also this anniversary’s flower, so could be a great choice to plant in your garden to mark 25 years. 

Traditional: Sterling silver

Modern: Sterling silver

Gemstone: Silver jubilee

Flower: Irises

Colour: Silver

30th wedding anniversary gift ideas

Your 30th wedding anniversary is otherwise known as your pearl anniversary, so of course pearl jewellery is on the cards. Think pearl drop earrings and fancy cufflinks. If you’re looking for ideas that are a bit more unusual, how about a pearl anniversary sundial or a grow-your-own garden kit?    

Traditional: Pearl

Modern: Diamond

Gemstone: Pearl jubilee

Flower: Lilies

Colour: Green

40th wedding anniversary gift ideas

Your 40th wedding anniversary? Now, that’s another biggie. It also happens to have one of the most unusual traditional gifts, coral! These days though, it’s much more commonly known as your ruby anniversary, making ruby jewellery and ruby red keepsakes the more popular choices. But it’s nice to have choices, eh? 

Traditional: Coral

Modern: Jade

Gemstone: Ruby

Flower: Gladioli

Colour:  Ruby red

50th wedding anniversary gift ideas

Celebrating fifty years of marriage? Time to pop open the fancy fizz. Seeing as it’s the ‘golden anniversary’, the traditional and modern gifts are both gold. So gold jewellery makes a great gift to symbolise all your years together. If you’re looking for something a bit more budget friendly though, you could also get a personalised family tree artwork made to mark the occasion. 

Traditional: Gold

Modern: Gold

Gemstone: Golden

Flower: Yellow roses and violets

Colour: Gold

60th wedding anniversary gift ideas

It’s a biggie. The 60th wedding anniversary is the perfect excuse to go all out. And, what better than diamonds to celebrate? Think diamond cufflinks for him or a diamond locket for her. If jewellery isn’t quite right, the 60th wedding anniversary, orchids, could be a good alternative. How about these gorgeous white orchids from independent florist, bloom? 

Traditional:Diamond

Modern: Diamond

Gemstone: Diamond

Flower: Orchids

Colour: Diamond white

70th wedding anniversary gift ideas

As you might have guessed from the list below, platinum is a firm favourite for celebrating 70th wedding anniversaries. And, it’s not surprising seeing as this strong metal represents the lasting commitment you have together. An idea we love for a 70th? This family tree personalised with all your closest family members. Aww. 

Traditional: Platinum

Modern: Platinum

Gemstone: Platinum

Flower: Rose

Colour: Platinum

75th wedding anniversary gift ideas

The results are in and it seems diamonds are very much the gift for 75th wedding anniversaries, being both the gemstone and traditional and modern choices. It does seem fitting. After all, they do say diamonds are forever and what says forever more than 75 years of marriage? 

Traditional: Diamond

Modern: Diamond

Gemstone: Diamond

Flower: White flowers like lilies or or white roses

Colour: Diamond white

80th wedding anniversary gift ideas

The big 8-0! If you’ve reached 80 years of marriage, that makes you pretty special. So, of course you’ll need something incredible to celebrate. From a classic bunch of red roses, to ruby jewellery and oak accessories, you’ve got lots to choose from thanks to our creative small brands. And, there are so many personalisation options, too.

Traditional: Oak 

Modern: Oak 

Gemstone: Ruby 

Flower: Red roses

Colour: Ruby red

If that wasn’t already enough inspiration, our small brands have got plenty more over on our anniversary edit. Ready to find something they’ll really, really love?