Wedding Anniversary Gifts by Year: UK Traditional & Modern List

Looking for wedding anniversary gifts by year? The UK traditional anniversary list pairs each year of marriage with a specific material — Paper for the 1st, Tin for the 10th, Silver for the 25th — and the modern list adds a contemporary alternative. Use the lists below to find your year, then click through to handmade, personalised gift ideas in our Cornwall collection. Both UK traditional and US traditional & modern lists are included for reference.

Before the 1930's not all wedding Anniversaries had a material representing the year. Only the first anniversary and milestone anniversaries such as 5th, 10th, 20th, 25th, 50th and 75th had a gift suggestion. Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home by Emily Post, published in 1922, contained suggestions for these milestones. Over the years more materials have been added and the list updated and modernised.

The UK list featured below is what is now today considered the list to go by. The traditional and modern U.S. versions below were compiled by librarians at the Chicago Public Library in 2000, and are based on the American National Retail Jeweler Association's list published in 1937.

A lot of research has gone into creating these lists to ensure they are correct and you buy the right traditional or modern gift for your wedding anniversary, some websites have slightly different variations of the lists.

Browse the traditional and modern materials below and see what we have to offer by clicking your year

Buying a traditional gift for your wedding anniversary is very important, each anniversary material has its own unique meaning which represents the stage you are in your marriage, the meaning may related to you personally and provide a really great thoughtful touch to the very important task of buying gifts for your wedding anniversary.