The History of Wedding Anniversary Gifts

The tradition of giving a specific gift on a specific anniversary dates back to the Middle Ages. To help in celebrating these occasions are special gifts, one assigned to each anniversary and each with its own material and symbolic value. In the United States, the wedding anniversary symbols begin simply, with paper and flowers, and gradually increase in substance and value. The order of gifts reflects the investment that the couple gives of themselves to each other. In Germany, by comparison, couples use a list of symbols that represent the progressive strengthening of the marriage relationship.

According to Hallmark research, the custom of associating silver with the 25th wedding anniversary and gold with the 50th wedding anniversary appear to have originated in the Germanic region of Middle Europe. The silver anniversary included a husband giving his wife a silver garland when they had been married 25 years

Husbands, you can thank the Europeans for the stress of wedding anniversary gifts! The practice of giving peculiar gifts on various wedding anniversaries originated in Central Europe.

Among the medieval Germans it was customary for friends to present a wife with a wreath of silver when she had lived with her husband twenty-five years. The silver symbolized the harmony that was assumed to be necessary to make so many years of matrimony possible.

On the fiftieth anniversary of a wedding the wife was presented with a wreath of gold. Hence arose 'silver wedding' and 'golden wedding.' This practice, borrowed from the Germans, has been elaborated upon in modern times.

The 75th anniversary (does that even happen anymore?!) is the original diamond anniversary and the 60th was added when Queen Victoria (English Empire Monarch) celebrated her Diamond Jubilee on her 60th anniversary of accession to the throne in 1897.

The custom of celebrating what was once referred to as the "anniversary wedding" can be traced back to the Victorian era ... Although no one is certain how the traditional list of symbolic anniversary gifts originated, it is likely that the Victorians made the custom popular ... Early anniversary symbolism included only a few of the anniversaries we recognize today.

The earliest reference we have found other than the Silver or gold is to the 5th anniversary (Wood) which implies this became the material for that anniversary around 1875.

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