Anniversary Gift Meanings

Anniversary Gifts by Year

There are a handful of websites out there that list the traditional and modern gifts for each anniversary along with a brief description. This is our interpretation of the symbolism behind each gift and why they’re so important as we move ahead in Our Present Journey.

And to be completely honest, all these years giving each other these anniversary gifts, we’ve never fully realized the meaning behind some of the selected categories. This has been such a fun and rewarding experience diving deeper into the history and tradition and we hope you enjoy it as much as we have.

*Since we are celebrating our 15th anniversary this year, we have only included years 1-15 in this chart and the following descriptions. We’ll be including additional years over time!

1st Anniversary

Traditional: Paper

Romance and meaning don’t necessarily come to you when first thinking about giving your loved one paper for a gift. Hardly seems like the best way to start off your marriage! But after doing some research, paper actually has tremendous symbolism to newlyweds as it represents a clean slate with which the couple can start to write their love story, page by page, year by year. The beginning of that story can start with one simple gift to memorialize starting a new life together, which unlike paper that is often fragile, will gradually strengthen in the years to come alongside gifts of harder metals and precious materials.

Modern: Clocks

Similar to starting a life together anew with a blank sheet of paper, so too can we observe the passage of time as a couple with this modern gift. Time is infinite and eternal, just like the love that we professed to each other when we got married.

2nd Anniversary

Traditional: Cotton

On its own, a thread of cotton exists with no meaningful purpose other than to be cotton. Weave it together with another thread of cotton and a new shape begins to emerge. Now intertwined and connected, cotton represents two lives coming together as one to create a new, stronger bond, where all things are possible. Just like cotton, after two years of marriage we become more connected and comfortable in our new life together.

Modern: China

China is many things. Beautiful, intricate, strong, sophisticated, enduring, delicate, fragile to name a few. A new relationship can often be described using many of these same words and synonyms. Just like China, newlyweds’ bonds are strong and beautiful, but drop China on the floor and cracks may emerge exposing the fragility and any weakness behind the love that it took to mold the piece. So too can these cracks emerge in our relationships, all the more reason to treat both our China and marriage with care, responsibility, and love.

3rd Anniversary

Traditional: Leather

The earliest humans would spend considerable time transforming rawhides into leather that was most often used for shelter, security and protection. Even with today’s modern tools and technology, it still takes several weeks to go from rawhide to finished product. Leather is durable, resilient, and sturdy, just like a marriage that now exceeds 1,000 days old. A leather gift not only represents the length of the relationship, it is also characteristic of the security and protection that each person provides in the comfort of their union.

Modern: Crystal/Glass

Not the strongest of materials, crystal and glass remind us of the constant care that we must take with our relationship to prevent anything from breaking. Despite their vulnerabilities, crystal and glass, like our relationships, can also be magnificent and last a lifetime. Crystal makes another appearance as the traditional gift for the 15th anniversary, signifying the time we’ve been together while also looking towards a bright and beautiful future.

4th Anniversary

Traditional: Fruit/Flowers

A few years ago, we planted a variety of new flowering bushes and trees in our yard with the hopes and expectations of enjoying an immediate spring season in a bountiful and thriving garden – but nature had other plans! Some plants have grown beyond our wildest imaginations while others have shown little interest in exposing their potential beauty that lies just under the surface. Similar to our relationship, our garden demanded time, care and attention to blossom into what it eventually became in our 4th year of marriage. Nurture your relationship just as you would a new garden and there’s no telling what might emerge!

Modern: Linens

Linen has a rich history with harvesting dating back tens of thousands of years to ancient civilizations where it was used for a broad range of applications from clothing to currency. Though it’s also a natural fiber like cotton, linen takes significantly longer to harvest and is far more labor- and time-intensive to produce into finished goods. Because of these difficulties, linen manufacturing is reserved for a smaller subset of higher-end and luxurious purposes, making it the perfect anniversary gift to show your significant other how much you care. The delicate material makes an appearance in the 4th, 8th and 12th anniversaries so there’s multiple chances to make a memory with linen!

Modern: Appliances

Although we always assumed anniversary gifts should be romantic or luxurious, sometimes a practical gift can be just what the relationship ordered. By the 4th anniversary, you’ve either used all of your wedding registry gifts or still have a few socked away in a closet somewhere gathering dust (we all have!). So let this year be an opportunity to refresh or upgrade your older appliances and finally make your house a home.

5th Anniversary

Traditional: Wood

Going back to our landscaping story, we also have a 100 year old maple tree in our yard that has withstood decades of storms, heat waves and children climbing its branches. Not quite a century old yet, but our relationship at half a decade most certainly had grown strong roots, firmly planted in the ground where we have been building our family and life story ever since. And like that 100 year old maple, the story we began writing on our wedding day and on that blank sheet of paper for our 1st anniversary will live on for generations to come through our children and their futures.

Modern: Silverware

A couch from one house, a bed from another, an old dining room table from a parent, and a TV that has seen better days. When couples move in together, they often each bring pieces from their prior lives in order to fill out the bare necessities in a house. Silverware, though used every day, is rarely thought about or given any real consideration. If you’re still using old and cheap silverware from your single days, five years into a marriage seems like as good a time as any to upgrade to a new set so family meal times can have even more meaning and memories.

6th Anniversary

Traditional: Iron

Blacksmiths, one of the oldest professions in the world dating back thousands of years, would use extreme heat and pressure to forge molten iron into tools, weapons and armor. Under these extreme conditions the strongest of bonds are created while molding an end product into something useful that will last a lifetime. Not all too dissimilar from how relationships are formed and developed over time with pressure and passion while going through good times and bad. Similar to prior gifts like leather and wood, iron represents the strength and durability of a marriage that has been forged over years of shared experiences, communication and love.

Traditional: Candy

They say that calories on vacation don’t count. So why should anniversaries be any different?! Give each other something sweet and sugary to remind yourselves of your younger days that weren’t entirely consumed with things like work, chores, and endless kids activities. Six years in is far too early to start feeling old, so pretend to be a kid again and keep that youthful spirit and fire going in other parts of your relationship to keep feeling young years into the future. When’s the last time you had a cavity anyway?!

Modern: Wood

Back to back opportunities for a wood present after another year of growth together. Like another ring added to its trunk, your marriage has gotten even stronger now in its 6th year with many more to come in the future.

7th Anniversary

Traditional: Copper

Copper has been used for 10,000 years for a whole range of applications that are far too many to list here. But the most important reason why copper has been used so frequently across generations has nothing to do with its rusty color and everything to do with its unique ability to generate heat. A highly conductive metal, copper symbolizes another opportunity to show the strength of your relationship with the added bonus of settling into a warm and comfortable stage of a marriage after seven years.

Traditional: Wool

After keeping the spark alive with copper, wool is your next best friend as it insulates to maintain that warmth and comfort between each other. Wool presents can be a cozy reminder of that fire that keeps your relationship going, especially when your significant may not always be around to cuddle on a cold night!

Modern: Desk Set

Once again practicality finds its way into romance. Our daily lives are littered with drop-offs, pick-ups, coffee runs, dry cleaning, ATMs, grocery shopping, pediatrician appointments… and oh yea, work, too. We would never survive without a shared family calendar and a cluttered desk would not make it any easier. Now is a great time to add a little functionality and order to your daily life before it gets any wilder with teenagers!

8th Anniversary

Traditional: Bronze

Bronze is an alloy, which is the result of mixing various elements to form a stronger and more cohesive bond. And guess which metals make bronze? Copper and Tin, the 7th and 10th anniversary presents! This alloy represents the continued blending of our two lives into one that is stronger together than when we were separate.

Traditional: Pottery

Years ago Jay planned a date night at a local studio where we tried our hand at the pottery wheel. It wasn’t quite as romantic as the scenes from Ghost but it was a lot of fun, even if our vases didn’t quite turn out like the instructors intended! (side note: we were so embarrassed by our pottery that we didn’t even go back the next day to pick up the pieces after they were fired in the kiln!!) Like other presents before this, pottery represents what can happen when you take unfinished balls of clay (or people) and apply patience and care (and heat!) to mold it into something beautiful – just like a relationship after eight incredible years together.

Modern: Linen

The second chance four years later to bring this luxurious fabric into your lives again. The length of your relationship at eight years is represented by the extensive work and time it takes to produce high quality linen goods.

Modern: Lace

Luckily for Jay, lace makes an appearance twice on this list for the 8th and 13th anniversaries and he only has one thing on his mind when he hears this category! Aside from the obvious gifting potential here, lace is another intricate and delicate material that takes time to develop and must be handled with care. Lace is elegant and refined, symbolizing the work that has gone into your relationship to make it to this point together.

9th Anniversary

Traditional: Willow

The willow tree is a symbol of fertility and life. It always finds a way to continue growing and spreading its branches even under challenging conditions. Just like a marriage that is nearly a decade old, willow has seen good times and bad, and will continue to thrive in any season of life.

Traditional: Pottery

If you failed at making a proper vase at a pottery class last year, you now have another shot at it! Watch some YouTube clips, hone your skills, and keep molding that ball of clay we call a marriage into whatever shape you both want it to become.

Modern: Leather

Six years after your first chance to celebrate your anniversary with leather, year nine affords you the opportunity to further expand on the resilience of durability of your relationship. As we’ve learned, leather also represents the security and comfort that you feel with each other, so take a leap and be creative with this year’s presents to show your special someone how important they are in this life you’ve spent nearly a decade building together.

10th Anniversary

Traditional: Aluminum

1 decade, 10 years, 3,650 days, 87,600 hours, 5,256,000 minutes, 315,360,000 seconds. No matter what unit of measurement you use, your marriage is officially long and successful by this point. Congratulations! Aluminum is widely recognized as one of the most malleable metals, meaning that it is both durable and highly flexible, just as any marriage requires.

Traditional: Tin

Like aluminum, tin resists corrosion and rust, enabling it to withstand a decade of all that marriage has to throw at it. It’s resilient yet pliable, just like your relationship, and will last many years into the future.

Modern: Diamond

Famously known as every girl’s best friend, it’s the perfect time to celebrate a decade of happiness together with this rare and special gem. Thankfully whoever created the “modern” version of the traditional anniversary gift list (cough cough the jewelers probably) brought forward the diamond a full 40 years from the 50th anniversary – who wants to wait that long?! Now is a great time to add to the jewelry collection for those special date nights or events where you want to put your love on display. Frost yourself!

11th Anniversary

Traditional: Steel

Through the first 10 years together, you’ve built the foundation of your relationship with gifts ranging from flexible and malleable metals to intricate and delicate woven materials. Now entering your second decade as a married couple, perhaps it’s time to move on to the strongest metal on Earth. Steel is used to build massive structures from skyscrapers to bridges and everything in between that require ultimate strength and reliability, all characteristics that would typically define a successful long-term marriage. Onwards and upwards!

Modern: Jewelry

This year brings another opportunity to spoil your better half with beautiful fashion jewelry, which are typically made from various base metals and stones that can simultaneously be stunning and affordable. Make it a statement piece for flaunting or more personable with a special engraving.

12th Anniversary

Traditional: Silk & Linen

Building on the prior delicate materials, silk is the logical next step in elegance and luxury. Its interwoven threads represent how your bond has continued to gain strength over the last 12 years from the early days of cotton to linen and lace.

Modern: Pearls

Pearls are a hidden treasure that are just as rare and mythical as they are perfect. Also given as the traditional 30th anniversary gift, this year presents an opportunity to show your loved one how much you value your relationship, which like a pearl, has taken years to develop into something pure and beautiful.

13th Anniversary

Traditional: Lace

Turns out 13 is lucky after all – or so Jay thinks! Lace returns here five years later to symbolize the continued effort that you’ve put into your marriage to reach this lucky milestone.

Modern: Textiles & Fur

Comfort and warmth. These presents offer the chance to remind your significant other of the splendors of marriage that are felt after 13 happy years together.

14th Anniversary

Traditional: Ivory

Elephants are massive and beautiful creatures that can live up to 70 years in the wild! Of course, they are also a protected species and we would never condone poaching or any actual ivory gift. Instead, draw on the elephant theme which represents the stability and length of your successful marriage at 14 years.

Modern: Gold

Typically given as the traditional 50th anniversary gift, gold represents prosperity, wisdom and significance. It is one of the most precious metals and signifies your long-term commitment to each other. Thank you again to the jewelers for not making us all wait for the Golden Anniversary!

15th Anniversary

Traditional: Crystal

Congratulations on 15 years! Crystal returns to the list 12 years later as a symbol of the continued protection you’ve provided each other over the years to remain intact as a couple. Take a look at the beautiful light refracting from the crystal with all the different directions it takes, then think about your lives and what path you’re taking into the future together.

Modern: Watches

Congratulations on 15 years! Following the clock gift on the 1st anniversary, here is another opportunity to recognize the passing of time together with this modern present that is worn as a daily reminder of your loved one.