UK Wedding Anniversary Gifts by Year
Did you know that the list of UK wedding anniversary gifts by year is slightly different from the same list for American anniversaries?
I was never really aware that there was this difference until readers from the United Kingdom started reaching out, asking for help when shopping for anniversary gifts.
They’d read my other anniversary posts, which include:
Anniversary Theme Gifts to Give
Modern Wedding Anniversary Gift Ideas
Traditional Wedding Gift Ideas
Where to go for free food on your anniversary
So I decided to put together this comprehensive list of gift themes, by year, for wedding anniversaries–specifically with the UK in mind.
In case you didn’t know, the United Kingdom is comprised of:
- England
- Northern Ireland
- Scotland
- Wales
UK Wedding Anniversary Gifts by Year
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Here is a year-by-year list of UK wedding anniversary gift themes. Hopefully, knowing this information will help with your shopping.
Also, I’ve included information about how these UK themes compare or mirror anniversary themes in the United States.
In many instances, it seems that traditional themes for American wedding anniversaries are the same or quite similar to the United Kingdom’s anniversary themes.
For example, everyone considers the 25th wedding anniversary to be a silver anniversary. This is true in the UK and US, with both traditional and modern gift themes.
Same with a golden anniversary (50 years of marriage) and a few more.
Finally, in the UK, there are wedding anniversary gift themes for every year up through the 10th anniversary. After that, they jump to every five years, until you get to 30 years. Then, the themes are every 10 years.
So, you’ll see that gap reflected in the list here.
It’s with modern themes (in the US) where you see a real difference.
First wedding anniversary gift theme
UK: Paper
US: Paper (traditional theme); clocks (modern theme)
Second wedding anniversary gift theme
UK: Cotton
US: Cotton (traditional theme); china or porcelain (modern theme)
Third wedding anniversary gift theme
UK: Leather
US: Leather (traditional theme); crystal or glass (modern theme)
Fourth wedding anniversary gift theme
UK: Fruit and flowers
US: Fruit or flowers (traditional theme); appliances (modern theme)
Fifth wedding anniversary gift theme
UK: Wood
US: Wood (traditional theme); silverware (modern theme)
Sixth wedding anniversary gift theme
UK: Sugar
US: Iron or candy (traditional theme); wood (modern theme)
Seventh wedding anniversary gift theme
UK: Wool
US: Copper or wool (traditional theme); desk sets (modern theme)
Eighth wedding anniversary gift theme
UK: Salt
US: Bronze or pottery (traditional theme); linens or lace (modern theme)
Ninth wedding anniversary gift theme
UK: Copper
US: Pottery or willow (traditional theme); leather (modern theme)
10th wedding anniversary gift theme
UK: Tin
US: Aluminum or tin (traditional theme); diamond jewelry (modern theme)
15th wedding anniversary gift theme
UK: Crystal
US: Crystal (traditional theme); watches (modern theme)
20th wedding anniversary gift theme
UK: China
US: China (traditional theme); platinum (modern theme)
25th wedding anniversary gift theme
UK: Silver
US: Silver (traditional and modern themes)
30th wedding anniversary gift theme
UK: Pearl
US: Pearl (traditional theme); diamond (modern theme)
40th wedding anniversary gift theme
UK: Ruby
US: Ruby (traditional and modern themes)
50th wedding anniversary gift theme
UK: Gold
US: Gold (traditional and modern themes)
60th wedding anniversary gift theme
UK: Diamond
US: Diamond (traditional and modern themes)
Plus, these days you can choose a more affordable option in lab-grown diamonds.
70th wedding anniversary gift theme
UK: Platinum
US: Platinum (traditional and modern themes)
Final thoughts on UK Wedding Anniversary Gifts by Year
If I happen to come across any additional information about wedding anniversary gift themes in the United Kingdom, I’ll be sure to add it to this article.
In the meantime if you have any questions about the list above, please post a comment and let me know.