Wedding anniversary gifts by year: traditional and modern (UK)
Your next wedding anniversary, its traditional and modern gift, and one free email on the morning of each one.
Enter your wedding date
Find out how long you have been married, when your next wedding anniversary falls and what the gift is.
Choose the day you were married. The date stays on this page, and we neither keep it nor send it on.
One email a year, on the morning of your anniversary, with that year's gift. It is free, and one tap stops it.
Wedding anniversary gifts by year: the traditional and modern lists
Every wedding anniversary has a traditional gift, a material that starts with paper at one year and ends at diamond at sixty, and a modern one. Here are the two lists in one table, for each year the lists name, from the 1st to the 75th.
Paper for the 1st wedding anniversary, then wood for the 5th, tin for the 10th, silver for the 25th, ruby for the 40th and gold for the 50th on the traditional list. The modern list gives clocks, silverware, diamond jewellery, silver, ruby and gold for the same years.
| Wedding anniversary | Traditional | Modern |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Paper | Clocks |
| 2nd | Cotton | China |
| 3rd | Leather | Crystal or glass |
| 4th | Linen or silk | Appliances |
| 5th | Wood | Silverware |
| 6th | Sugar | Wood |
| 7th | Wool | Desk sets |
| 8th | Salt | Linen or lace |
| 9th | Copper | Leather |
| 10th | Tin | Diamond jewellery |
| 11th | Steel | Fashion jewellery |
| 12th | Silk and fine linen | Pearls or coloured gems |
| 13th | Lace | Textiles or furs |
| 14th | Gold | Gold jewellery |
| 15th | Crystal | Watches |
| 20th | China | Platinum |
| 25th | Silver | Silver |
| 30th | Pearl | Diamond |
| 35th | Coral | Jade |
| 40th | Ruby | Ruby |
| 45th | Sapphire | Sapphire |
| 50th | Gold | Gold |
| 55th | Emerald | Emerald |
| 60th | Diamond | Diamond |
| 65th | Blue sapphire | Blue sapphire |
| 70th | Platinum | Platinum |
| 75th | Diamond | Diamond |
Which UK list is this?
There is no one UK list. The traditional column follows Papier's list, and the modern column follows Bridebook's modern list. We say which, because a different guide can give you a different gift.
Sources disagree on years 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, and the UK and US lists differ in those years. On this chart: the 4th: linen or silk here, fruit or flowers on the US list; the 6th: sugar here, iron or candy on the US list; the 7th: wool here, copper or wool on the US list; the 8th: salt here, bronze or pottery on the US list; the 9th: copper here, pottery or willow on the US list; the 10th: tin here, aluminium or tin on the US list. UK guides differ among themselves too: Papier gives sugar for the 6th and copper for the 9th, where Bridebook gives iron and pottery or willow.
The gifts for years 1, 2, 3 and 5 are the same wherever we looked. Papier's list has no gift for years 11, 13, 14, 35, 45 or 55, so we filled those with the gift most lists print.
Years that are not on the list
The list jumps from the 15th to the 20th and then moves in fives, so a 12th wedding anniversary has its own gift but an 18th does not. For a year in between, borrow the nearest milestone. For the 18th that is the 20th (china, or platinum on the modern list). A card and a small token do the job.
How to use the wedding anniversary gift list
Work out which anniversary it is. Count the years since the wedding on the day itself. A wedding in June 2025 reaches its second wedding anniversary in June 2027. Or put your date in the box above and let it count.
Look along the row. One column is the traditional gift, a material such as paper or leather, and the other is the modern gift, an object such as clocks or crystal. You can use either.
Note which list it is. Under the table, the lists are named. In years 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 sources disagree, and the UK column follows Papier's list.
Borrow the nearest milestone. The list jumps from the 15th to the 20th and then moves in fives. For a year it leaves out, such as the 18th, take the nearest year it does name.
Have it sent to you. Sign in for one email on the morning of each wedding anniversary, with that year's gift. It costs nothing, and one tap stops it.
Questions
- Why do wedding anniversary lists give different gifts?
- No body sets them, so each guide keeps its own. The UK and US lists differ most in years 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, and UK guides differ among themselves too. This page names the list each column follows.
- What is the modern wedding anniversary list?
- A newer list of objects rather than materials, such as clocks for the first year and silverware for the fifth. This page follows Bridebook's modern list.
- What are the gifts for the 25th, 40th and 50th wedding anniversaries?
- the 25th: silver (traditional) and silver (modern), the 40th: ruby (traditional) and ruby (modern) and the 50th: gold (traditional) and gold (modern). The 25th is the silver wedding and the 50th the golden wedding.
- What do I give for a year that is not on the list?
- Take the nearest year the list does name. An 18th wedding anniversary borrows the 20th, for example. A card and a small token is plenty.
- Must I stick to the traditional gift?
- No. The list is a custom and not a rule. Use it as a theme if it helps, such as a letter for paper or a wooden spoon for the fifth, and otherwise give what you like.
- What is the gift for a first wedding anniversary?
- paper (traditional) and clocks (modern). Every list we read says paper, and our paper anniversary guide has ideas.