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Story: Birthdays and wedding anniversaries

Wedding anniversary gifts

Anniversary Gift
1st Paper
2nd Cotton
3rd Leather
4th Linen, fruit or flowers
5th Wood
6th Iron or sweets
7th Wool or copper
8th Bronze or rubber
9th Pottery or willow
10th Tin or aluminium
11th Steel
12th Silk or fine linen
13th Lace
14th Ivory or agate
15th Crystal
16th Tourmaline or silver hollowware
17th Furniture or watches
18th Turquoise or porcelain
19th Aquamarine or bronze
20th China
21st Brass or nickel
22nd Copper
23rd Silver plate
24th Musical instruments
25th Silver
26th Original paintings
27th Sculpture
28th Orchids
29th New furniture
30th Pearls
31st Timepieces
32nd Conveyances, including cars
33rd Amethyst
34th Opal
35th Coral or jade
36th Bone china
37th Alabaster
38th Beryl or tourmaline
39th Lace
40th Ruby
41st Land
42nd Improved real estate
43rd Trips
44th Groceries
45th Sapphire
46th Original poetry
47th Books
48th Optical goods
49th Luxuries
50th Gold
55th Emerald
60th Diamond
65th Diamond
70th Platinum
75th Diamond

This table of gifts for wedding anniversaries has been compiled from some of the many guides available. Some gift ideas (such as ruby for the 40th anniversary) are widely accepted as traditional, while others (such as trips for the 43rd anniversary) appear to be relatively modern.

Using this item

Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

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How to cite this page

Nancy Swarbrick, Birthdays and wedding anniversaries – Celebrating wedding anniversaries, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/table/38854/wedding-anniversary-gifts (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Nancy Swarbrick, published 3 December 2012.

Comments

Shane Paarman
06 November 2017
Hey, Shane Paarman here from New Zealand, i compiled this list of unique wedding anniversary gift ideas, hope its helpful https://awesomestuff365.com/anniversary-gifts-for-parents/