Wedding anniversaries are celebrated with a range of gifts linked to a series of categories. In the UK and the USA these vary slightly and wherever you look for lists you will find differences in the exact materials that are associated with the particular number of years being celebrated, but in most cases we think that art fits the bill.
Broadly we have concluded that the following list sums up the UK wedding anniversary traditional list of categories and art fits well with many of these. If you are looking for ideas for wedding anniversary gifts then we think that art should be on your shopping list.
1st wedding anniversary - Paper
Paper is a fantastic anniversary to invest in a piece of art for your home. Art posters and signed prints are both printed on high quality paper and make fabulous gifts.
2nd Wedding anniversary - Cotton
Cotton is another winner for art as a wedding anniversary gift category. Many of the signed limited edition prints use cotton based papers and all of the John Dyer and Joanne Short paintings on canvas are actually painted on cotton - cotton canvas. N.B. John Dyer's larger paintings are often on board.
3rd Wedding anniversary - Leather
4th Wedding anniversary - Linen or Silk
For linen we recommend a Ted Dyer original painting. Ted Dyer's canvases are made with linen, so meet the criteria perfectly! The artist's amazing work makes for a very special gift on any occasion, but for a wedding anniversary we can't think of anything better than one of the artist's paintings on a linen canvas.
5th Wedding anniversary - Wood
Wood is a fabulous category for investing in art for a wedding anniversary. All of our original paintings are framed with wooden frames, so this is a perfect fit and John Dyer's large paintings are often painted on wooden boards.
6th Wedding anniversary - Sugar
7th Wedding anniversary - Wool
8th Wedding anniversary - Salt
The 8th wedding anniversary seems to vary a bit depending on where you research. It is listed as bronze too, but we like 'salt' as it conjures up the seaside and our Cornish art. What could be better for a loved one that a piece of Cornish art (a print or painting) presented with a fish and chip supper with lashings of salt and vinegar?
9th Wedding anniversary - Copper
10th Wedding anniversary - Tin/Aluminium
The 10th wedding anniversary offers an opportunity to purchase a print or art poster and to order a frame made from aluminium. Aluminium frames look amazing and offer a very contemporary way to display artwork. In the UK this anniversary is often listed as tin, but in the USA aluminium seems to be the norm, but they look very similar and a silver metal frame would do just fine.
15th Wedding anniversary - Crystal
For crystal we are going to interpret that to glass. (crystal cut glasses) but rather than go for a traditional glass why not indulge yourself and your loved one with a piece of Cornish handmade glass? Artist Jo Downs runs an amazing business and web site and we would recommend taking at look at her work.
20th Wedding anniversary - China
This is an easy one and we would recommend artist made ceramics for your china/ceramic wedding anniversary. Artist Joanne Short creates amazing one off pieces of ceramic art but her pieces are hard to come by. Another favourite Cornish ceramicist of ours is the potter Paul Jacksonand his ceramic art would be perfect too.
25th Wedding anniversary - Silver
25 years into a marriage deserve a big celebration and 'silver' is a very appropriate material for this big event. Silver jewellery is absolutely perfect for this and we love the contemporary work of Cornish jewellery designer and artist Emily Nixon. Signed limited editions would also be perfect for this big event with gorgeous silver frames.
30th Wedding anniversary - Pearl
35th Wedding anniversary - Coral
Harvesting coral for the 35th wedding anniversary isn't really environmentally acceptable, so let's go for the colour here. Look for art that has coral colours in, or commission a new painting from an artist with a stunning coral sky perhaps?
40th Wedding anniversary - Ruby
For the 40th we think a that rubys would fit well if that colour looks good on your spouse, but if not then a print or painting with a ruby coloured palette would be idea and would make a memorable piece to hang in your home.
45th Wedding anniversary - Sapphire
For the 45th anniversary we would look at jewellery, glass, or art. With art again we would look for interpreting sapphire as a colour.
50th Wedding anniversary - Gold
Why not commission an original painting or buy an original painting with a gold leafed frame? Many of Ted Dyer's paintings come with gold leafed frames and some paintings even include gold leaf as part of the actual painting as stars!
55th Wedding anniversary - Emerald
For the 50th anniversary we would look at colour or jewellery.
60th Wedding anniversary - Diamond
This very special event marks a long and hopefully very happy marriage and deserves to be celebrated with diamonds - no question.
