A wedding anniversary is the anniversary of the date on which a wedding took place.
Official recognition
In the Commonwealth realms, one can receive a message from the monarch for 60th, 65th, and 70th wedding anniversaries, and any wedding anniversary after that. This is done by applying to Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom, or to the Governor-General's office in the other Commonwealth realms.
In Canada, one can also receive a message from the Governor General for 50th and 55th anniversaries.
The situation is similar in Australia, where one can receive a letter of congratulations from the Governor-General on the 50th and all subsequent wedding anniversaries; the Prime Minister, the federal Opposition leader, local members of parliament (both state and federal), and state Governors may also send salutations for the same anniversaries.
In the United States, one can receive a greeting from the President for any wedding anniversary on or after the 50th.
Roman Catholics may apply for a Papal blessing through their local diocese for wedding anniversaries of a special nature (25th, 50th, 60th, etc.).
Celebration and gifts
The names of some anniversaries provide guidance for appropriate or traditional gifts for the spouses to give each other or if there is a party these can be brought by the guests or influence the theme or decoration. These gifts vary in different countries but some years have well-established connections which are now common to most nations, they are - 5th Wooden, 10th Tin, 15th Crystal, 20th China, 25th Silver, 30th Pearl, 40th Ruby, 50th Golden, 60th Diamond. The tradition originated in medieval Germany where if a married couple lived to celebrate the twenty fifth anniversary of their wedding, the wife was presented by her friends and neighbours with a silver wreath, partly to congratulate them for the good fortune that had prolonged the lives of the couple for so many years and partly in recognition of the fact they must have enjoyed a fairly harmonious relationship, on celebration of the fiftieth the wife received a wreath of gold. These anniversaries were known as the silver wedding-day and the golden wedding-day. Over time the number of symbols has expanded and the German tradition was to assign gifts which had direct connections with each stage of married life. The symbols may change over time, for example in the United Kingdom Diamond was a well known symbol for the 75th Anniversary but this changed to the now more common 60th anniversary after Queen Victoria's 60 years on the throne was widely marked as her 'Diamond Jubilee'.
Traditional and modern anniversary gifts
Lists of wedding anniversary gifts vary by country, the Traditional U.S. and modern versions were compiled by librarians at the Chicago Public Library and therefore reflects American practice.
Flower gifts
See also
- Hierarchy of precious substances
References
- ^ "Who is entitled?". The Monarchy Today . http://www.royal.gov.uk/HMTheQueen/Queenandanniversarymessages/Whoisentitled.aspx . Retrieved 2009-04-06 .
- ^ "Queen and anniversary messages". The Monarchy Today . http://www.royal.gov.uk/HMTheQueen/Queenandanniversarymessages/Anniversarymessages.aspx . Retrieved 2009-04-06 .
- ^ "Messages from the Governor General and Her Majesty The Queen". The Governor General . http://www.gg.ca/gg/02/index_e.asp . Retrieved 2007-10-24 .
- ^ "Australian Government: It's an Honour" . http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/anniversary/index.cfm#what . Retrieved 2008-02-11 .
- ^ "White House Greeting" . https://app1.whitehouse.gov/greetings/anniversary . Retrieved 2007-05-17 .
- ^ "The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson Office of the Bishop" . http://www.diocesetucson.org/officeofbishop2.html . Retrieved 2008-01-28 .
- ^ "Wedding Anniversaries," compiled by librarians at the Chicago Public Library's Information Center (December, 2000).
- ^ Anderson, Charles. "The Exchange," RQ 25 (1985): 175.
- ^ The World Almanac and Book of Facts . Mahwah, New Jersey: World Almanac Books, 1997.
- ^ World Book Encyclopedia , 1997 ed., s.v. "wedding anniversary."
- ^ Pears Cyclopaedia , 1967-68 commemorative ed., "Wedding Anniversaries." L121
- ^ The platinum wedding anniversary of Jim and Gladys Till from the Lancaster Guardian
- ^ North-west Evening Mail, Tenor and wife toast 70 years of marriage
- ^ Portsmouth News They've been around the world in 70 years
- ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2020233/Britain%27s-longest-married-couple-celebrate-a-quiet-80th-anniversary.html
- ^ http:
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