So, what's the most important thing about a wedding anniversary?  That's right.... remembering it.  You really do not want to be the one half of a marital union that forgets!  Thankfully, with modern technology it's easy to set reminders, but it's perhaps shrewd to set it a few days before the actual date.

Most married couples will follow a long standing ritual of giving each other 'themed' presents to mark each year of marriage. However it's not exactly straightforward working out the correct 'material' connected to each year.  There are the traditional and modern interpretations of the themes related to each wedding anniversary, usually progressing from the weakest to the strongest as the years go by, to symbolise the strengthening of the relationship. However different nationalities also have their own themes. We have done our best to work out what we believe is the truest reflection of a traditional British anniversary present list. There are numerous explanations and reasons why each material has been chosen for each year, some are believable, some less convincing.

The 'traditional' list is only loosely traditional since prior to the 1930's not all wedding Anniversaries had a material representing the year. Only the first anniversary and milestone anniversaries such as 5th 10th, 20th, 25th, 50th and 75th possessed a specific gift suggestion. Therefore to be truly traditional you could only give themed gifts on those years.

Traditional British Anniversary Themes

1st Paper
2nd Cotton
3rd Leather
4th Flower & Fruit
5th Wood
6th Sugar
7th Wool
8th Salt
9th Pottery or Copper
10th Tin
11th Steel
12th Silk & Linen
13th Lace
14th Ivory
15th Crystal
20th China
25h Silver
30th Pearl
35th Coral
40th Ruby
45th Sapphire
50th Gold
55th Emerald
60th Diamond
70th Platinum

The great news is that we can help! Well, we can help on 2nd and 12th anniversaries. We can even monogram them - just drop us an email or give us a call if you'd like the monogramming service. Our cotton pyjamas and nightshirts, beautifully wrapped in one of or luxurious gift boxes, are the ideal present on the second anniversary.  When it comes to the twelfth anniversary husbands can give loved ones a pair of our luxury silk pyjamas. However, for those who want to roll back the years and be truly traditional our nightwear would make a great anniversary gift on any year... other than 1st, 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th and 75th!