by Gail Kavanagh

Created on: January 05, 2009

Wedding anniversaries have special gift associations that you can use as a springboard for inspiration in choosing gifts. Up to the 15th anniversary the gifts change every year, after that gift associations are in five year increments up to the 60th anniversary.

Here are ideas to commemorate each anniversary with treasured gifts.

1: Paper. Make a special scrapbook, using images from the couple's wedding, honeymoon and first year together. Decorate the pages with some of the many lovely paper backgrounds and embellishments available for scrapbooking.

2: Cotton. Make or buy matching barbecue aprons and mitts. Buy matching cotton t-shirts, or design your own with suitable slogans on them, such as `husband' and `wife', or print her picture on his, and his picture on hers.

3: Leather: Buy matching wallets or leather bound notebooks, embossed with the couples' names. Have matching leather belts made, or birthstones on leather strips, with three shades of leather plaited together.

4: Flowers: Buy flowering plants for the couples' garden, or a bouquet of their four favorite flowers. Frame prints of their favorite flower art, such as Van Gogh's Sunflowers.

5: Wood: Two small carved wooden chests, engraved with their names, to keep their treasures in. Two garden seats, with their names on the back. A bonsai plant or two.

6: Candy: That's easy! Package their favorite candies, or give them vouchers to a candy shop! An even nicer gesture would be hand made candy in beautiful china or glass containers that they could keep forever.

7: Copper: Framed pennies, for their birth and marriage years. Matching copper bracelets. Copper bottomed pots and pans, or a set of copper barbecue tools.

8: Bronze: A bronze house sign. A sundial for the garden. Have their ring hands cast in bronze.

9: Pottery: Matching breakfast bowls or egg cups from an exclusive pottery maker. Pottery mugs with their names printed on the sides.

10: Tin: matching dog tags. Nostalgic tin toys for collectors, tin signs for the bar. You can also present aluminum for this anniversary.

11: Steel. Matching stainless steel tankards or wine glasses, engraved with the names of the couple. Matching sets of golf clubs. A set of fine cutlery.

12: Linen. Matching pure Irish linen pillowcases, embroidered with the couples' names. His and Hers tea towels.

13: Lace: A gift for her that's also for him lace negligee and a booking for boudoir photos. Matching running or golf shoes with laces!

14: Ivory: A pendant for her, cufflinks for him

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