Choosing silver wedding gifts

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The silver wedding anniversary is widely considered to be the first major anniversary and will often be celebrated with a party. It is one of the oldest of the 'milestone' wedding anniversaries, along with the golden anniversary and dates back 500-700 years. The two anniversaries seem to have originated in the Germanic region of Europe. It might seem strange that such a milestone could be reached when 700 years ago the average lifespan was 25. However even then, if you managed to escape the plethora of childhood illnesses that caused a statistically short average lifespan in those times, then you were likely to live for a long time. Back then, people also got married far earlier -- sometimes at the tender age of 13 -- so it was quite feasible for a silver wedding anniversary to happen before the 40th birthday.

25 and 50 years of marriage are widely celebrated because they represent a quarter and a half of a century respectively. Some countries thus celebrate 12 and a half years of marriage, known as the copper anniversary, as an interim milestone. There are records of materials being associated with 1 to 5 years of marriage as far back as the 1800's, but it wasn't until the 1930's that the American Jewellery Association created a formal list of the materials for every wedding anniversary up to the 15th and then every 5 years up to the 60th. This list is now considered to be definitive.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, sterling silver gifts are frequently bought to mark the occasion of a silver wedding anniversary. Some people, however, in an effort to differentiate their gift from others, choose a beautiful bunch of iris', which is the flower associated with this occasion. Since many people of silver wedding anniversary age are likely to enjoy gardening, a further option may be to buy them some iris bulbs to make a display of flowers that will appear year after year and get richer and more dense every time.

Returning for a moment to the silver theme, this precious yet durable metal has been mined since ancient times and even has a number of biblical references. It has long been valued and is far from simply ornamental, offering a variety of uses. Of all the major wedding anniversaries, silver is perhaps one of the more affordable materials associated with the occasion and as a consequence there are many beautiful silver gifts out there. An ever popular and relatively 'safe' choice is to buy a silver photograph frame. These look lovely when displayed in a living room or hallway and, as an extra special touch, you could try and include a picture of the couple as part of your gift. There are also many other frames that have been designed especially for the silver wedding anniversary, some even have room for two photographs to display then and now pictures.

The importance of a silver wedding anniversary merits that personal touch. For example, you can have a personalised silver anniversary plate inscribed with your own message. You could have a poem written for the occasion and presented in a beautiful frame alongside some photographs or you could even choose to have one or more stars named for the couple in the heavens. On a rather more earthly theme and assuming that the couple are not teetotal, you could perhaps personalise a bottle of champagne -- champagne is always a good choice at special occasions. It is now possible to add an individual touch by presenting the champagne in a special box, perhaps alongside another gift such as a copy of a Newspaper from the date on which the couple were married. If you're buying champagne then why not go the whole hog and buy some special flutes for it to be drunk from? You can choose silver wedding anniversary flutes that have silver designs on them to acknowledge the silver theme.

A silver wedding anniversary, like all anniversaries, is a truly special occasion that deserves to be celebrated. There are many gifts out there that you could choose from. Silver wedding anniversaries tend to attract more gifts than many of the others, making insight and thoughtfulness important in selecting an appropriate gift that caters to the interests and tastes of the couple themselves. Pictures and frames are of course a relatively safe option, since few of us can ever have too many of those. However, don't be afraid of buying something a little unusual yet memorable: there is only so much space on window sills and mantelpieces! View silver wedding gifts