Choosing golden wedding anniversary gifts

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The golden wedding anniversary celebrates 50 years of marriage and is recognised as a major milestone. Usually the event will be celebrated with a party for family and friends. After all, spending over half your life with someone is surely worth a party!

The golden wedding anniversary (along with silver) has a greater history than all the other anniversaries. Silver and golden wedding anniversaries have been celebrated for the past 500-700 years and originated in the Germanic region of Europe. This may seem a little odd as it's generally held that people died younger in those days and didn't live long enough for their 50th wedding anniversary. However if you managed to dodge the childhood illnesses that contributed to a very low average life span, then you were likely to live to a healthy age. The reason why 50 and 25 are significant numbers is that they are a half and a quarter of a century respectively. For that reason some countries also celebrated 12 and a half years (half of 25) as a Copper anniversary. There are records of materials being associated with 1 to 5 years of marriage in the late 1800's, but it wasn't until the 1930's that the American Jewellery Association made a list with all 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.

If you need to buy a gift for a 50th wedding anniversary then don't necessarily feel pressured to buy gold! You gift could have a gold theme or you could choose to give the flower which represents 50 years of marriage -- namely the violet, although these need a bit of looking after so if you're buying them for someone to put in the garden, make sure they have green fingers! Alternatively you could buy an attractive hand tied bouquet finished with a golden ribbon.

A thoughtful golden anniversary gift would be to present the couple with a lovely photograph of themselves – perhaps it could be an older shot from their wedding day or silver anniversary. There are many beautiful photograph frames that have been designed specifically for the golden anniversary and are finished with charming touches of gold. You can even get double photograph frames for 'then and now' pictures which adds an extra special touch and turns the item into a keepsake.

As this is a time to celebrate then why not buy some special champagne and some decorative champagne flutes? Look out for those that are made from amber tinted glass or with inscriptions and gold accents. You could even have the champagne personalised or presented in a beautiful cask. There are of course other more traditional gifts such as mugs and cushions that have been decorated especially for a golden wedding anniversary.

If you want to make your anniversary gift highly personal then there are lots of options available there too. You could have a golden wedding anniversary plate personalised, or have a star named in the heavens or even have a poem written. Other golden wedding anniversary gift ideas that can be enjoyed for years to come include a family name gift set, designed to help the happy couple explore the history behind their family names.

A golden wedding anniversary, like all anniversaries, is a special occasion that deserves to be celebrated. There are many anniversary gifts out there that you could choose from; hopefully there is something to inspire you here at A1 Gifts. It is always nice to buy a keepsake on an occasion such as this, but do bear in mind that many people have the same objective. Don't be afraid of opting for something a little unusual. View golden wedding gifts