Wedding Anniversaries – Forgetting Forbidden

Wedding anniversaries – a brief overview

By the 1st anniversary after the wedding at the latest, one starts to wonder what this day is called. Usually this day is associated with a small gift that the spouses give each other, thereby expressing their love and appreciation. While the individual wedding anniversaries are usually celebrated just as a couple, milestone anniversaries are marked as a big celebration with friends and family.

By: Adam Fuller – CC BY 2.0

The wedding anniversary has been celebrated since as far back as the 17th century. From the 19th century onwards it was customary to celebrate one's wedding anniversary every 25 years. Only in the last century was each anniversary given a special name, though the names can vary. The names for the individual wedding anniversaries arose from a regional tradition or derive from the gifts that are given to one another on that day.

By: National Library of Ireland – CC BY 2.0

The day of the marriage ceremony is called the white or green wedding. As the marriage has only just been concluded and the spouses (in principle) were not yet living together, popular wisdom has it that the partners were still “green behind the ears”, which is where the green wedding comes from. After half a year one is still floating on “cloud nine”, which is why this day has come to mean the “dream wedding”. After three-quarters of a year, relatives and friends come round for a beer, so this day has acquired the name “beer wedding”. After 25 years of marriage one celebrates the silver wedding, after 50 years the golden wedding and after 60 years the diamond wedding. These are celebrated in particular style.

By: Antoine Robiez – CC BY 2.0

Below is a brief overview of the most important wedding anniversaries:

• 1 year: Cotton Wedding
• 3 years: Leather Wedding
• 5 years: Wooden Wedding
• 10 years: Rose Wedding
• 15 years: Glass Wedding
• 20 years: Porcelain Wedding
• 25 years: Silver Wedding
• 30 years: Pearl Wedding
• 35 years: Jade Wedding
• 40 years: Ruby Wedding
• 50 years: Golden Wedding
• 60 years: Diamond Wedding
• 65 years: Iron Wedding
• 70 years: Grace Wedding

By: Nicola de Angelis – CC BY 2.0

But no matter how long one has been married, the essential thing is that one does not forget the wedding anniversary!

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