When Is An Anniversary Gift For The Couple Necessary?

Posted by johnpreston on September 30th, 2016

Nowadays, the matter of giving an anniversary gift to a couple celebrating another year of their marriage can be tricky. Give a gift and it can be the wrong one, not give a gift and it can send the wrong message – and so the list of contradictions can go on. Here’s a few things that you can consider when determining whether an anniversary present is necessary and what kinds can keep you in the couple’s graces.

What’s Your Budget?

This is, in fact, the first consideration since a gift will likely have more significance when it comes from your heart, so to speak. You ideally shouldn’t give a gift beyond your means if and when a seed of resentment against the recipient is sown in the process (i.e., the resentment being born of the pressure to give an expensive present). You can give a meaningful yet affordable gift when you set your heart on it, such as silver Art deco jewellery for a silver wedding anniversary.

If you don’t have the financial means, you’re under no obligation to give them a gift. Even a simple call, text message, or social media post greeting them on their anniversary and wishing the best in life will suffice. The more important thing is that you remembered them on their anniversary.

What’s The Significance of the Anniversary?

You don’t have to give the happy couple a gift for each year of their celebration either. This is because anniversaries are between the couple themselves, which means that family and friends are under no pressure to give them gifts to commemorate the happy occasion. Instead, the man and wife will likely give each other gifts without expecting their family and friends to follow suit.

But there are times when you will want to give them a meaningful gift as a sign of your shared happiness over an important milestone in their relationship. These times include but are not limited to the following:

•   During the first year
•   During the fifth, tenth and fifteenth and every five years thereafter
•   During an anniversary party when the couple invited their family and friends

Keep in mind that there are no hard and fast rules since you can always give them an anniversary present for every year of their marriage just because you want to share in their happiness.

As a final note, the traditions related to wedding anniversary gifts date back to medieval times when silver and gold garlands were presented to the couple on their 25th and 50th year of marriage. The modern etiquette guide were first published by Emily Post in 1922 and modern society added more basic guidelines to it.

You can refer to this etiquette guide in deciding which type of anniversary present is a good idea. For example, you can look at the silverworks of Art Nouveau artists for jewellery ideas.

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