Emmaleen Muldoon
Anniversary gifts, traditions and love.
It’s no secret that I love, love, and with the traditional wedding season approaching it means that anniversary season is here too.

I genuinely enjoy seeing happy couples together and observing how people relate and form good relationships. I've always wondered what it was that made some couples stay together; living in times when divorce is so freely available, it is a real testament to those couples who make it through the years.
And so, each passing year together should be a cause for celebration and remembrance. A moment to pause and reflect on the time you agreed to marry, plan your wedding and walk down the aisle. I celebrated my wedding anniversary this week and it got me thinking on how others choose to celebrate theirs.
Each year we have bought it each other a present and sometimes stuck to the traditional anniversary gifts by year suggestions. But this year we came up with a new idea. We love to have to have original artwork in our home, but rarely find time to buy it or justification for the expense. For this anniversary, we bought an oil painting of the place in Central Park where we got married and we thought, why not buy a piece of artwork every year on our anniversary. We can look it all year and remember our day and fill our house with beautiful pieces.
A friend of mine also added to this idea, suggesting that we each place a note behind every painting noting which anniversary it was and writing to each other about what was going on at the time or a special message to one another. Of course I loved this idea and so there it is, a new way of celebrating our anniversary is born. That is until ten years from now when our house is full of art and the kids are grown and we can go away on a trip each year instead.
I love to hear how other people celebrate their anniversaries, a friend of mine goes back to the same hotel that they had their wedding reception each year to have dinner and spend the night which is a really special experience for them. Others I know choose a different restaurant each year and some stick to the traditional anniversary gift by year system. One couple I know say that they will not buy each other gifts for Valentine’s Day or anniversaries, their reasoning being, why wait until that one day a year to treat your spouse? You can buy them something nice all throughout the year. How do you celebrate yours? Let me know by commenting below or send me message I love to hear new ways to spread the love.
Just in case you’re wondering. Here are the anniversary gifts by year, according to Hallmark:-
1st Anniversary: Paper
2nd Anniversary: Cotton
3rd Anniversary: Leather
4th Anniversary: Fruit or Flowers
5th Anniversary: Wood
6th Anniversary: Candy or Iron
7th Anniversary: Wool or Copper
8th Anniversary: Pottery or Bronze
9th Anniversary: Willow or Pottery
10th Anniversary: Tin or Aluminum
11th Anniversary: Steel
12th Anniversary: Silk or Linen
13th Anniversary: Lace
14th Anniversary: Gold Jewelry
15th Anniversary: Crystal
16th Anniversary: Coffee or Tea
17th Anniversary: Wine or Spirits
18th Anniversary: Appliances
19th Anniversary: Jade
20th Anniversary: China
21st Anniversary: Fire (theme)
22nd Anniversary: Water (theme)
23rd Anniversary: Air (theme)
24th Anniversary: Stone (theme)
25th Anniversary: Silver
26th Anniversary: Art
27th Anniversary: Music
28th Anniversary: Linens
29th Anniversary: Tools
30th Anniversary: Pearls
31st Anniversary: Travel
32nd Anniversary: Bronze
33rd Anniversary: Iron
34th Anniversary: Food
35th Anniversary: Coral
36th Anniversary: Antiques
37th Anniversary: Books
38th Anniversary: Luck (theme)
39th Anniversary: Laughter (theme)
40th Anniversary: Ruby
41st Anniversary: Office or Desk Decor
42nd Anniversary: Clocks or Watches
43rd Anniversary: Entertainment (theme)
44rd Anniversary: Electronics (theme)
45th Anniversary: Sapphire
46th Anniversary: Games
47th Anniversary: Garden or Plants
48th Anniversary: Home Improvement (theme)
49th Anniversary: Copper
50th Anniversary: Gold
51st Anniversary: Photos or Cameras
52nd Anniversary: Bath or Spa (theme)
53rd Anniversary: Plastic
54th Anniversary: Glass
55th Anniversary: Emerald
56th Anniversary: Day (theme)
57th Anniversary: Night (theme)
58th Anniversary: Faith and Hope (theme)
59th Anniversary: Charity (theme)
60th Anniversary: Diamond