The 50th wedding anniversary gift is gold, on the traditional list, the modern list and British lists alike. The golden wedding anniversary is the best known of all and, with the silver one, the oldest. Half a century of marriage is usually celebrated by a whole family, so the gift is as often a gathering, an album or a portrait as it is a piece of gold.
What is the 50th anniversary gift?
| List | 50th anniversary gift |
|---|---|
| Traditional (US) | Gold |
| Modern (US) | Gold |
| British | Gold |
Every list agrees. Pick a year in the tool to see the anniversaries on either side and ideas at three price levels.
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Where does the golden wedding anniversary come from?
From Germany, together with the silver wedding. According to TIME, the reliable evidence starts in the 18th century, when friends there might give a wife a silver wreath after twenty-five years of marriage and a gold one after fifty. Claims of an origin in ancient Rome or the Middle Ages are common, but the magazine found it hard to come up with actual instances.
English-speaking countries took up the custom during the 19th century. An American almanac of 1859 listed a golden wedding at fifty years. In Britain, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable recorded in 1895 that "on the fiftieth anniversary, or Golden Wedding, the wreath is of gold."
Emily Post, in Etiquette in 1922, treated the early anniversaries as jokes and this one with respect: "Silver is always serious, and the golden wedding a quite sacred event."
How is a golden anniversary celebrated?
Post's description from 1922 still fits. Most usually, she wrote, the occasion "is celebrated by a large family dinner to which all the children and grandchildren are bidden." The alternative was an afternoon at home, when the couple "receive their friends and neighbors, who are, of course, supposed to bring presents made of gold."
Few hosts would expect gold from their neighbors now. If you are organizing the day for your parents or grandparents, three things help:
- Ask the couple first. Some want a party; some want a quiet lunch.
- Say what you want guests to do about gifts. "No gifts, please" or "a photo or a memory for the album" on the invitation spares everyone a guess.
- Collect photographs early. Relatives need weeks to find and send pictures from five decades.
In the United Kingdom the King sends anniversary messages on request, but according to the Royal Household they begin with the diamond wedding at sixty years, not the golden one.
Gold gift ideas by budget
Prices vary too much to list, so these are grouped by level. Gold jewelry is marked by karat: 24-karat is pure gold, 18-karat is 75 percent gold and 14-karat about 58 percent. Gold-plated and gold-filled pieces have a layer of gold over another metal and cost far less.
Budget-friendly
- A gold-colored frame with the wedding photograph, cleaned up and reprinted.
- A jar of fifty notes from family and friends, one memory each.
- Yellow roses or a golden-leaved plant for the garden.
- A homemade cake with gold decoration, and the original wedding music playing.
Mid-range
- A photo book of fifty years, with a page for each decade and each branch of the family.
- A gold-plated keepsake: a pen, a bookmark, a clock.
- A family portrait session with every generation.
- A framed print of the front page or the hit songs from the wedding day.
Splurge
- Gold jewelry: a chain, a bracelet, a pair of earrings or cufflinks.
- New wedding bands, or the original ones restored and engraved with both dates.
- A party, with a film or slideshow made from the family's photographs.
- A family holiday with children and grandchildren, paid for together.
Ideas for her, for him and for the two of you
- For her: a gold locket with a wedding-day photo, a charm for each child and grandchild on a gold bracelet, a brooch, or her original ring resized and polished.
- For him: a gold watch or a new strap for the one he has worn for decades, a signet ring, gold cufflinks, or his wedding band engraved inside.
- For the two of you: a second honeymoon, a renewal of vows with the family present, a pair of gold-rimmed glasses for the toast, or a tree planted where the grandchildren can watch it grow.
From children, family and friends: a shared gift works better than many small ones. Time, organization and the presence of the family are what most couples remember from the day.
If gold is not their thing
- A golden gem. The Gemological Institute of America keeps gold for the fiftieth year and suggests golden South Sea cultured pearls as a gem alternative.
- Gold as a color. Flowers, ribbon, a frame, a cake.
- No object at all. A day with the people they love.
The list is a custom, and this is its best-loved entry. Follow it as far as it helps.
What to write in a golden anniversary card
Three short examples to adapt:
- "Fifty years, and I would do every one of them again with you. Happy golden anniversary."
- "Half a century, and you are still my favorite person. All my love."
- "To Grandma and Grandpa: fifty years of love, and a whole family that exists because of it. Thank you."
Before this came the ruby anniversary at forty, and the other half of the original pair is the silver anniversary at twenty-five. Gold jewelry also appears on the modern list for the fourteenth year. The whole chart is in gifts for every anniversary year.