What to Give for 18th Anniversary Gift?

Wondering what to give her for your 18th anniversary? Well, somewhat unhelpfully, there is no traditional 18th anniversary gift. Obviously year 17 wasn’t consider very important. Ditto the flowers. No custom, so you can either default to a dozen red roses or go your own way with something more exciting.

Thankfully, there is a contemporary customary gift listed; it’s porcelain. Yikes, porcelain, you’re probably thinking. Can’t think of anything porcelain except toilet pans?! Let’s see if we can help…

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Porcelain is the stuff that good quality mugs and cups are made out of. You could satisfy the custom by giving her a mug with a cheeky, funny or saucy message on it. By why stop there? Why not then pop a little treasure inside (like a gorgeous pair of earrings)?!

Bingo, you’ve got the customary 18th year anniversary gift in, something to make her chuckle that she can use every day and a heavenly surprise inside that to turn her heart gooey. What a combination!

Of course, on the subject of jewellery, you have the option of going this way and satisfying tradition and delighting your wife. Cat’s eye and opal are the traditional gemstones for 18th anniversary jewellery, so look for necklaces, earrings and bracelets featuring these stones.

Cat’s eye (or catseye) is green or yellow-green, yellow, or brown to yellow-brown. It is a rare and valuable gemstone, which is often underrated as being a “semi-precious” stone. Where as opal is a form or quartz but is not quartz as, strictly, speaking it’s a gel not a crystal! It comes in lots of colours and is best know for its brilliant flashes of many colours.

Hope this helps answer your conundrum about what to give her for her 18th anniversary gift!

The 17th anniversary year gift is a real dilemma. For a starters, there is no traditional 17th year anniversary gift. Wasn’t considered special enough, so they just didn’t bother to list one.  Next, you’ll find that the modern customary 17th year gift is furniture! Come again?! Furniture!? Most men will realise that if they bought their wife a chair or coffee table for her anniversary gift then it’s likely to wind up wrapped around their heads! Furniture is clearly a house present and not suitable as a gift to celebrate 17 years of marriage.

OK,  so traditional – nil, customary – no way, that leaves the flowers (guess what? None listed!) and jewellery. Well, thank goodness, when it comes to jewellery there is some sensible advice for the 17th anniversary year gift.  According to tradition you should buy jewellery featuring amethyst or citrine.  So, jewellery it is then!

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Citrine is so named due to its lemon-yellow colour.  It has been worn as a protective talisman since ancient times and symbolises light-heartedness, joy and happiness — according to mythology and crystal therapy. Most women will just like its beautiful translucence though!

Amethyst is a semi-precious gemstone that comes in stunning shades of purple, lilac or mauve. The ancient Egyptians believed amethyst warded off negative feelings, while the Greeks thought it would helpprevent the wearer getting intoxicated.  Ideal if you wife likes a tipple or two or three (or four) then!

Amethyst and Citrine are feature in a wide range of jewellery from affordable up to highly exclusive handmade pieces. And, of course, there’s always the option of commissioning a custom piece with a designer/hand-maker. So there, you have it, giving jewellery is your route out of the 17th anniversary gift dilemma! Hoorah!

Find more on the 17th year wedding anniversary here

The 16th year wedding anniversary is one of those not deemed important enough to warrant a traditional gift theme. But, of course, ever anniversary year is important to you and your wife — especially your wife. So what 16th anniversary present do you buy her?

Well, thankfully, besides the traditional anniversary themes, there’s also a contemporary alternative that has become popular. It has the added benefit of bringing the traditional up-to-date with more modern gift options. In the case of a 16th anniversary present, that means silver hollowware.

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Ok, so we all know what silver is, but what on earth is hollowware / holloware (both spellings are used) I hear you cry? Well, quite simply it’s anything made as a receptacle or container to hold things. This would include bowls, pitchers, teapots, trays, vases, trinket boxes, jewellery boxes, glasses cases, cigarette cases, etc. So silver hollowware is any of these items or other containers/receptacles made from silver.

Now, if you give her a silver milk jug or sugar bowl for a wedding anniversary gift, she’s probably: a) not exactly going to be bowled over with excitement; b) think you’ve lost your mind; and, c) complain that this is a ‘house gift’ and not a gift for her at all! So, if you’re going down this route you have to go for the more personal items like: cigarrette cases, compact/ handbag mirrors, trinket or jewellery boxes, photo frames — that kind of thing.

To make your gift extra personal, why not have it engraved with a dedication or message. Silver hollowware lends itself to that very well.

So there you have it, a angle for her 16th anniversary present. You can find out more about what to give on her 16th anniversary at this page: 16th Wedding Anniversary Gifts

Finally, after 14 anniversaries, you can legimately give her those dozen red roses. That’s right. Red roses don’t make it on to the traditional anniversary flowers list until the 15th anniversary. But, don’t worry if you’ve been giving her roses every year since your very first anniversary. You are almost certainly not alone! Besides, if you have achieved an unbroken record of giving flowers (whatever they are), she probably appreciates that fact in itself. After all, not many men can make that claim!

If the roses thing came as a surprise, it might be worth your while checking out our 15th anniversary gifts page. It’s been written to help chaps who need a little inspiration. It offers facts and practical ideas for making their 15th anniversary the best yet — as far as the wife’s concerned!

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Of course, anniversaries aren’t made by flowers alone. What we are really trying to help you with most is the anniversary gift year 15. To this end, you need to know the traditional anniversary gift (crystal) and the modern alternative custom is to give a watch.

Jewellery is always popular on anniversaries, but this might prove expensive on the 15th; the customary gemstone is ruby. Ouch!

Facts aside, what you really need is anniversary gift ideas and one’s just right for the big number 15. We’ve packed all we can into the page and soon we’ll have lots of real gifts that you can buy today. Gifts plucked from the thousands on offer at best online retailers, chosen just because they make perfect 15th wedding anniversary gifts.

The traditional 14th wedding anniversary gift is ivory. Now, in olden times — when the tradition of giving certain gifts on certain wedding anniversaries became established — ivory was a luxury good in widespread use. And, it was perfectly acceptable to buy and give ivory.

Of course, nowadays most of use would shudder at the thought of giving or receiving ivory. Thankfully, there is an answer. Precisely because of some of these more antiquated traditions, a modern alternative has established itself. And, the accepted contemporary 14th anniversary gift is gold jewellery. Jackpot! — you will be absolutely spoilt for choice!

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You can score a double whammy with your gold jewellery by ensuring it has the gemstone moss agate featured in it. After all, moss agate is the customary gemstone for 14th anniversaries. Besides, moss agate is “hailed as the stone of abundance due to its powerful wealth-attracting properties”. And, we could probably all do with some wealth attracting properties in these gloomy post-banking crisis times. Plus, it looks absolutely delightful too — as shown in the picture on this page: 14th Wedding Anniversary Gifts.

Go there and, besides checking out the myths, legends and spiritual properties of moss agate, you will also discover that the 14th wedding anniversary should be marked with the giving of Dahlia (flowers) not red roses. And, there’s a handy picture of those too!

On top of all this great information, comes some really useful ideas for what gift to buy. And, pretty soon, listed there will be a whole host of gifts you can purchase online immediately. They will be picked from a cast of thousands of gifts from dozens of retailers, saving you lots of clicks!

Check out our updated 14th anniversary gift advice page here.