Common Wedding Anniversary Traditions

Wedding anniversary celebrations are a way to mark the passing of the years as a couple spends their lives together. Unlike a wedding, which is celebrating something new, an anniversary celebration is intended to tie each year together as the couple marks the passage of time. One way to do that is by including some common wedding anniversary traditions in the celebrations.

Gifts

One of the most well-known wedding anniversary traditions is the giving of gifts based on certain items meant to mark a particular year. For example, the first anniversary is traditionally the paper anniversary. The second anniversary is traditionally cotton.

Of course, like all good traditions, they are subject to updates. Along with the traditional gift list is a modern gift list. Using the same examples as above, the modern gift for a first anniversary is a clock and for the second anniversary is china. It is perfectly fine to choose a gift from either the traditional gift list or the modern gift lists.

Cake

Another very common wedding anniversary tradition is to have a cake. Often, the cake is in the tiered style of a wedding cake, but this is not necessary. Cakes are part of many celebrations, but at a wedding anniversary party, they often play much the same role as they did at a wedding. That is that the couple will feed the cake to each other as part of the wedding anniversary tradition.

For milestone anniversaries, a very nice touch is to order a cake that looks similar to the couple’s wedding cake. This is a very special way to bring the moment of the wedding together with the celebration of the anniversary.

Personal Traditions

While the above traditions are certainly special and important, the personal traditions that each couple and family establishes throughout the years are even more important. It is these personal traditions that will become precious memories to both the couple and their family. Below are a few examples.

Relive the Day
One couple spent some time on each wedding anniversary looking at their wedding pictures. They would take the time to really dwell on the day and talk about their favorite memories. Today, many couples have video of their wedding day, so they could actually watch the video, or part of it, on each anniversary.

New Picture
Another couple started a tradition very early in their marriage of having a professional photo taken on or around each wedding anniversary. They used the pictures to line one wall in a hallway, and added a new picture every year. When visitors are in their home, they can view the couple – from wedding day to present day – with just a walk down the hall.

Your personal traditions can be something silly or meaningful. The point of a tradition is not so much the tradition itself, but just that you know that this one thing will be the same as you celebrate each wedding anniversary.

With the similar thread of wedding anniversary traditions running through the years, you will tie the years together.