Alexandra Ramirez
Introduction
Time truly does fly when you are married to the perfect partner. If your ten-year anniversary is right around the corner, congratulations! It probably feels like you were standing in front of your friends and family professing your mutual love for each other just yesterday. Now that you are approaching having been married for an entire decade, it is time to pick out the perfect gift for your partner. Even after a decade together, it can be difficult to find the perfect gift. If you are starting to feel the pressure, it is time to learn a bit more about the traditions behind the ten-year anniversary and to think about some potential gift ideas.
Following Traditions
For every wedding-anniversary year, there is a material that is traditionally associated with it. There is also an updated, modern list of materials associated with each year – updated for modern consumer standards. The traditional material associated with the ten-year anniversary is aluminum or tin. This may sound like a less-than-romantic material, but there are plenty of fun, romantic gifts that can be had that are either actually made from aluminum, or are at least silver in color. The modern adaptation for the tenth-year anniversary is diamonds. This makes jewelry an easy choice.
Humans have been giving gifts associated with specific years of marriage since the Middle Ages in Central Europe, where a husband would give his wife silver garland after 25 years of marriage. In Germany, it was customary for friends to give a woman a wreath made of silver after 25 years of marriage. The silver was meant to symbolize the harmony in a marriage that helped the couple achieve a long-standing marriage. Similar customs were in place for the 50th anniversary, but gold was substituted for silver. This tradition remains in place to this day for silver and gold anniversaries.
The list we use today started with Emily Post’s Blue Book of Social Usage, where she lists gifts that should be given for every five years of marriage. We can thank the National Jeweler Association for the more complete list we know today. They were responsible for listing their version of the best gifts for each year between the first and twentieth anniversary, and then every fifth year after that – up to 75 years.
Jewelry
This is the most obvious choice, so let’s talk about it first. According to the modern list, diamond jewelry is the jewelry of choice. Diamonds can represent the strength and timelessness of a marriage that has lasted ten years. The important thing is to make sure to choose something your partner will wear. Picking jewelry out for other people, even your spouse of ten years can be difficult. Take note of things that catch their eye when you are out together shopping for other things and use their existing pieces of jewelry as a reference.
Vintage Tins
If your spouse has an obsession with a certain brand or product or collects antiques, an aluminum tin from times past can be a fun gift. If you can find one from a brand that they regularly use, say, Hershey’s or Gillette, it shows incredible thought. You can even pair it with the product that was originally sold in the tin (obviously, the modern version here.)
Upgrade the Ring
If you got married ten years ago, chances are you are probably more financially well off, and maybe even have different tastes in jewelry. It is even possible that your engagement rings have become worn. Whatever the case, the ten-year anniversary is a great opportunity to upgrade or repair your ten-year-old engagement or wedding rings.
Aluminum Art
Many pieces of art use aluminum as their medium, thanks to its malleability. To get a gift that truly embodies tradition, shop around for stunning pieces of aluminum art. You could also even try to craft your own, special piece of art if you have the time, talent, and materials.
Get Personal
All told, an anniversary gift should be something that fits with your partner’s personality. This is actually relatively easy when it comes to the tenth anniversary as there are many lovely gifts made out of aluminum – from a bar shaker to a canteen for your favorite camper. Whatever their interests, the perfect gift is out there waiting for them.
