While most married couples only celebrate certain years, like the 25th or 50th wedding anniversary, each wedding anniversary is represented by a symbolic gift. Traditionally, gifts given or exchanged during the early years of marriage are practical household things to help the newlyweds to create a better home. While traditional gifts are still given nowadays, a more contemporary gift set is devised to be on a par with modern times.
According to About.com, paper, which symbolizes strength that comes from the weaved connection of the paper's individual threads, is the traditional gift for the first wedding anniversary. A clock, which symbolizes eternal time, is the modern version of this gift. In later years, more luxurious gifts are given or exchanged. The 10th year anniversary is the first major milestone in a marriage. Traditional gifts are tin, aluminum or white steel, and its contemporary equivalent is diamond jewelry. The gifts are a symbol of the flexibility and durability of the marriage. Silver signifies the brilliance and radiance of a quarter of a century of union, while gold marks half a century of a beautiful, strong and pliable married life. Diamond represents not only the solidity and intensity of the 60th wedding anniversary, but it also symbolizes the couple's enduring and unconquerable love for one another.
