Anniversary Gifts by Year

Wax is the traditional gift for the 16th wedding anniversary. It stands for the warmth and light a couple gives each other, which is why a candle is the most natural way to mark 16 years. It is one of the few anniversary years where the traditional material is a finished gift in itself. Our 16th anniversary candles are soy wax, hand-labelled in the UK, and burn for over 40 hours. They are £20 each, or four for £50, and arrive gift-ready.

Twenty-five years of marriage is called the silver wedding anniversary. Silver is the traditional gift for the 25th year, chosen for its brilliance and durability. It sits alongside ruby at 40, gold at 50 and diamond at 60 as the milestones most often marked with a gift in the UK. You will find a 25th anniversary collection on this page, with collections running from the 1st up to the 70th. Next day delivery is available if the date has crept up on you.

Yes. A candle suits an anniversary because it is a shared gift rather than a personal one, it gets used and enjoyed instead of stored away, and it works for couples at any stage. It is also the traditional gift for the 16th anniversary, where wax is the theme. Ours are soy wax with a burn time of over 40 hours, hand-labelled in the UK and sent out gift-ready, so nothing needs wrapping. Pick the label for their year, or take four for £50.

Traditional anniversary gifts follow the older material themes, such as paper for the 1st, silver for the 25th and gold for the 50th. Modern lists were drawn up later and swap in different items for some years, and the UK traditional list differs from the American one in places, so both answers can be correct. Most people buying a gift go with the traditional theme, which is what the year collections on this page follow. If the theme is hard to shop, a candle carrying the year itself sidesteps the question.

The best anniversary gift marks the year rather than just the date, which is why the material themes are still used: it gives the gift a reason. Something they will use together, in the right theme for their year, beats a generic present at any budget. For most couples that means one considered item, not several small ones. Every candle here is £20, or four for £50, soy wax and hand-labelled in the UK. Choose their anniversary year below, or shop by who the gift is for.