Wedding Anniversaries

Different Gifts for Different Years | Silver Weddings | Golden Weddings | Invitation to a Wedding Anniversary | Speech for a Silver Wedding | The Husband’s Reply

A husband should always make a point of remembering his wedding anniversary, as this means so much to a woman. He should buy a suitable present for his wife, perhaps one of the articles associated with that particular year, viz.:

First Year                         Cotton
Second Year                      Paper
Third Year                       Leather
Fourth Year                       Silk
Fifth Year                         Wood
Sixth Year                        Iron
Seventh Year                     Wool
Eighth Year                        Bronze
Ninth Year                       Pottery
Tenth Year                         Tin
Twelfth Year                      Linen
Fifteenth Year                    Crystal
Twentieth Year                  China
Twenty-fifth Year               Silver
Thirtieth Year                     Pearl or Ivory
Thirty-fifth Year                 Coral
Fortieth Year                     Ruby
Forty-fifth Year                  Sapphire
Fiftieth Year                       Gold
Fifty-fifth Year                   Emerald
Sixtieth Year                      Diamond
Seventy-fifth Year  Diamond

The majority of anniversaries are not celebrated specially, excepting Silver and Golden Wedding Anniversaries, and, of course, the rarer Diamond. The former are occasions when the husband will buy his wife a present, perhaps a bouquet, or take her out to a show, whilst the latter are usually celebrated with an informal dinner party, at which congratulations will be offered, and a reply given by the husband. Friends who were present at the wedding should be invited, as far as is possible.

SILVER WEDDINGS

Often the celebration of the twenty-fifth year of married life goes unobserved. Husbands profess to dislike the fuss and publicity, and wives do not wish to advertize the fact that they are not so young as they were.

At the same time many people do celebrate their silver wedding. The usual form of these entertainments is the giving of an afternoon reception or a dinner party, followed either by a dance or an evening party.

Invitations should be issued two or three weeks in advance of the event. Printed in silver, the cards should be worded as follows:

Mr. and Mrs. Smith
At Home to celebrate their Silver Wedding
on Monday, February 27th, at 4 p.m.

Invitations to dinner should also be printed in silver and should follow conventional lines, with the addition of "To celebrate their silver wedding."

If a dance follows, the word "dancing" should be printed in the corner of the card.

For less formal gatherings, the conventional At Home cards may be used, the words "Silver Wedding" being written in.

Each guest should send a gift of silver, the value of which is determined by the degree of his or her intimacy. These presents, bearing the cards with donor's names, should be exhibited.

At an afternoon reception, the husband and wife would be heartily congratulated by their friends, and would lead the way to the tea-room.

A wedding cake decorated with silver should occupy a prominent place in the centre of the tea table. It is cut by the bride of twenty-five years before, and small portions are handed to the guests.

The health of husband and wife is usually drunk in cham­pagne, the husband acknowledging the toast in a brief speech.

At the dinner party the same etiquette is observed. The couple enter the dining-room and their health is drunk at dessert. White flowers and silver enter largely into the decorations of the table, and pieces of wedding cake are distributed.

At the dance the husband and wife dance the first dance together, and later lead the way into the supper room.

It is customary for the wife to wear a smart gown combin­ing silver and white, or any shade of grey. Brocade is a very popular material.

GOLDEN WEDDINGS

The Golden Wedding is a solemn rather than a festive occasion, and there is no general giving of presents. Only relatives and intimate friends participate in the celebration, which is usually a quiet family function.

The Golden Wedding often consists of a gathering of any children, grandchildren and perhaps even great-grandchildren, who may bring gifts with them. These should be coloured gold, even if not made of gold!

A golden thimble is a simple and appropriate present for the "Bride", and a golden pencil for the "Groom".

INVITATION TO A WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

The year of the wedding and the year in which the invita­tion is issued are stamped at the top of the invitation to a wedding anniversary celebration.

I9—and 19—
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Brown
request the pleasure of
--------  --------‘s
company at the
twenty-fifth anniversary of their marriage
on Wednesday, the 18th March
at 4 o'clock
16, Acacia Avenue, Brodinton R.S.V.P.

A simpler invitation would read:

19------------19----------
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Brown
AT HOME
Wednesday, the 18th March
from four until six o'clock

Sometimes the invitation is sent out by the children:

In honour of the
Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary of
Mr. and Mrs. George Merriman
their sons and daughters
request the pleasure of
--------  --------‘s
company on Friday, the IOth of June
at 6 o'clock
In the restaurant of the Red Lion
Hawarden
R.S.V.P. to:
Norman Merriman, 2, Hollyhock Drive, Hawarden.

SPEECH FOR A SILVER WEDDING

Ladies and Gentlemen:

My friends, I have been requested this evening to undertake a duty, which I generally take great pains to avoid—that of proposing a toast.

On this occasion I am not going to shirk, I am not even going to try, because it is such a very pleasant duty. To be asked to propose the toast of the evening is in itself an honour, but in the case of the toast I am going to give you it is more than an honour, it is a privilege which nothing but a close and life-long friendship could entitle me to claim. To-day our host and hostess are cele­brating the anniversary of a singularly happy marriage and it is but fitting that, on their Silver Wedding Day, we, their friends, should unite to drink most heartily their health and to wish them continued happiness.  With our thoughts for Mr.____ arise naturally thoughts of Mrs.__________   , that good and ever-charming lady whose friendship we are proud to have, and whose kindness and courtesy are valued by us all. She has a great place in our thoughts and our esteem during this celebration of the Silver Wedding.

Time in his passing has dealt very gently with our two friends whose health I am about to propose; he has not dared to lay an unkind finger on their honoured heads. He respects them, and though he may plague less deserving mortals, he passes our host and hostess smilingly every year.

Youthfulness, merriment, good-humour, cheerfulness, sit at their board, helping them to defy Time. " Age cannot wither nor custom stale " the infinite variety of our friends' good parts. They ward off Time's attacks and reach the Silver Wedding Day with hearts young, and faces as bright as polished silver itself, reflecting joy and happiness.

So, ladies and gentlemen, "uprouseye " merrily for the glad celebration of this Silver Wedding Day. As by the magic power of an alchemist, the silver will turn into the richer metal of a Golden Wedding Day. The springtime of life may have gone, but the smiling summer remains; and we look forward hopefully to a golden-lined autumn of their lives to come, when the harvest of good deeds shall be attended by troops of friends and loving memories.

I will now ask you to drink with me, in hearty congratulations
on this anniversary, to Mr. and Mrs._______    ; may health and happiness be with them now and in the future. May they have Many
Happy Returns of the Day. God bless them !

— AND THE HUSBAND'S REPLY

Mr._________            , Ladies and Gentlemen:

You will, I am sure, pity me in the position in which I find myself. I am not, of course, referring to the matrimonial state, but to the position in which I have been placed by the—as far as I am personally concerned—undeserved praises of my old friend who has so eloquently proposed my wife's health and my own.

Ladies and gentlemen, what can I say to thank you save that my wife and myself do thank you from the bottom of our hearts ? For myself I must tell you that I do not deserve the praise you have lavished on us; but I may also tell you that she does. No words of mine could express what for more than twenty-five years she has been to me, what help and support in the battle of life she has given me by her love, her sympathy, her tact and power of understanding; and if I have been at all successful, it is to her that the greatest part of the credit is due.

I said for " more than twenty-five years '' this influence has been over me. Yes, twenty-seven years ago I first met my wife that was to be, and is ! Those were happy days—happy days indeed— foreshadowing the happier ones yet to come.

Ladies and gentlemen, one and all, I thank you in the name of all my family. We are delighted to see you here, and if we are spared we hope that this will not be the last time by any means that we shall have the pleasure of seeing you at our house. We owe you another vote of thanks for your charming gifts—a kindly remembrance of our wedding-day. For these, much thanks! I am sure you will excuse me not saying more now, but you will quite understand how highly, how sincerely, my wife, my children, and myself appreciate your kind expressions, and reciprocate your good wishes. Ladies and gentlemen, once again we thank you from the very bottom of our hearts!

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