Wedding Anniversary Traditions

Attaching colors, gifts, and flowers to certain wedding anniversaries is a tradition that is believed to have started long ago with the German tradition of giving the bride a silver wreath to wear on her hair at her 25th wedding anniversary and a gold one on her 50th. By 1937 this tradition had grown and the American National Retail Jewelry Association even published an anniversary guide listing gems for the first 15 years and then every 5th year after.

The following is a list of the American traditions there is a lot of conflicting traditions, but generally the fist anniversary and every fifth year anniversary (so 1st, 5th,10th,15th, and so on) are pretty universal. 

1st- Light Yellow, Paper, Flower: Carnation

2nd- Linen White, Cotton

3rd- Light Brown, Leather 

4th- Green, Fruit/Flowers or Linen/Silk

5th- Turquoise, Wood, Flower: Daisy

6th- White, Candy/Iron, Flower: Calla Lilly

7th- Off White, Wool/Copper 

8th- Bronze, Bronze/Pottery

9th- Terra-cotta,- China & Pottery 

10th- Silver,  Tin,  Flower: Daffodil

11th- Turquoise, Steel

12th- Bright White, Silk/ Linens

13th- White, Lace,  Flower: Chrysanthemum

14th- Ivory, Ivory (imitation ivory or gold jewelry is the modern tradition)

15th- Red, Crystal, Flower:Rose

16th Silver, Tourmaline 

17th Yellow, Furniture

18th Blue, Coal (Porcelain is the modern gift)

19th Bronze, Aquamarine

20th Green, China

25th Silver, Silver, Flower: Iris

30th Green, Pearls, Flower: Lilly

35th Coral,  Coral or /Jade

40th Ruby Red, Ruby, Flower: Gladiolus or Nasturtium

45th Sapphire Red, Sapphire

50th Gold, Gold, Flower: Violets or Yellow Roses

55th Emerald Green,  Emeralds

60th White, Diamonds

75th White, Diamonds

(The original 'diamond' anniversary was the 75th, but tradition changed to celebrate Queen Victoria's 60th Anniversary on the throne know as her 'Diamond Jubilee'.) source:Wikipedia.