Wedding anniversaries are named after a certain piece of jewellery depending on the amount of years a couple have been married. The first fifteen years advance from paper for the first year married up to crystal for the fifteenth year of marriage. After that it moves on to china that represents twenty years with the Silver Wedding Anniversary being a big milestone of twenty five years. This is usually celebrated by having a family celebration with guests buying presents that are made of silver. Every five years then is a big occasion and the thirty years anniversary which is the Pearl one is also an occasion to celebrate. A pearl necklace (Perlenkette) is a gift that might be bought for the wife and by searching on the worldwide web anyone will be able to find what they are looking for. Pearls are something special and are classed as luxury articles. Brooches, rings, bracelets and necklaces are all available that have pearls in them and prices can range from between £200 to perhaps £2,000 and in some cases very much more. Ruby is the next big anniversary for forty years and Sapphire for forty five. Golden represents fifty years and Emerald for fifty five.

Not many people reach their Diamond Wedding Anniversary which is sixty years of marriage but wedding jewelry (Brautschmuck) is very popular that has diamonds set in it. For couples that do make it to sixty years of marriage congratulations are sent to them by the Queen and their picture will be taken for the local newspaper. It is a very big event and deserves to be treated as such. Of course by the time a married couple are celebrating sixty years of marriage they will probably have a very big family. This could include their own children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren. In some cases a photograph will be taken which includes five generations of the same family ranging from the oldest to the very youngest. People are living much longer these days and it has been known for couples to celebrate seventy years of marriage but this is very rare. Whatever the number of years a married couple are celebrating it is usually an occasion to celebrate. Some married couples may decide to go on holiday while others prefer a big family celebration. Times are changing and today with the divorce rate being so high couples are not staying married for as long. Some people may get married two or three times before finding the right person to settle down with. Others may prefer to stay single in which case a Wedding Anniversary is out of the question.