Silver wedding, 25 years of marriage: gifts and congratulations

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

25 years of marriage, a quarter of a century of marriage, is commonly called a silver wedding. This is not just a long time, most of which two people spent under one roof - eating together, sleeping together, watching movies, going shopping and making plans for the future. This date is primarily an indicator of such qualities of spouses as patience, respect, willingness to compromise, mutual assistance and understanding, and even friendship.

Love is a multifaceted feeling and capable of transformation. If at the beginning of a relationship it is usually passion or at least sexual attraction to each other, then at the turn of a quarter of a century it manifests itself in a completely different way. By this time, the husband and wife fully justify the popular proverb that characterizes them like this: "One Satan." Spouses become best friends and truly family people, without acquiring such shades of relationships, marriage does not live up to such a long time.

What kind of wedding is this?

25 years - silver wedding. This name of half a century of family life has more than one andnot two centuries, the roots of the holiday go back to the Early Middle Ages, to those times when the institution of the family, so carefully cultivated by the Christian religion of all denominations, was already quite strong and really became a value and one of the pillars of society.

The names of weddings did not appear at all by chance, they were formed by the type of material gifts for spouses. For example, on the first anniversary, they gave a simple “consumable” fabric and products from it - the wedding began to be called calico.

And the type of gifts and what they were made of, in turn, determined not the number of years lived, but the needs of the family at the stage of life they were going through. For example, in a "leather" wedding, families of both ordinary people and feudal lords needed harness, elements of tools and clothing made from this material, and even hanging straps that could hold a cradle with a baby.

Of course, the longer people lived in the world, the less they needed "expendable" gifts. Over the years, there was a need to acquire material values that could emphasize the status of the family, its position in society and, of course, be inherited.

That is why the wedding anniversary at 20 years old was called "porcelain", and at 25 - "silver".

Are there traditions?

Every holiday has its own traditions, and the 25th wedding anniversary is no exception. There are a lot of different features of the celebration of this date, literally in every village there were their own customs for celebrating this day.

Toward common traditions,found almost everywhere include the following:

• the beginning of the day - a kiss: it was believed that if one of the spouses woke up earlier, got up and did not kiss the other half before getting up, then joyless and difficult times come for the family;
• washing - should be done together and use "silver" water at the same time, it was a ritual washing away of all grievances, secret grievances and claims, everything bad that happened over the years;
• presence of sweets on the table: sweets should have been present in the diet at all times, and not just at the evening feast.

Wedding anniversary - 25 years - there are many more historical customs, but in modern life most of them are both irrelevant and difficult to implement. But today's realities have added a lot of new things to the old custom, which did not spoil the holiday, but, on the contrary, expanded its scope and made it one of the most desirable for all married couples.

Modern holiday customs

The main of the already traditional customs of celebrating this anniversary are the repetition of the wedding ceremony and, of course, the departure on a romantic trip.

For the first time, a husband and wife from Texas celebrated a quarter of a century of marriage in the distant 1960. Local newspapers wrote about this, praising the original idea of \u200b\u200bthe celebration and the bride's outfit. But the merit of the fact that the option of holding the anniversary was picked up all over the world does not belong to the press at all, but to local television, which shot a large hour-long film and a number of newsplots, telling about how they gathered all the guests who were at the original wedding, how the costumes were thought out, and most importantly, how permission was obtained for the second wedding ceremony.

Americans were touched by looking at TV screens, and the ratings of a small channel from Dallas rose to incredible heights. European television companies drew attention to this nonsense, and the story of the anniversaries has already captivated viewers on the other side of the ocean.

It is possible that this way they celebrated 25 years of marriage and up to a family from a Texas ranch, but it gave rise to a widespread custom to celebrate the anniversary this way.

What should kids do?

Unlike the porcelain jubilee, the silver jubilee not only allows the active participation of children in the preparation of celebrations, but also welcomes it.

Children can participate both financially and act as direct organizers of the holiday. The most important condition for their participation is the maximum attention to the wishes of the parents and the implementation of exactly the celebration scenario that the older generation prefers, and not the imposition of their own vision.

Traditionally, it is children who buy silver rings for their parents, this has been the custom since the beginning of the holiday. This tradition should not be neglected, and everything else depends only on their own capabilities, imagination and desires of the anniversaries.

How to congratulate your husband?

25 years of marriage is a reason to surprise, but to surprise on a grand scale. This is not the day when you can disperse playfulnotes or hide funny trinkets in the most unexpected places.

A gift to a spouse from a woman, in addition to its tangibility, must also correspond to such a concept as a destination only for her husband. That is, you cannot give, for example, a silver ashtray if both people smoke or someone who lives under the same roof with the anniversaries. You should not give something that the spouse does not use. For example, a person who has been smoking cigarettes all his life should not be presented with a silver-plated pipe as a present, but a cigarette case or a lighter is fine.

That is, a woman on this day should give a gift to a man, and not to an abstract spouse created over the years by her ideas and interpretations. A gift should tell a person that he is loved and important, attentive to his desires and needs, and caring in the little things.

If the choice is difficult, or it is unpleasant for a woman to give something that her husband dreams of, then silver cufflinks will be an ideal option. It is advisable to add a new shirt to them, this will allow you to dress up your husband for the gala evening in the same style.

How to congratulate your wife?

What to give a woman for her 25th wedding anniversary is one of the nightmares of men. The strong half of humanity often leaves the choice of a present for the last days and, as a result, buys the first thing that comes to hand.

The secret of a good gift is simple. The present must be made of silver, intended exclusivelyfor personal use and be complemented by colors. In principle, a gift may not be silver, but contain an element of this material, in the most extreme case, be complemented by a trifle made of metal.

What can not be given?

Congratulations on your wedding day at 25 years of marriage completely exclude these types of gifts:

• household appliances;
• gadgets;
• items for one of the family members;
• jewelry, except for those given by spouses to each other and rings purchased by children;
• furniture;
• liquor and food, even if it's a rare bottle of wine, the only one in the world.

A gift from those invited to the celebration must be weighty, contain silver details or be made entirely of this metal, not consumable and intended for both spouses. A traditional service is a good solution, however, as are silver cutlery, because this is how family silver appeared in homes.

Today money is often given, this is a good option, you just need to arrange such a gift correctly - the envelope should be silver, with a postcard inside containing a concise wish and signature. However, such a present does not correspond to the traditions and foundations of the anniversary.

Do you need postcards?

A postcard is an indispensable and important element of congratulations. This is part of the present, which will be preserved and remind the anniversaries of the person who congratulated them. But, unfortunately, it is about her that is often forgotten, as well asthemselves invited to the celebration, as well as professional organizers of holidays.

Cards "25 years of marriage" must match the occasion. The best option would be a one-of-a-kind, handmade, elegant and simple greeting card, tucked into a matching envelope.

Congratulatory text should be short and concise, contain a list of wishes and a signature. Verse texts are also acceptable, but they should not be templated. In extreme cases, it is better to take a passage from a well-known work that is appropriate in meaning than to borrow lines from the Internet, which the heroes of the anniversary themselves will definitely come across.

It is important to remember that the card is part of the present, and does not replace it at all.

What is important at the banquet?

The tradition of this day is the presence of sweets in the diet of the family. Therefore, a banquet in the form of a main course implies desserts, the main of which, of course, is a cake.

The 25th wedding anniversary cake is not the final and, in general, useless part of the feast, as on the wedding day, but the apotheosis of the whole celebration. With a competent professional approach to organizing an anniversary feast, the menu will be quite easy, regardless of the form in which the holiday is planned - a banquet, buffet, reception, or some other form.

The cake does not appear at the end of the celebration, but at the beginning of its second part. The first half of the anniversary is given to the gathering of guests,gifts, congratulatory speeches, 5-10 toasts and snacks.

After that, it's time for a cultural program, which includes a demonstration of various moments in the life of the spouses, starting with the stage of their marriage. Of course, various contests and other fun are allowed. This is a kind of intermission, during which you can go out, visit the sanitary room, have a smoke or just air out.

After the fun part comes the cake. It must be a masterpiece, made in the appropriate style and not decorated with figurines of the bride and groom. The right to cut remains with the heroes of the day, but only if the confectionery product is not made up of many different cakes, which is extremely popular in Europe. In this case, the heroes of the day just take a cake.