Do you have a big wedding anniversary coming up? We just recently celebrated our 30th, and I decided to consult the list of year or milestone-appropriate gifts as a guide for my gift (the 60th anniversary gift, by the way, is an actual milestone, which is very expensive to ship). If you’re like me, you would probably have remembered that the 25th is silver and the 50th is gold; beyond that, I didn’t have a clue, and I found that perusing the list was pretty enlightening and at times surprising.
For one thing, there’s a “traditional” and a “modern” list. In some years, the difference between the two is pretty dramatic: for the 10th anniversary, for example, the designated “traditional” gift is something made of tin or aluminum (such as a can of diet Dr. Pepper), while the “modern” suggestion is diamond jewelry.
I think most bluegrass fans naturally gravitate to the traditional list, out of reverence for tradition, of course, not out of cheapness. Perish the thought. Bluegrass fans, though, especially ones in marriages where both spouses are bluegrass fanatics might want some guidance for ways to express their love of the music while adhering to the traditional anniversary gift protocol.
Working with the traditional list, I’ll make suggestions for both the high and low budget bluegrass gift-giver:
1st anniversary: paper
High budget: Neil Rosenberg and Charles Wolfe’s The Music of Bill Monroe
Low budget: subscription to the Tri-county Friends of Bluegrass Quarterly
2nd anniversary: cotton
High budget: hand-sewn bass case
Low budget: 1997 “gently used” festival T-shirt
3rd anniversary: leather
High budget: Sorrell custom boots
Low budget: mandolin strap or leather keychain that says “Keys of B”
4th anniversary: fruit or flowers (here again the “traditional” and “modern” gifts diverge drastically: the modern gift calls for “appliances,”)
High budget: new banjo with hearts and flowers inlay
Low budget: a ripe peach
5th anniversary: wood
High budget: Lloyd Loar mandolin
Low budget: wooden plaque that says, “Pickin’ Partner For Life”
8th anniversary (the 6th and 7th anniversaries are traditionally forgotten): Bronze
High budget: bronze statue of Bill Monroe
Low budget: a set of strings (at this point in the marriage you may want to change strings a little more often)
9th anniversary: willow or pottery
High budget: a set of 5 handmade ceramic mugs, each bearing a different face of one of the Blue Grass Boys of 1946-47
Low budget: a picnic in a willow garden (on second thought . . .)
10th anniversary: aluminum or tin
High budget: an aluminum barn, ideal for holding your own indoor bluegrass festival (next year)
Low budget: a sixpack of Bud Light
15th anniversary: crystal
High budget: crystal moonshine jug
Low budget: Crystal Gayle poster
20th anniversary: China
High budget: Chadwick folding bass, made in China (a stretch, I know)
Low budget: 1997 festival mug, matching 2nd anniversary T-shirt
25th anniversary: Silver
High budget: guitar-shaped silver gravy boat
Low budget: smaller guitar-shaped silver gravy boat
30th anniversary: Pearl
High budget: vintage guitar with mother of pearl inlay
Low budget: download of Flatt & Scruggs’ “Pearl Pearl Pearl”
35th anniversary: Coral
High budget: coral sculpture of Red Allen or Red Rector
Low budget: postcard of coral reef from recent bluegrass cruise
40th anniversary: Ruby
High budget: ruby-studded banjo strap
Low budget: honey, are you mad at your man?
After the 40th, successfully remembering the date at all is a gift in itself, and at this point you’ve earned just letting other people give you couple anniversary gifts.
