An Ivory Wedding Anniversary celebrates how many years?

Traditionally, an Ivory Wedding Anniversary celebrates 14 years of marriage. Wedding anniversaries have been celebrated in Germanic countries since the 1500s, particularly signicant number of years, such as 50 (gold) and 60 (diamond).

Over the centuries, particular 'gifts' have been assigned for each anniversary, including wood for a 5th anniversary, tin for 10th and ivory for 14th. Since the twentieth century, these 'gifts' have led to the celebration of more wedding anniversaries than in the past. They are also not taken literally. Rather than gifting someone a piece of ivory, the gifter may choose something ivory coloured or symbolic of ivory.

Anniversary traditions differ from country to country, for example, in the USA, a 4th anniversary is celebrated with fruit and flowers, but in the UK, it is celebrated with linen or silk. Both the US and UK celebrate a 14th anniversary with ivory.

Ivory is a hard yellowsh-white material made from the tusks and teeth of animals such as elephants. Ivory is now very rare and expensive since there are restrictions on hunting elephants for ivory.