Gift Ideas and Traditions for a 6th Wedding Anniversary

As the Joyce Brothers once said: “Marriage is not just a spiritual communion; it is also remembering to take out the trash.”

After 6 years of married life together, we reckon you’ll probably resonate with that. Because after the honeymoon period of the first few years - where you call each other cute nicknames, and probably still spoon at night - things begin to settle into a different rhythm.

It’s still just as special - in these years, you both develop a comfortable closeness, the kind of companionship you read in books and see in your parents. So, in these later years, you’ve got even less of an excuse to let your sixth anniversary go by un-celebrated.

Anniversaries are all about celebrating your achievements - the grand events, and all the little wins that make up each day - as a couple. So, give your partner a sixth anniversary gift that shows them how much they mean to you.

To help you make your sixth wedding anniversary a day to remember, our experts have shared their top tips for choosing anniversary gifts. These include traditional gift ideas and advice for choosing a unique gift based on the modern theme.

What is the 6th wedding anniversary stone?

Amethyst is the traditional sixth wedding anniversary stone. In the original Greek, Amethyst means 'not intoxicated' and it's believed to bring clarity and inspiration. It comes in various beautiful hues of lavender, violet & purple. It's used in various beautiful jewellery pieces and can be cut and polished to be set in rings and brooches. Amethyst beads make beautiful necklaces and bracelets and can make a great six-year anniversary gift. Apparently Cupid himself wore an amethyst ring, so it's a perfect gift for the love of your life!

Traditional iron or sugar anniversary gift ideas for your 6th anniversary

Iron is a great theme for a traditional sixth anniversary gift as it's a material used for an enormous variety of things. From small trinkets (think keyring) to wonderful modern furniture or cast iron pots & pans, there are an endless number of fantastic iron gifts to mark the special occasion. Iron bowls make great gifts as they can be used for so many different things (think keys by the front door, popcorn during the game, jewellery holder, etc).

As with every anniversary gift, the key is to think about things from your partner's perspective... what is something they'd find pleasure in or find useful and can also be a romantic gift that reminds them of you and your wedding day? Once you've found that, you're well on your way to finding the ideal gift for your iron anniversary.

If you're DIY-inclined, it is possible to hand make iron anniversary gifts... with a hacksaw, a Dremel, some files and a lot of patience you could make them a beautiful iron bookmark or keyring. Otherwise, maybe stick to buying them a gift online ;)

The traditional UK 6th anniversary gift theme is sugar or candy. It’s definitely one of the more unusual themes, but you can have lots of fun with it! After all, who doesn’t enjoy a sweet? You could buy a big box of their favourite flavours, find a bag of something out of the ordinary, or even buy a sweet-making experience for you to enjoy together. The world is your oyster! (or gobstopper, if you will).

To help you get the search started, here are some of our favourite sweet ideas for 6th wedding anniversary gifts:

• Create your own sweet jar
• Personalised chocolate message
• Jelly Belly’s Cocktail jelly beans
• Buy an at-home fudge making kit. Or, you could go one step further, and book one a fudge making experience for you both to enjoy.

Modern wooden 6th wedding anniversary gifts

If this modern gift theme seems familiar, that's because wooden gifts have been a tradition for the 5th wedding anniversary for 100 years. But according to the modern list, wood is the new theme for 6 year anniversary gifts.

Wood is easy to personalise, which makes it a great theme for a modern 6th anniversary gift. It's a ideal opportunity to customize the gift by adding your wedding date, your names or anything else that reminds you of your wedding day. Many online gift shops and artisan creators offer a personalization service, or if this isn’t an option, you could buy a pyrography kit and do it yourself (be careful you don't set the whole thing on fire!). If you really like the look of etched/burned wood, then you could commission some wooden wall art with the lyrics of your favorite wedding song engraved on it.

Think about what they’ll actually need. You could choose a wooden clock to go on their desk, coasters for your new table, or a display case for your wine collection. Either way, try to think of something that they’ll appreciate and use. It's also a great anniversary to buy wooden items for the house... if there's something wooden you didn't buy (or receive!) last year, now's your chance!

And if you start planning early enough it'll give you time to keep an eye out for something a little out of the ordinary. You’ll win extra bonus points for thoughtfulness!

6th Anniversary Date Ideas

There are quite a few practical, crafty options this year... how about a wood-working course or maybe even a fudge or candy-making class? If you're feeling really brave you could tackle a welding class together, it's not as hard as you think and is a really unique skill to have!

And if you'd rather have a romantic night in for the two of you, we've got a couple of options to help you decide what to do.

And there you have it - everything you could possibly need to knock your 6th wedding anniversary out of the park.

We adore themed anniversary gifts. Through this shared theme, they unite your celebration with the special occasions of countless other happy couples. At the same time, the room for interpretation within it gives you both the chance to be creative and sentimental, making it a wonderful opportunity to celebrate everything that makes your connection unique.