2nd Wedding Anniversary

Traditional, Modern and Symbolic Anniversary Gifts

Below is a list of both traditional and modern gift materials, as well as classic flower and gemstone symbols, which mark a couple’s 2nd wedding anniversary in countries around the world…

Traditional Gift – UK		Cotton
Traditional Gift – US		Cotton
Traditional Gift – Spain		Cotton
Traditional Gift – Germany		Cotton
Traditional Gift – Russia		Paper
Traditional Gift – France		Leather
Traditional Gift – Italy		Cotton
Flower Gift		Lily of the Valley
Gemstone Gift		Garnet
Modern Gift		China

About 2nd Wedding Anniversaries

The celebration of your 2nd wedding anniversary is popularly known as the Cotton Anniversary. Like the interwoven fibres of cotton, the second year of marriage brings a couple closer together as their lives become increasingly intertwined. And, as cotton is at the same time both strong and soft, the couple are learning how to be flexible and adapt to each other’s needs.

The special colour for this anniversary is red: a warm and positive hue that is associated with our most physical needs and our will to survive. It exudes a potent masculine energy, is strong-willed and can give confidence to those who are shy or lacking in will power.

How to Celebrate a 2nd Anniversary

One excellent 2nd wedding anniversary idea is to invest in cotton-themed art for your home. You might want to buy a canvas print, or perhaps even commission an artist to make a treasured piece of art for the two of you.

Enjoy some quality time together, spending a weekend visiting galleries searching for the right piece. If this is a bit out of your budget, you could look for work by emerging or student artists.

If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.” Quoted by: Marc Chagall

2nd Wedding Anniversary Gifts for Him, Her… and the Couple

China is a modern alternative gift that symbolises the 2nd wedding anniversary and can take many forms, from a vase to ornaments.

Perhaps you have a great gift in mind but it’s just not made of cotton? Well, you could simply buy a gorgeous cotton bag and use it to wrap up the gift. This is quite thoughtful and in keeping with the theme – with the added bonus of being useful afterwards.

Gemstones that make a wonderful 2nd wedding anniversary gift are garnet and rose quartz.

2nd Wedding Anniversary Gifts for Him

What gift should I buy my husband for our 2nd wedding anniversary?

Traditionally the 2nd anniversary gift is cotton, with the more modern take being china or porcelain.

Check out our other anniversary dates for additional gift suggestions if you cannot find the right one here.

2nd Wedding Anniversary Gifts for Her

What should I buy my wife on our 2nd wedding anniversary?

Gifts for your wife to mark this anniversary can be either traditional or modern. Or, of course, you can always combine gifts. The important thing is to keep your romance alive with a well thought out, and appropriate, idea.

We have more great gift suggestions below.

2nd Wedding Anniversary Gifts for Him & Her

Don’t see anything here that fits the bill? Check out our other anniversary dates for additional gift suggestions.

Travel & Experience Gifts

• Location visit (possibly to a cotton mill)
• Romantic hotel stay (attractive room with hot tub, etc.)
• Show and meal (candlelit dinner for two)
• Luxury afternoon tea for two
• Glamping break for two
• Pottery classes
• Spa day for two
• Hotel stay and art classes

Jewellery

• Earrings
• Pendants
• Rings
• Necklace
• Tie Pin
• Cufflinks

Something Different & Unique

• Learn a new craft or take a course together involving a shared interest (pottery, for example).
• Visit an art gallery.
• Initiate a traditional annual celebration (theatre, adventure day, etc.).
• Share thrills with a helicopter ride.

Anniversary gifts reflect the emotional investment the couple have invested in each other. They symbolise the continuous growth of their commitment, and an accumulation of time and love which can never be replaced.

Each wedding anniversary year is marked by its own precious materials and the symbolic values associated with the specific anniversary date. Enjoy and celebrate your second year of marriage in style.

A Brief History of the Helicopter

A helicopter is defined as an aircraft with one or more power-driven horizontal propellers or rotors that enable it to take off and land vertically, move in any direction and remain stationary in the air. Other vertical-flight craft include autogyros, convertiplanes and V/STOL (vertical and/or short take-off and landing) aircraft.

• The history of vertical flight is believed to date to 400 CE (AD), with references to a Chinese kite that used a rotary wing as a source of lift.
• Toys using the principle of the helicopter – i.e. a rotary blade turned by the pull of a string – were documented during the Middle Ages. 
• One of the most famous examples is from the late 15th century, when Leonardo da Vinci sketched drawings of a helicopter that used a spiral airscrew to obtain lift. 
• In Spain, on 9 January 1923, Juan de la Cierva achieved the first successful flight of an autogyro, although it operates on a different principle to the helicopter. Rather than being powered, its rotor obtains lift by mechanical rotation as the autogyro moves forward through the air.
• In March 1923 Time Magazine reported that Thomas Edison had sent Dr. George de Bothezaat a message congratulating him for a successful helicopter test flight. “So far as I know,” wrote Edison, “you have produced the first successful helicopter.” The helicopter was tested in Ohio and reportedly remained airborne for two minutes and 45 seconds at a height of five metres.
• However… aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky is credited with designing the world’s first practical helicopter. Incorporating a single main rotor and tail rotor design, the VS-300 lifted off on 14 September 1939 in Connecticut.
• After World War II,  the commercial use of helicopters developed to include police operations, fire fighting, agricultural crop spraying, mosquito control, medical evacuation, and transporting mail and (eventually) passengers.
• On 11 December 1951, the Kaman K-225 became the first turbine-powered helicopter in the world. 
• Today, there are many different types of helicopters, from two-person private craft to large passenger-carrying versions and other work models capable of carrying enormous loads to remote areas.

Next Anniversaries

3rd wedding anniversary
4th wedding anniversary
5th wedding anniversary
6th wedding anniversary
7th wedding anniversary