38th 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 38th wedding anniversary in countries around the world…

Traditional Gift – UK		No traditional gift
Traditional Gift – US		No traditional gift
Traditional Gift – Spain		Jade
Traditional Gift – Germany		Fire Theme
Traditional Gift – Russia		Mercury Theme
Traditional Gift – France		Mercury Theme
Traditional Gift – Italy		Jade
Flower Gift		Flowers of the season
Gemstone Gift		Beryl
Modern Gift		Tourmaline

QUICK LINKS

About 38th Wedding Anniversaries
How to Celebrate a 38th Wedding Anniversary
38th Wedding Anniversary Gifts for Him
38th Wedding Anniversary Gifts for Her
38th Wedding Anniversary Gifts for Parents

About 38th Wedding Anniversaries

Celebrating the 38th anniversary of your wedding day is just as special today as it was all of those years ago. So, after 38 years of married life, you should really push the boat out and buy something truly wonderful for your wife or husband – to express just how much they mean to you.

How to Celebrate a 38th Wedding Anniversary

There is no classic name or symbol for a 38th anniversary gift, but the traditional gemstone is beryl. It is colourless, with traces of different impurities which are responsible for the gemstone’s diverse colour range. The alternative gemstone gift is tourmaline. 

Life is the flower for which love is the honey.” Quoted by: Victor Hugo

38th Wedding Anniversary Gifts for Him, Her… and the Couple

A gift of jewellery is perfect for displaying understanding, respect and love. If not jewellery, whatever you buy as a 38th wedding anniversary gift, make sure you choose something your partner, or the couple, will enjoy and cherish.

This could, for example, simply be a bouquet of flowers with the colours of the season in which the anniversary falls.

You are not restricted at all when it comes to being creative for this anniversary – or any others for that matter. Even though the 38th anniversary has no traditional gifts, there are many other items you could buy to show your love and appreciation of a marriage that just keeps on giving.

COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT THE 38th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

Q: What is the 38th wedding anniversary called?
A: Although the 38th wedding anniversary does not have a popular symbolic name, we link it with the traditional gemstone gift of beryl.

Q: What is the 38th wedding anniversary gemstone?
A: The 38th wedding anniversary gemstone is beryl. The deep-green variety of beryl is emerald, one of the most precious gemstones.

Q: What is the 38th wedding anniversary symbol?
A: The 38th wedding anniversary does not have a traditional symbol, but the modern gift is tourmaline, a stone that fosters compassion and cool headedness, and is said to radiate the energy that attracts money, healing and friendship.

Q: What is the 38th wedding anniversary colour?
A: The 38th wedding anniversary colour is not specific, so you can choose from one of your favourite colours if you are having a party.

Q: What are the traditional and modern gifts for a 38th wedding anniversary?
A: The modern gift for a 38th wedding anniversary is tourmaline. There is no traditional gifts for the UK or USA, but other countries around the world opt for jade.

Q: What is the 38th year anniversary flower?
A: The 38th wedding anniversary flower is not specific – just generally flowers of the season. This gives you a wide selection of flowers to choose from for this anniversary gift, depending on the time of year you were married.

38th Wedding Anniversary Gifts for Him

What can I buy my husband for our 38th wedding anniversary?

We have more anniversary gift suggestions for your husband below…

38th Wedding Anniversary Gifts for Her

What should I buy my wife on our 38th wedding anniversary?

Continue reading below for additional anniversary gift ideas for your wife, or check out our other anniversary pages.

38th Wedding Anniversary Gifts for Him, Her… and Parents

Experience Days for Everyone

Travel & Experience Gifts

• Location visit
• Travel and activity gift vouchers (from Red Letter Days)
• Adventure days
• Food and drink (afternoon tea for two)
• Wine tasting and vineyard tour
• Escape to the country (many locations to choose from)
• Luxury spa day for two
• Country pursuits (day at the races, clay pigeon shooting, etc.)

Jewellery

The traditional 38th wedding anniversary gemstones are beryl and tourmaline.

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

Something Different & Unique

• If there is one European city you have both always wanted to visit, now is a great time to fulfill that dream.
• Plan a holiday to Madagascar, where the largest crystal of beryl was found.
• Bearing in mind tourmaline’s reported healing powers, why not combine this traditional 38th wedding anniversary gift with a revitalising weekend getaway at a thermal spa resort.
• With flowers being another popular option for 38th wedding anniversary gifts, host a vibrantly-bedecked garden party at home for this year’s celebration with friends and family?

As you draw closer to your 40th anniversary, we have been counting down the days (and hours and minutes). So here is an update: on your 38th wedding anniversary you would have been married for 13,870 days or 332,880 hours or 19,972,800 minutes.

To put that into even more impressive perspective, during this time you would have shared, on average, over 104,000 hours of snuggle time (sleeping!).

After nearly four decades of marriage, spending quality time together alone may be the best anniversary gift possible – allowing you to notch up some more snuggle time.

Fun Facts about Beryl …and Tourmaline

BERYL

• Coloured varieties of clear beryl are used for aquamarine jewellery (blue-green), bixbite (red), emerald (green), heliodor (golden) and morganite (pink).
• Beryl is said to enhance creativity, reduce tiredness, boost energy and increase intelligence. 
• It has been used as a talisman stone for writers and artists of all kinds, especially sculptors.
• Gem-quality red beryl can fetch a price of between $1,000 to $10,000 a carat. Hence the common saying, “Red beryl is worth many times more than gold, and is rarer than a diamond.”
• In ancient times, green beryl was known as a gemstone that could receive grace from the goddess. If you loved someone, it would let you have a deeper relationship with that person.

TOURMALINE

• Ancient Egyptian legend has it that tourmaline passed through a rainbow on the way to the Earth.
• Whatever the reality, it is true that the gemstone can be found in a multitude of colours, from deep blues and greens to light pinks and yellows – and even black or dark brown (a species called schorl). 
• The Paraiba Tourmaline, featuring a blue-green colour that gives off an incandescent glow, is so rare that only one of the species is found for every 10,000 diamonds discovered in the world.
• Symbolising love and friendship, tourmaline is believed to remove negativity, fear and nervousness, and increase strength of body and mind.
• People during the mediaeval ages used tourmaline to heal both physical and emotional ailments, convinced that the gemstone could treat the nervous system and blood-related diseases.

Next Anniversaries

39th wedding anniversary
40th wedding anniversary
41st wedding anniversary
42nd wedding anniversary
43rd wedding anniversary