What is the 40th wedding anniversary?
The 40th wedding anniversary is the ruby anniversary. Forty years of marriage is marked with ruby, the deep red stone standing for warmth and lasting passion.
- Traditional (UK): Ruby. A real stone, set into a ring, pendant, or studs.
- Colour cue, Deep red. Red mounts, frames, flowers, table settings.
Debrett's sets ruby at year forty. Want the full run of milestones? See anniversary gifts by year for everything from paper at one to platinum at seventy.
For parents at their ruby anniversary
Ruby is the tradition and we don't make anything in ruby. If you are giving a present to parents at their ruby anniversary, the gift we make is a picture of their own wedding: the photograph printed as it is, or their names and wedding date in type.
How much should you spend on a 40th anniversary gift?
Nobody authoritative sets a figure, and we won't pretend to — here is why no honest figure exists. What is specific to forty is the constraint: most couples at this point already own the objects. That pushes the decision away from "how much" and toward two questions.
- An object, or a day? At forty a booked weekend is not a cop-out. It is often the only thing they don't already have.
- If it is a real ruby, settle the disclosure before the price. Treatment is commonplace and legitimate; silence about it is not. What to ask is on the ruby wedding page.
Spend toward what they'll still have in ten years, whoever is paying.
Five 40th anniversary gift ideas worth keeping
Ordered from most personalised to most traditional. None of these are throwaway; all of them earn their place after forty years.
A ruby, the actual stone
The literal reading, and a good one at forty. A loose ruby for a ring re-set, a pendant, or a pair of studs. UK jewellers like Hatton Garden's independents will source a stone to a budget; tell them your budget and ask what it buys, because the treatment and the stone matter more than the figure.
A return to where it started
Book the restaurant from the wedding night, the town from the honeymoon, or the church where they married. The gift is the day, not an object: and after forty years the day usually beats the object. Plan it, don't voucher it.
A bottle from the wedding year
A port or a fine red laid down in their wedding vintage. A 1986 vintage port, say, for a 2026 ruby anniversary. Berry Bros. & Rudd or The Whisky Exchange will hunt one down; the year does most of the work on the price.
A handwritten letter, forty years on
Cheapest gift here, and the one most likely to be kept. Write the forty years down: the lean bits, the good bits, the bits nobody else saw. Good paper, an honest hour, and your own handwriting. Frame it later if you like.
The ruby-anniversary keepsake
If you want a gift that hangs on the wall for the next forty years, the personalised couple portrait is the one. Upload a photo, pick a style, preview it before you pay: then we ship a framed canvas. Sizes and prices below. It is made to order and reaches a UK address in 4 to 9 working days, delivery free.
Before and after forty: Anniversary gifts by year · 30th anniversary gift ideas · 50th anniversary gift ideas · Personalised wedding gifts
Related anniversaries: 35th: coral · 50: gold · the full anniversary list · gifts by year
The picture at the top of this page is an AI-made illustration.
