22 years after the wedding: what is the name and how to celebrate it?

Most of us know the names of wedding anniversaries - silver, gold, diamond. It is also well known about the calico wedding - the first anniversary of the wedding. However, each year lived together in an official marriage has its own name and traditions for its celebration.

And today we will talk about the twenty-second anniversary of family life. This is not yet a silver anniversary, but a fairly long period of marriage nonetheless. And, of course, this day deserves to be properly celebrated.

Twenty-two years of marriage are called bronze wedding. It’s not silver yet, but it’s not a porcelain “twenty” anniversary either. The name of this date was given for a reason, because bronze is an expensive and valuable metal. People who have lived together for so many years are already old enough to recognize and appreciate existing relationships and family life, while still young enough to have strong feelings for each other.

Nevertheless, bronze is no longer fabric, not wood, it is metal, that is, the material is much stronger. This presupposes that the union of partners over the years of matrimony has “bronzed”, has become a kind of monolith, an alloy, something that cannot be easily destroyed.

The name, as it were, hints that bronze itself is strong, reliable, at the same time very malleable (for which it is extremely appreciated by sculptors) and perfectly conducts heat. These properties of bronze make it a unique metal.

Drawing a parallel with marriage, we can say that spouses who have lived side by side for so many years warm each other with the warmth of their souls, know how to give in on important issues for a partner, and together they are a reliable and strong team.In truly strong alliances, these are the fundamental principles that operate "by default", under any circumstances, as they say, in grief and joy, in wealth and in poverty.

Since everyone is different, each family has its own customs. Some couples go to their favorite restaurant for their anniversary year after year, some go out into the countryside with their families, some like a deserted island in the warm ocean on this day. In a number of families, it is customary to celebrate the date of the wedding only for spouses, without children. Some, on the contrary, celebrate with children in the family circle.

It's good if the work schedule of both husband and wife allows them to wake up together on this day and spend some time with each other: exchange words of love and gratitude for the years passed, remember joyful and funny moments from family life, dream about the future. Maybe they will want to revisit the photo album with memorable moments in the life of the family or the video from the day of the wedding.

Now there are a huge number of companies offering to organize a romantic evening in accordance with any client's wishes: it can be a dinner on the roof of a high-rise building overlooking the city or a yacht ride along the evening river, you can even go on a joint horse ride or ride in a carriage. fly in a hot air balloon or at least take part in a walking or studio photo session and get beautiful memorable photos - only together or with children.

All kinds of master classes are no less popular at the present time: ceramic, in which a couple can manually create a symbol of their family and thus perpetuate this date forever; culinary - there you can make your own dessert or cake to celebrate the event; any others at the request of the spouses.

Many couples, after twenty or more years of marriage, decide to get married in order to seal the family not only with earthly, but also with divine vows. This is understandable - the union is strong enough, the spouses are connected not only by ardent love, but also by mutual respect, care, attention. Truly strong married couples will make this ceremony even closer and dearer to each other.

In the West, such a tradition as "renewing vows" is popular: spouses who have been married for a long time exchange their marriage vows again. Without calling to adopt this ritual literally, you can take from it the very idea of ​​reminding each other why you once decided to start a family, why it was the right step, and what has changed since then - feelings have grown stronger, stronger, they have new facets.

However, consider what is undesirable to do on this day.

• Invite guests... "Happiness loves silence" - this phrase is very accurate in relation to marriage. A wedding anniversary is a celebration of the spouses, celebrated exclusively with the family. Husband, wife and children - these are the people who are on it. It is not customary to invite someone else, even the closest friends, on this day. However, it is not forbidden, each couple chooses the composition of the guests on their own.
• Turn a quiet family celebration into a noisy party until the morning. This is completely unnecessary in this situation, since the wedding anniversary, so to speak, is a "chamber" event, it should be calm and joyful.
• To recreate the events of twenty-two years ago, namely: the wife - to put on a wedding dress and veil, to the husband - the groom's suit with a boutonniere. This is not a wedding, but its anniversary, and the husband and wife are no longer the bride and groom. This is a holiday of two adults who have been in a marriage union for a long time, and that is why it is celebrated differently than a wedding.

A rare celebration goes without gifts, and marriage anniversaries are no exception. Spouses exchange gifts with each other and children can also give gifts to them. If friends are invited to the celebration, they should also bring something with them as a gift for each of the spouses or for the couple as a whole.

Let's list what is customary to present at a bronze wedding.

Bronze is an expensive metal, as well as products made from it. But when and when to give valuable gifts, if not for a wedding anniversary. You should not buy the first bronze product that comes across, your gift should be meaningful and impress the donee.

If the spouse smokes, you can present him with a lighter, cigarette case or ashtray made of this material. If he does not have such a bad habit, you can present him with a pair of tea, a flask, a watch. If a man is a coffee lover, a bronze Turk or a set for brewing a drink on the sand will be in the top ten. A similar gift, it should be noted, will delight the lady. Or maybe this, in general, will be a gift from children to their parents, if both of them are coffee addicts.

The choice of gifts for a lady is wider - it can be dishes for those who are keen on cooking, a mirror in an elegant bronze frame for a society lady, a decorative garden figurine for those who love to grow flowers and vegetables. In a word, by showing imagination and taking into account the tastes of his wife (and in twenty-two years he should have known about them), the husband can make this holiday even more memorable by presenting to her exactly what will delight her the most.

If parents are fond of antiques, you can give them a rare or collectible item in accordance with their interests. The subject of antiquity can also be presented to the spouse (and vice versa), if one of them is interested in such things.

If you have a large house or apartment, you can donate bronze figurines, medium-sized sculptures, and other interior items such as lamps, coffee tables or umbrella stands. If the family lives in a small apartment, and there is nowhere to put these items, you should not burden them with such gifts.

For families who are supportive of esoteric teachings, feng shui items, for example, images of the gods Daikoku and Ebisu, which help to increase prosperity, will be a good gift. They are placed near safes, piggy banks, where money is kept. Bronze spoons, "rags" and shovels for money, which are put in wallets and purses, will also become an inexpensive but pleasant gift.

When preparing the celebration of the bronze wedding, one should take into account both the external environment in which this event will be held, and the list of dishes that are planned to be served.

In accordance with the name, the decoration of the table should be "bronze". Crockery and cutlery in appropriate colors, candles and candlesticks, even a tablecloth - it's good if everything is monochrome in the color of this metal. If a couple celebrates this date outside the home, you can take care of having, for example, balloons in this shade to mark the celebrated holiday.

As for the dishes, they should look "rich", be richly decorated. The correct solution would be to serve oven-baked poultry - duck, chicken, turkey with apples or other fruits. And also cuts from vegetables, meat, fish, fruits, originally designed are suitable.

A prerequisite for the festive table, set in honor of the bronze wedding, is the presence of sweet dishes on it as a symbol of "sweet" life in the future. Most often it is a cake, you can even decorate it with figures of the bride and groom. If there is no desire to buy or bake a cake, you can order a set of cakes, cupcakes, trifles or any other confectionery, but a dessert is a must.

Today, it is not difficult to do this, because a huge number of confectioners offer their services for the manufacture of delicacies to order. A sweet dish can be represented by a pie - with lingonberries, apples with cinnamon, pears or plums, at the request of the heroes of the occasion.

The outfits of the spouses should also be in “bronze” colors. An elegant dress, shoes or jewelry of a "precious" shade will suit her, and for him - a tie or cufflinks.

In families in which the wedding anniversary is a real holiday, each passing year only strengthens the union. The more years of marriage, the stronger and more reliable it is, because the silver wedding is not far off, and there it is a golden stone's throw.

For what to give your friends for the 22nd anniversary of married life, see the video below.