Fourteenth Marriage Anniversary Gift Ideas

While not every wedding anniversary is considered to be a milestone, still every new year of a marriage is worth celebrating. And one of the best ways to do this is by presenting your spouse with a memorable gift. Here are some fourteenth marriage anniversary gift ideas to help you get started.

The traditional material for fourteenth wedding anniversary gifts is ivory. The convention perhaps originated by associating the rarity and pristine beauty of ivory with a long successful marriage. However in these times restricted availability of the ivory may make finding gifts according to the traditional theme quite a challenge. But armed with creativity and a spirit of innovation, you may still be able to come up with a meaningful gift for your beloved on your fourteenth anniversary.

1. Vintage ivory
   
   The ban on import of new ivory in many countries including the US makes vintage ivory the other alternative if you want to follow the traditional gifting theme to the letter. Objects d’ art made from vintage ivory are as exquisite in appearance as they are rare to find. However you can scour high end art stores, antique shops or auction houses to see if they have figurines, chess sets, decorative goblets, combs or any such items in ivory. The only problem with vintage ivory is that they may be quite unaffordable by many people.
    
2. Furniture
   
   If you are unable to find objects d’ art in ivory or their price seems completely out of range, you could also explore small items in furniture inlaid with ivory. During the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, several all rich families - and especially those with colonial connections to Africa – had small pieces of wooden furniture which were decorated with inlaid ivory. Old pianos are another option if you want to get something for your spouse with genuine ivory since the piano keys in earlier times would usually be made of ivory. Some of these may have made their way to antique stores in the present century and if you are lucky you may actually stumble upon such a piece on your sojourns.
    
3. Alternatives
   
   If vintage ivory appears to be beyond your budget or if you don’t want to own the material at all because of ethical reasons, you could look at ivory alternatives for a fourteenth anniversary gift ideas.  Bone and teeth are some other materials very similar to ivory in appearance as well as physiology. The indigenous American craft of scrimshaw in fact produced several beautiful works of carved or pierced bone or ivory as well as beautiful etchings of whaling scenes and the sea life made on them. You can still find scrimshaw artists who use legally available materials for their art like walrus teeth which are shed periodically or walrus tusks collected by Eskimos, piano keys which are actually ‘recycled’ elephant ivory or naturally-shed moose, deer and elk antlers.
   
   
    
4. Vegetable alternatives
   
   However if you want to steer clear of all animal origin products, there are still alternatives to ivory from vegetable sources. Some palm nuts like the tagua nut and the areca nut have been used as materials for arts and crafts for many years and the products included Buttons, toys, umbrella handles. Yet another source is the inner seed of the South American ivory palm. However due to the small dimensions of the original material, the finished products cannot be larger than a particular size. In any case, these seeds lend themselves well to decorative carvings of thimble cases, small jewelry boxes, ash trays and other knick knacks as well as miniature artistic sculptures of animals, humans and objects. You can search online for various resources which would tell you where to look for such products and this way you can have a truly unusual fourteenth anniversary gift for your spouse.
    
5. Travel
   
   For a refreshing take on the ivory theme of fourteenth wedding anniversary gifts, how about booking a trip to Africa, The land of the African elephant and the source of most of the elephant ivory. Enjoy viewing these majestic animals in safaris at the South African Kruger National Park or at Botswana’s Okovango Delta. There are also some elephant-backed safaris which include interactions with elephants as well even though these are unlikely to be the wild ones. Whatever the specificities, you are sure to come back from your “ivory” themed safaris full of admiration for this gentle giant of a creature as well as refreshed enough to begin the other half of the second decade of your married life.
    
6. Jewelry
   
   The modern gifting convention for fourteenth marriage anniversaries is gold jewelry and this more than makes up for the limited gifting options presented by the traditional theme of ivory and its alternatives. Gold lends itself to innumerable options in jewelry – it can be used by itself as in rings, necklaces, bracelets and ear rings or set with precious stones like diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires. In fact you can also opt of a yellow or white finish in gold jewelry. When buying for your spouse, keep in mind the kind of jewelry he/she likes to wear. If your wife is fond of antique jewelry, look for pieces like pendants and lockets which exude an old world charm. On the other hand, some women may be more partial to the clean and uncomplicated designs of contemporary jewelry. Gold is one metal which makes it easier to shop for men’s jewelry too. While cuff links and tie pins use a lot of white gold, rings are better suited to yellow gold finish and might be a good gift idea if you are planning to renew your marriage vows on your fourteenth wedding anniversary.
    
7. Flower Bouquet
   
   For a more sentimental offering to your beloved, you could settle for an anniversary bouquet of dahlias. The dahlia is the traditional flower for fourteenth wedding anniversaries and luckily this gorgeous bloom comes in varying colors of red, yellow, pink, magenta, maroon and fiery orange.

Buying anniversary gifts for a spouse is so much more about picking something of the right size and from a budget. It shows that you care about your partner’s likes and interests and don’t mind investing time and effort to find something that would gladden his/her heart as well as express your love on this special day.