What to Buy a Man for a 30th Wedding Anniversary?

"Wow, you've been married a long time if you're celebrating the 30th Anniversary.  Well done and big congratulations!" said I! Now, what to recommend?  This would, I thought, be a lot easier if it were the other way round.  Pearl earrings or a pearl necklace, right?  Or a pretty engraved pearl pen.

"Does it have to be pearl?"  "Maybe it could be mother of pearl?" For those of you who may not know the difference... both types are made from a substance called 'nacre'.  Mother of pearl is formed in the shell linings and true pearl is formed when a foreign body is enclosed within a shell. So a true pearl comes in a round shape whereas a Mother of Pearl has the shape of the shell where it is formed.  This is why so often we see mother of pearl featured everywhere, even in dinner sets and cutlery!

"We have a beautiful set of mother of pearl cufflinks which can be engraved and are available for next day delivery" I advised.

"Well no, that's not appropriate as my husband doesn't wear shirts!  Do you have anything else?"

Quickly, trying to think a bit more laterally, I suggested... "perhaps you could give a lovely notebook, so that he could record all those pearls of wisdom of his".  This raised a laugh, but still not appropriate.

"Is he a beer lover, or a wine lover"?  "Perhaps we could personalise the label for you, so that it incorporates the wording: "Happy 30th Anniversary"?

The customer declined all suggestions now and thanked me for my time.

I'm happy to say though, that she rang later in the day to say that yes, could we make something up!  She ended up buying a bottle of red wine with a personalised 30th Anniversary wine label included. She also added a luxury box of chocolates, both of which we presented in a wicker hamper style basket.

As for all enquiries and suggestions we receive, the gift we sent is soon to appear on our website as a ready to buy gift.