Diamond wedding anniversary: marking 60 years of marriage

People married for sixty years are usually in their eighties. What they want from the day tends to be modest: family, a few familiar faces, not too much fuss. The planning is less about the party than about energy, hearing and short distances.

This guide explains the name, shows how to organise a day that suits the couple and sets out how to request official congratulations in each country, including the card from the King. It also has six wishes to adapt, gift ideas, an invitation and the special cases that are more common at sixty than at any earlier anniversary. The other years are in wedding anniversary names by year.

Diamond is the 60th on the traditional British and American lists and on the modern American list. Older sources sometimes gave diamond to the 75th instead, and some lists still repeat it there; today, a diamond wedding means sixty years almost everywhere, with platinum following at seventy.

The image is the strongest in the whole series. Diamond is carbon in crystal form and the hardest natural material known, at the top of the Mohs scale. Its name goes back through Latin to the Greek adamas, meaning unbreakable or untamed. After silver, which needs polishing, and the golden anniversary, whose metal does not tarnish, diamond stands for something that almost nothing can harm.

Couples who married in 1966 celebrate their diamond anniversary in 2026. After it come the 65th, the blue sapphire anniversary, and the 70th, platinum. In the UK, Canada and Australia the 60th is also the first anniversary for which the King sends a message; how to request it is explained in section 3.

Whether and how to celebrate is for the couple to decide. Often the wish is modest: the family and a few familiar people. What works:

• Time of day: lunch or afternoon tea in the early afternoon. Two to three hours is enough; an open end is fine as long as nobody feels obliged to stay.
• Place: their own home, the restaurant around the corner or the lounge of the care home. Short distances beat any beautiful setting.
• Guest list: better twelve people the couple can actually talk to than forty they can only greet.
• Programme: a short speech, one photograph of all the generations, perhaps a song. Great-grandchildren, where there are any, are a programme by themselves.
• Hearing: anyone with a hearing aid understands far more in a quiet room with few tables. Keep music low or for the breaks.

A blessing or a short service can be a lovely element. Ask the parish or minister whether it can take place at home or in the care home; the Church of England's thanksgiving for marriage can be kept very small, and several US Catholic dioceses invite couples married sixty years or more to their annual anniversary Mass. How to guide older people through a festive day, with breaks, seats and short walks, is covered in getting older guests through a long day; for a renewal of vows in a small circle, see renewing your wedding vows.

The 60th is the anniversary with the most official recognition, but none of it arrives automatically. Everything below has to be requested; the rules as published in September 2026:

Local councils sometimes add their own touch. In Scotland, for example, South Lanarkshire's Provost offers to visit couples celebrating sixty years with flowers and a commemorative scroll, planned around six weeks ahead; other councils have similar customs, so it is worth asking the civic or Provost's office.

In practice the paperwork is often done by the children, who should first ask the couple whether they want a card or a visit at all. Keep the marriage certificate ready and put the dates in a calendar: in the UK, the online window for the King's card only opens five weeks before the day.

At sixty years, what matters most is that the greeting reaches them: easy to read, personal and not too long. Templates to adapt:

• From the children: "Dear Mum and Dad, sixty years: we haven't even known you that long, and yet we've felt every one of them. Thank you for a home that still holds us all together. Happy diamond anniversary."
• From the grandchildren: "Dear Grandma and Grandpa, when you got married, our parents weren't even born. And still the most important thing we know, that you stick together, we learned from you. We're so proud of you."
• From a great-grandchild, written with help: "Dear Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa, you've been married for sixty years. I'm six. That's ten times as long! Love you."
• From friends or neighbours: "Dear Joan and Peter, sixty years together: we take our hats off to you. We wish you a day full of good memories and many more happy hours with each other."
• Formal, from a club or congregation: "On behalf of everyone at St Mary's, warmest congratulations on your diamond wedding anniversary. Sixty years together is a rare gift, and we wish you health, contentment and time for each other."
• Short, for a card: "Sixty years, and as unbreakable as a diamond. Congratulations!"

More texts that adapt easily to sixty years are in the anniversary wishes. How to build the card is explained in what to write in a wedding card; at this age, write large and in dark ink.

After sixty years, many couples want visits, help and memories rather than things. Three tiers as a guide; the amounts are rough ranges:

• Under about $40 or £30: a large print of the wedding photograph, freshly framed; a cake from the family recipe; a voucher for an afternoon together.
• About $40 to $150, or £30 to £120: a photo book with big pictures and short captions in large print, a digital photo frame the family can fill from afar, an outing with transport arranged.
• More, or as a family: help in the house for a few months, a portrait of all the generations by a photographer, a contribution to an aid that makes daily life easier.

Diamond jewellery is possible, and a small piece with meaning often pleases more than a large one, such as a pendant with a tiny stone and both dates. Laboratory-grown diamonds have the same physical properties as mined ones; in the US, the Federal Trade Commission's guides require them to be clearly described as laboratory-grown or laboratory-created, so the label tells you what you are buying.

If the children host, the invitation might read: "Sixty years married: our parents Joan and Peter are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary. Please join us for afternoon tea on Saturday 3 October at 2.30 pm at The Riverside Café. Let us know by 19 September so we can keep enough seats close to them."

And the special cases, which are more common at sixty than at any earlier anniversary:

• Only one partner is still alive. Then the day is mainly one of remembrance. A visit, a look through the wedding album together or, if wanted, a trip to the grave usually means more than any present.
• One partner is in a care home. Celebrate where the two can be together, and ask the home early about space, mealtimes and rest periods. For official cards, give the address where they should arrive.
• Dementia. Small groups, familiar faces, and no "do you remember?" questions that expose gaps. The healthy partner needs particular attention that day.
• No party wanted. Then a card, a phone call and a short visit are enough, and official greetings are best left unrequested unless the couple agrees.