Ruby wedding anniversary gifts made from forty years

A personalised timeline print for Ray and Denise's ruby anniversary, their names in deep ruby and a red ribbon winding down the page

Ruby is the stone for forty years married and red is the obvious colour, but an actual ruby is rarely what a couple wants on the day. The prints here use the forty years instead. Each is made from details you type, and you approve the finished artwork before anything is printed.

Our own example is a ruby anniversary

The sample on the Our Story timeline print page was made for one: Ray and Denise, their names in deep ruby, with a red satin ribbon winding down the sheet through a heart at each moment from 1986 onwards. You can start from that example and type over it rather than from a blank page. Each moment takes a year and a line, and a picture appears as you type; tap it to choose from over thirty others. Three to sixteen moments fit, and the one or two that mattered most can print larger. The sign-off at the foot is yours to write.

What forty years of moments look like

Six to ten moments usually read better than twenty. A simple order that works for most couples: where they met, the wedding, the first home, each child, one ordinary favourite (the Sunday walk, the same cottage every August), and where they are now. Leave out anything visitors would need explained. Our anniversary timeline guide has more prompts.

The night they met, and the wedding night

The Moon print calculates the Moon's phase and tilt for a date and place, and one of our examples sets two Moons side by side: the night a couple met and the night they married, each with its own words. It needs only the dates. The phase barely changes over an evening, so an approximate time is fine. For the whole sky over the wedding venue instead, the star map print needs the place and, ideally, the time; leave the time blank and it draws ten at night and prints the date alone.

The year they married

A couple who married in 1986 reach forty years in 2026, and the front page print for 1986 is the one our own example shows, with Halley's Comet as its lead photograph and the year's stories, names and prices beneath. You write the banner. Because it covers the whole year rather than a single day, it still works if nobody is sure of the wedding date.

Which one, for whom

  • For parents, from their children: the timeline. You know the moments, and they will recognise every one.
  • For a husband or wife: the Moon print of the two nights, or the star map over the venue.
  • For a party where people gather round: the front page, which has the most to read.

If you want the red, start from the ruby example on the timeline page. Each print is made to order in the UK once the artwork is approved; the product page gives a delivery estimate to check against the anniversary date. For fifty years, see our golden wedding anniversary ideas, or browse all anniversary and couples prints.