What is the traditional 40th anniversary gift?

Ruby. Forty years of marriage is known as the ruby anniversary.

Can the song mention their grandchildren by name?

Yes. List them in one of your lines; the lyrics can name a few, while the chorus stays on the couple.

Who should play it at a ruby anniversary party?

Whoever gives the last toast. Ask them to press play right after, while everyone is already listening.

Can we make a 40th anniversary song as a surprise for both of them?

Yes. The song is sent only to you, so you can keep it quiet until the party and play it for both of them at once.

Ruby anniversary

Forty years is a whole adult life side by side. Ruby: something that went through the heat and came out stronger.

A 40th anniversary song for a ruby anniversary

Forty years is a whole adult life spent side by side. A ruby anniversary song can travel from the wedding photos to the grandchildren in two verses, and it gives the family something to gather around when the speeches run out.

Hear the second a name lands

Nguyen, you are the anchor of my life.

You wrote“Drove a taxi in Houston for twenty years and never missed one of my soccer games.”

The song singsYou drove that Houston taxi day and night, but you made every soccer game look bright.

From a real song made here: “My Anchor, Nguyen”, for Nguyen, from what his daughter typed.

The moment you give it

The waiters are in on it. Between courses the room hears a song about the jobs they worked, the houses they moved through and the children who are sitting at the table listening to it.

Ruby anniversary dinner · table for twelve

Forty years of them

The restaurant where they had their first date

Reservation held since the first date. Party of two, plus family.

Start with one memory

Pick a question. The form opens with your first line already started.

Listen to an anniversary song first

A real anniversary song made on this site, ten years in rather than forty, unedited.

Ten Octobers with You

for Saoirse · wife · Anniversary · Acoustic pop

We met on a rainy platform in Cork in 2016. She lent me her umbrella and kept it for a year. Every Sunday she sings to the dog, Murphy, while the toast burns. Ten years this October.

1:55

Sweeter Than Cocoa

for Claire · wife · Christmas · Upbeat pop

Claire puts the tree up the day after Thanksgiving, no exceptions. We got engaged at the Christmas market in Chicago in 2019. She makes hot chocolate with way too many marshmallows.

1:55

What you get for $12.99

You hear it first, free. You pay once, only if you keep it.

Free preview: The first 60 seconds, ready in about two minutes after you enter your email. No card.
The song: The full song, about two minutes long, as an MP3 to download and keep.
Lyrics: Every line is on the preview page before you pay. Unlocking adds the lyric sheet, to print or save as a PDF.
Their link: A private link that plays the whole song without an account, with your name and a short note. Switch it off any time.
Photo video: Free: a vertical 9:16 photo video of your photos with the lyrics on screen, plus 15- and 30-second cuts. Made in your browser.
The name: Unusual name? Type how to say it (SEER-sha for Saoirse) and the singer says it that way.
Re-record: One free re-record per song: change a line, the style or the voice and record it again.
Name sung wrong?: After you pay, a free remake with the name fixed, once per song.
Languages: Sung in English, German, French, Spanish or Japanese.
Teaser: Before you pay, a 15-second teaser link that tells them a song is on its way.
For this song: Making an anniversary video? Download the MP3 and lay it under your own clips, or let the free photo video set your photos to it.
: Want a nudge next year? Opt in and we email you three weeks and one week before the date.

Ruby, the 40th anniversary gift

Ruby is the traditional gift for forty years of marriage, and forty years is known as the ruby anniversary. Red flowers and a ruby ring are the usual choices; a song with the wedding story in it is one nobody else at the party will bring, and it costs far less than the ring.

What to write about forty years

The neighbors, friends or church community who have known them the whole forty years.
Where they married, and who is in the wedding photo that is still alive to hear the song.
The jobs, the moves and the house that became the family home.
The children, and now maybe the grandchildren.
One phrase one of them says to the other every day.
A trip, a storm or a scare that the family still tells stories about.

For example

A son writing for his parents' fortieth might type:

Ruth and Walter married in Duluth in 1986 and honeymooned in a borrowed camper.
Dad built the porch swing where they still sit every evening.
They have five grandkids and know every one of their soccer schedules.

Making it easy to hear

For guests of every age, choose a clear voice and a slower style such as piano ballad or country, and play it through a proper speaker rather than a phone.