40th Anniversary Wishes: 55+ Messages for the Ruby Anniversary

Forty years is the ruby anniversary, and by this point a marriage has usually raised a family, buried parents, and survived at least one thing nobody talks about. Here are 55+ original messages.

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Quick 40th anniversary wishes

1. Happy 40th anniversary! Forty years — congratulations.
2. Congratulations on your ruby anniversary!
3. Happy anniversary — forty years is a remarkable thing.
4. Forty years! Congratulations to you both.
5. Happy 40th! What an achievement.
6. Congratulations on four decades together.
7. Happy anniversary! Forty years and still going strong.
8. Happy ruby anniversary to a wonderful pair.
9. Congratulations! Forty years suits you both.
10. Happy anniversary! What a forty years it has been.
11. Congratulations on forty remarkable years.
12. Happy 40th! Thoroughly deserved celebrations.

For your partner

1. Happy fortieth, love. Forty years and I would not change a single decision.
2. Happy anniversary! Four decades in and you are still the person I want beside me.
3. Happy 40th, love. We built all of this. I am proud of every bit.
4. Happy anniversary! Forty years, and the quiet evenings are the best part now.
5. Happy 40th anniversary. Still choosing you, after all this time.
6. Happy anniversary, love. Forty years of you making everything easier.
7. Happy 40th! The house is quieter and I am glad it is you in it.
8. Happy anniversary! We have been through a great deal and here we still are.
9. Happy 40th, love. Best forty years anyone has had.
10. Happy anniversary! Here is to whatever comes next, together.

Heartfelt messages for a couple

1. Happy 40th anniversary. Four decades of choosing each other through everything life sent.
2. Congratulations on forty years! A whole family exists because of a decision you made in 1986.
3. Happy ruby anniversary! Forty years of the unglamorous work that makes a marriage last.
4. Congratulations on four decades together. You two are the standard this family measures itself against.
5. Happy anniversary! Forty years and you still finish each other’s sentences.
6. Congratulations! Forty years in and you have grown alongside each other rather than apart.
7. Happy 40th! You have made something that will outlast all of us.
8. Congratulations on forty years — earned, every one of them.
9. Happy anniversary! Four decades is not luck. It is work, and it shows.
10. Congratulations on a marriage that has become an institution.

Funny 40th anniversary messages

1. Happy 40th! Four decades and neither of you has cracked. Genuinely remarkable.
2. Congratulations on forty years of one shared remote control.
3. Happy anniversary! Forty years, and you still argue about the route.
4. Happy 40th! Ruby is traditional. So is Dad forgetting until this morning.
5. Congratulations! Forty years of coordinated survival.
6. Happy anniversary! Four decades of pretending each other’s stories are new.
7. Happy 40th! You have outlasted several governments and every appliance you ever bought.
8. Congratulations on forty years of splitting the last slice.

From children and grandchildren

1. Happy 40th anniversary, Mum and Dad. Forty years and the best example we could have had.
2. Congratulations on forty years! Growing up around this marriage set the bar high.
3. Happy ruby anniversary to the pair of you. Thank you for the home you built.
4. Congratulations! Four decades, three children, and a great deal of patience.
5. Happy 40th! The grandchildren adore you both exactly as much as we did.
6. Happy anniversary, Mum and Dad. Proud of you both today.
7. Congratulations on forty years — we were watching the whole time and we learned plenty.
8. Happy 40th! Enjoy this one. You have earned every bit of it.

Short messages

1. Happy 40th anniversary!
2. Four decades — congratulations!
3. Happy ruby anniversary!
4. Forty years of you two!
5. Congratulations on forty years.
6. Happy 40th! Here is to more.
7. Forty remarkable years.
8. Happy anniversary!
9. Congratulations to you both!
10. Forty down, many to go.

What to write

1. Say the number and call it ruby. Milestone anniversaries deserve their name.
2. Point at what four decades produced. Children, grandchildren, a home, a reputation.
3. Acknowledge the hard parts. Forty years contains loss, and pretending otherwise rings hollow.
4. Look forward as well. Many couples at forty years are only now getting their time back.

Send it — and pair it with a gift

A free anniversary ecard arrives on the day. See also 30th anniversary wishes and 50th anniversary wishes:

FAQ

What do you write for a 40th anniversary?

Name the four decades, mention the family and home built during them, and acknowledge the work involved. Then look forward.

What is the traditional 40th anniversary gift?

Ruby — the best-known of the later anniversary stones and an easy card reference.

Is forty years a big anniversary?

Yes. Ruby is one of the named milestones and usually gets a proper gathering.

What do children write to their parents?

Thank them for the home they built. See anniversary wishes for parents for more.

What is a good short message?

“Happy ruby anniversary! Forty years — congratulations.”

What if one of them is unwell?

Keep it warm and present-tense, celebrate the marriage as it is now, and avoid anything with a valedictory tone.

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