Our Advice for Gift Giving this Year

With gift-giving season just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about organising your to-do lists. We’ve put together a brief guide featuring our best gift advice, from finding the right present for each person to delivering it to their door.

Choosing the Perfect Gift

Gift giving can be a tricky business. When picking the gift, it’s important to match the present to the occasion as well as the recipient; a big birthday or a special anniversary typically calls for something more significant than a staff secret Santa or a just-because surprise. If the recipient is likely to receive gifts from others as well, it can help to coordinate so you can make sure gifts either complement each other (think tie and cufflinks, or a nice bottle of wine with some perfectly paired chocolates) or that they don’t overlap. You could even consider combining your gifts together to create one luxury gift set.

Of course, there are practical considerations that you need to account for as well. Make sure you work out your budget before you start shopping so you can narrow down your search accordingly. Giving yourself as much time as possible before the big day also means that you’ve got plenty of time to shop around and order online. This is particularly important if you’re looking at custom-made options that might need a little more lead time.

Picking a Gift for a Fussy Friend

Shopping for a friend with particular tastes can be difficult. Of course, the easiest option is to simply ask them what they want! Fussy recipients might prefer to have the option to select their own gift, and it can take a lot of pressure off the gift-giver. If you want to keep it a surprise, think about any special interests or hobbies they have. Are they a keen traveller? A chocoholic? Obsessed with a new Netflix show? Tailor your gift to things you already know they like.

You can also ask someone who knows them well for gift advice. Speak to their significant other, sibling, or best friend to get some tips on what they might like. They might be more likely to know if something has caught their eye recently or if there’s something they need.

Marking a Special Occasion

If you’re giving a gift for a special occasion, it can be nice to have something you can keep to look back on. Whether it’s a new-born’s first Christmas or a first wedding anniversary, a memorable gift can be a lovely way to mark the occasion.

Personalised gifts can be a great way to do this. You can have the gift engraved with a significant date or initials or add your own personal message to make them smile. You can also customise the gift by mix-and-matching the items you include to suit a theme. This might be a selection of foods from a country you visited together, a colour theme that you know is their favourite or items based around a book or film they love.

Group Gift Tips

A group gift can be a great way to make someone feel extra-special. You can coordinate their family and friends to get a gift with a much bigger budget that you know they’ll love. It also takes a lot of pressure off the gift-givers to try and come up with lots of individual idea – although make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to organise it all.

You can also do group gifts in reverse by choosing a gift for a couple, family or group of friends. Sharing hampers are a great way to do this, especially if you customise your own so you can add in treats that you know each person will love. It’s a popular option at Christmas, when a household might find they have more gifts than they know what to do with and shoppers have lists as long as their arms.

Giving the Gift

If you’re in the midst of organising your Christmas gifts and wondering how Santa does it all, you’re not alone. Delivering all your presents can be difficult, especially when there are restrictions on gatherings and lots of family members to get through. Having gifts delivered directly to recipients’ doors can be a great way to make sure everyone gets their presents on time. You can opt for gift-wrapping services and add gift cards to give each one a special touch, and we even offer the option to add personalised extras such as balloons or engravings.

Still not sure what to get?

If you’re still struggling for gift giving ideas or have someone particularly hard-to-buy-for on your list, consider a gift voucher. This allows them to choose their own present so they can guarantee they’ll get something they like. We offer gift vouchers for a range of budgets and your recipient can choose one of our ready-made baskets or customise their own with their favourite foods, drinks and treats.

From selecting the perfect present to getting it to the lucky recipient, gift giving is a busy business. Explore our full hamper range and let’s get started.