Birthday Gifts
Introduction
Birthdays are the perfect occasion to give someone you know well a nice, beautiful gift that shows you care about them. It is also polite and charming to give someone you do not know so well a little something to show you remembered their birthday and that you respect and value them. You can vary your gift according to the person and their preferences if you know them well, but if you do not, then it is best to give a universally accepted and classic gift that is bound to put a smile on anyone’s face.
The classic gifts
Amongst the typical birthday gifts are flowers, champagne or some kind of wine, chocolate and maybe food baskets. The recipient of such a gift will not remember your gift as being the most outstanding and amazing one they ever received, but it will almost invariably make them happy and very grateful you went to the trouble of giving them something. If you have time, go to the florist’s yourself and choose exactly which flowers you want, or else choose a preformed bouquet, either at the florist’s or online. If you do order flowers online, make sure they will arrive the right day and choose a trustworthy online florist. As a general rule, stay away from red roses as in flower language, they send a powerful message, unless of course the recipient of your birthday gift is your lover, partner or spouse.
Buy a nice, big, bright and colorful bunch of flowers that will illuminate the recipient’s home for days. For alcohol, choose something classy, like a Veuve Clicquot or Moet and Chandon for champagne. If you offer wine, make sure it is good quality, but also find out whether the birthday boy or girl prefers red or white, dry or sweet etc. For chocolate, you can go to a specialized shop and select tasteful pralines yourself, or you can put together an order online and have it sent to them. Most good chocolatiers will create the perfect present based on your requirements and needs. It could be a chocolate figure of something your birthday gift recipient loves, or a couple of truffles that spell out ‘Happy Birthday!’.
If you want to make it a food basket, buy the chocolate and the alcohol, add a couple of fresh fruits that look particularly juicy just the day before the present is to be given, maybe a nice crispy bread loaf baked the very morning of said day, and a selection of cheeses and meats. Presentation is everything, so find nice covers for everything, make sure the bottle of alcohol looks nice, find a nice basket and if you need to, find nice wrapping paper and wrap your presents carefully, or put them in a pretty bag.
More personal gifts
If you know the recipient of the birthday gift well, you can be more considerate. If you know of any hobbies the person has, buy something related to that, maybe a book or some accessories they need to pursue it. If they have a favorite writer, a beautifully bound collection of that writer’s work is a perfect present. You might also know of any food or drink preferences they have so if they particularly love some kind of food or drink, get it for them if you can. If they are a close friend, get them a photo shoot together or maybe a photo album with pictures of all the things you lived through together.
You can also bake them a birthday cake – if you are good at that sort of thing; if you think it might end with you burning down your kitchen, then find an alternative – because that shows that you went to some personal effort and put some time into your present. If they love a particular country or originate from somewhere exotic, offer them something related to that place. Inviting someone out for a meal at a nice restaurant and giving them just a small additional present makes for a very enjoyable evening. It will enable you to catch up with the person celebrating their birthday while at the same time being a kind and considerate gift to them.