Gifts to Leave Your Loved Ones Speechless
The importance of gifts lays in both the giver and the recipient, since it’s a special kind of communication. It can show love, appreciation, care, it can say “thank you”, it can say “forgive me” or anything you want it to say. But, most importantly, both receiving and giving gifts brings joy and a better state of mind. When we receive gifts, we feel cared for, loved, appreciated, or simply put – happy.
Gift giving is a form of expression, like language or art. And just like with them, it can often take time to develop the skill. Gifts create and reinforce relationships, put smiles on people’s faces, making them happy, mark important milestones, celebrate significant moments etc.
In fact, they make people so happy, that there are whole industries built on them. The bad news is that because of that, the choices for gifts are crazy vast, but the good news is that, thanks to that, looking at your options has never been easier.
Practical and Unique Gifts
Gifts to be seen
Items that can be incorporated into your loved one home, are always a great gift idea. Firstly, if you don’t already know their taste, try to learn as much as you can. Afterwards you’ll be able to easily find unique online gifts. Decorative homeware gifts, such as fragrance items, candle holders, wall hanging decorations, art or clocks, decorative mug, magnet, trinket dish or any other nice addition to their home, can be great choices for any occasion and for anyone.
The idea is to give a gift that can be seen by your loved one often, reminding them of you and your moments together, and the special occasion they celebrated.
Gifts to be used
You could also go for more useful giftware, such as luxurious, elegant kitchenware, bathroom accessories, pots, unique toys for kids, jewellery box, games or any other home gifts; beauty and health gifts, like cosmetics; or practical gifts they can use outside of their home, like travel items for a going-away gift, a multi tool for camping trips; gifts for specific occasions, like christmas decorations etc.
Many of them can not only be valued because of their practicality, but, similarly to decorative items, they can be a visually pleasing addition to your loved one’s home.
The idea, in this case, is to provide your loved one with something you know they need, and preferably they don’t already have, if it has a very specific use, with items like wine glasses or kitchen appliances for example.
Gifts to create memories
Gifts don’t have to be palpable or practical like homeware gifts or gifts with specific purpose to be appreciated. Sometimes the addition to your loved one’s home can be a simple photography of a moment you’ve shared together – on a travel adventure, a camping trip, a fancy dinner, a picnic in a park… or, if your gift is a plan that doesn’t include you, it can be in a form of a beautiful card with a nice dedication you’ve written to express your intent, your love or your gratitude.
History and Origin of Gift Giving
One can argue that gift giving is inherited, considering that it’s existent throughout the animal kingdom. However, there is a clear path in history between what comes from inside – the beginning of giving gifts –, and the elaborate presents of today.
So, gift giving is a practice that originates from the beginning of our existence. Humans were exchanging gifts, when tools, money or civilisations were something far ahead in the future, and concepts like ordering online gifts and credit cards were something completely inconceivable.
Cavemen would gift each other animal teeth or oddly shaped stones. As time went by, even then, with their primitive tools they started reshaping those little objects found in nature, to give them as jewellery. In early cultures, tribes, cults… people not only exchanged gifts on some occasions, but objects, food, and sometimes even blood sacrifices were offered as gifts to their totems, animals, spirits or gods as offerings, for fruitfulness, luck, protection etc.
With civilisation and creation of belief systems, gift-giving not only didn’t disappear, but it rather grew deep roots in many traditions, reaching today’s cultures, as a practice as ordinary as greeting people you know. Sumerian, Egyptian, Ancient Greek and Roman cultures continued the development of gift giving traditions. Though they would also gift gods, people becoming gods, like the Egyptian pharaohs, giving gifts for celebrations was becoming part of different customs and rituals.
Gift-giving practices continued in similar forms in Christianity, and have remained there until today. So, by the Medieval age, gifts were expressing many different messages, and today they can be anything, from religious traditions, offerings for forgiveness, all the way to any occasion considered special.
From rocks to online gifts, offerings seem to be a constant in our species. So, it’s understandable if we simply can’t imagine a world without gifts, because ours never was.
How to Choose the Right Gift?
There are many reasons people give gifts, and almost anything can be considered a gift giving opportunity. A friend finished their studies, it’s your brother’s birthday, a relative is getting married, someone you love is moving into a new place.
We mostly buy gifts to fulfill obligations for specific occasions. Not that that is bad, or that it doesn’t show love and appreciation, but the real pleasure from gift giving comes when we buy a gift specifically for the recipient.
Jewellery shops, bookstores, homeware stores, boutiques, the places to buy a gift are endless, and what’s more, you can even look through huge numbers of giftware, from the comfiest place on earth – your living room, while learning about them much more than you possibly could in a store. The internet has changed the gift giving game.
Research
Gifts don’t have to be expansive, and sometimes it doesn’t even matter what they are. People often appreciate the gesture more than the present itself. But this doesn’t mean we should be lazy when we’re choosing gifts for our loved ones. Receiving a gift you love by a person you love is the perfect combination.
The best and easiest way to buy a present for celebrations like birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, moving in, or just because, is if you’ve picked up on your loved one’s wishes. If you know what they want, it’s pretty straightforward.
But if they haven’t said it, or you aren’t sure, there’re ways to make a good choice, even when you are in a hurry, and the feeling of obligation is suffocating you. Think about their likes and their needs. People give us hints about their preferences in conversations, in their styles, their lifestyle choices, their profession etc.
If you still don’t have an idea, do some online research. Homeware gifts, books, edible gifts, jewellery, technology, clothes are all good starting points for any occasion. The gift you are looking for is out there somewhere, waiting to be found.
Think it Through
Keep in mind that buying something you think someone needs is not always the best idea and may not even be received as a gift at all. For some people and occasions it’s better to choose gifts that lean more towards what a person wants, rather than towards what they could use. And the ideal gift may lay somewhere in between.
To make sure that you’ve found the ideal gift, ask yourself if what you’re thinking of buying will convey your message. Furthermore, consider your own preferences and feelings after you’ve formed a general idea about the present you want to buy.
For instance, if you’re buying a friend a gift for their new home, but you think their taste is too different than yours, try finding something in the middle: look for home gifts that “look like them”, but you don’t completely hate. This will make it feel more like a gift from you.
Often people will overdo gifts, thinking that when it comes to love, more is more. For instance, a very complicated book, as much as you like it, won’t be appreciated by anyone. Again, imagine you were receiving the gift, and try imagining their position. It would go something like this: your friends have a newborn, and you want to buy the child a teddy bear. You may feel like the biggest one will express how much you love them all, but imagine how you would feel if someone brought it into your home.
Lastly, something personal is a great finishing touch to a perfect gift. Accompany your gift with a card, for instance, with a dedication, a verse, or a sentence expressing your feelings or motive.