Presents for special occasions

Birthdays. Weddings. Anniversaries in general.
These are all joyful occasions. They are special for someone and can be a drag for everyone else because gifts are always a must and most of the times buying a present is a lot harder than it looks.

How do you know what present to buy for one of these happy occasions?

Birthdays
Birthdays are the most common event that one celebrates. Everyone has a date of birth, obviously. Whether it’s a mamber of your family, a friend or an annoying coleague you still have to hunt for a gift. How do you chose the perfect one?

Here are some tips on how to buy a gift that I learned over the years:

– if you know the person well you should already know what they like. If they are bookworms, buy a book. If they are tech-freaks, look for something techy.
In any case, knowing the birthday boy or girl is easier because they can give you hints on what they would like to put their hands on.

– if you don’t know the person that well don’t panic.
There are many gift ideas I found useful in this kind of situations.
1. a bottle of fine wine. If they don’t drink it themselves surely they would appreciate the gesture and they could keep it for another occasion or share it with everyone invited at the party.
2. chocolates. Who doesn’t apreciate chocolate? A box of fine chocolates is a great gift idea, you can’t go wrong there.
3. a huge flower bouquet. Well, that fits if it’s for a lady. Women love flowers and with a nice flower bouquet you make sure you make an impression.

Don’t go on buying personal gifts for persons you don’t know. They might not like the gift and it can get embarresing for both you and the birthday person.

Weddings
Well, these are so special, whatever you decide to offer as a gift will be rememberred forever. There are many countries that instead of buying a wedding present you could give the newlyweds a pile of money and be done with it. But that’s not always the case, especialy if you know the future husband and wife.

There are a few classic ideas that are still OK and are also practical:
– new tableware: plates, glasses etc. Just make sure they look hip. They might already have the classic white china so a few colored plates and funny glasses could be a nice wedding gift.
– glass knick-knacks or a nice painting to decorate the new home with. It’s a classic gift but make sure you find something that fits the newlyweds’ taste. Don’t get a knick-knack in the form of an elf if the new bride has a fear of them.
– photocamera or videocamera. These are the most practical gifts in my opinion. They rae not that traditional but they are very practical. Even if they already have a videocamera, now they can both have one for example. This goes well with a nice photoalbum on the side.

Anniversaries in general
Well, anniversaries are of different types: they can be wedding anniversaries, retirement anniversaries, important milestones etc.

For all these other type of celebrations, picking out a present is pretty hard but as I learned over the years, you can’t go wrong with a classic gift: bottle of wine for men, flowers for women, a nice card in every situation.

Ideas for a good gift are hard to think of, especially when you don’t know the celebrated person that well. I encounterred these type of situations a lot but I always managed to keep my head up and use the ideas above. They never failed me before and I think they won’t in the future either.