How to choose the perfect gift

By Catalogs Editorial Staff

Tips for how to choose the perfect gift for any occasion and any person

Figuring out how to choose the perfect gift can seem like a daunting task. For most people, choosing that gift is more than just giving someone something in order to get it out of the way.

You want the person who received the gift to like it and know that you actually put some thought into the choice. The ability to make the right choice gets even harder when you take into account all the different situations that call for gifts these days. Quite a few of these events actually have guidelines that can come to your aid a little bit but even if you are able to boil the choices down you still have to make the final call.

Mother and Father’s Day

So you want to give your mom or dad the perfect gift. You want to show them that you care about them and you want to say thank you for being your parents, without breaking the bank. What do you get people who seemingly have everything?

Of course the first thing you want to do is take their interests into account. If your mom is the kind of person who loves to spend time tending to her vegetable garden or making sure her rose bushes are just so, there are a couple of different ways you can go. While vegetable seeds or a nice planter might be appreciated, you probably want to also present these in a way that has some sentimentality. Luckily for you there are gardening gift baskets that will allow you to celebrate her interests while wrapping it up in a nice bow and making it look more like a gift, than just a functional item.

Gift baskets certainly aren’t a particularly new idea in the gift giving world, but there are more and more different kinds of gift baskets, and the sheer number of different kinds is helping people who are trying to find out how to choose the perfect solve their problems.

For dad, there are all kinds of great gifts you can get, but in the end this too is going to come down to their interests. Golf clubs, shirts and other accessories have long been a favorite, but what if your dad doesn’t golf? If they like to be outside on the grill, there are also gift baskets that will fit their wants and needs there as well.

Weddings and Wedding Receptions

We all know that it can be somewhat difficult when it comes to choosing a wedding present, but these days we usually have six or seven different wedding registries we can use as guides. The real difficulty these days is in knowing how to choose the perfect gift when it comes to the wedding party.

You want to say thank you and show that you truly appreciate them being there for your big day but these presents are generally not too extravagant. It seems that gifts that center around drinking are a traditional groomsmen gift. Flasks or shot glasses have always been a go-to gift, but you are again going to have to tailor your gifts towards the people in your party. This is a group of people you should know well enough to know whether or not a flask is going to fall flat.

Birthdays&Christmas

Birthdays and Christmases might be the single most hardest holidays to shop for when it comes to getting a gift you know they’ll like. Going with something they don’t see everyday is probably going to be the best rule of thumb. Of course you don’t want to spend all your time and energy looking for something truly unique and come away with something you know they probably won’t like.

When it comes to getting a gift for someone you don’t know all that well you actually should probably err on the side of caution. Lots of offices have Christmas parties where everyone exchanges gifts. Tailor your gift to something almost anyone would like, stay away from booze and food. Go with gift cards from Target, Best Buy or another of the big chain stores. This way those who get the gift can choose what they want.