Some people love hosting; they really do. It doesn’t stress them out when the ice cream cake melts, the wreath doesn’t show up in the mail on time, the wine has gone off or the best glassware breaks. They laugh it off.
For the rest of us, hosting a holiday party can be stressful! An elegant, timeless touch is to send a gift in advance. Instead of handing your host flowers that must be trimmed and put in water—”where’s the vase?!”—when you walk in, giving them yet one more thing to handle, send them in advance. They can enjoy them prior to your arrival, smiling when they see them. If you time it right, you’ve handed them a centerpiece. There are other host gift ideas that don’t go out of style, either. Here they are.
1. Cheese
The best guests leave it entirely at their host’s discretion whether or not to share their gift the day of the party. Excellent cheese can go both ways: This Jasper Hill collection of favorites, including award-winning, woodsy Harbison and Bayley Hazen Blue, is incredible. Your host can dig into it as supper the nights prior to the event, or serve it up for the party. (If they do the latter, you’ve saved them a frantic run to the store during the holidays… plus you get to sample the cheese. Win-win.)
2. Wine
Where there is cheese, there must (more often than not) be wine. We offer both wine subscriptions and single-bottle options, in our Bottle Shop. A delivery of a trio of your favorites is one of the classiest moves around.
3. Cocktail Napkins
Family or a bestie hosting? You know their taste, and can go for it with something suited to their style, like cocktail napkins. We love these gold-edged ones, but these blue and white Marlo Thomas numbers are also snazzy as all get out. Pick your poison.
4. Holiday Serving Platter
Some loved ones are partial to Everything Seasonal. They’ve always got tchotchkes for Hanukkah, Halloween, Valentine’s Day and everything else. So consider what they love, and pick out a stunning holiday serving platter for them. Just look at this sweet woodland berry number!
5. Holiday Greenery
Yes, you could send a bouquet, which is always lovely. OR…you could send a festive wreath or garland crafted by celebrity florist and man about towns (a resident of both L.A. and Paris), Jeff Leatham. A doorway, mantle or staircase may be the customary spots for holiday greenery, yet set on a table or buffet with a golden metal hurricane in the center, Jeff’s fresh wreaths and garland spell P-A-R-T-Y.
6. Gingerbread House
If your host has a sweet tooth or offspring, rest assured that a gingerbread house will go over well! For hosts short on time, consider the gift of time in the form of a pre-assembled, still-delicious gingerbread house. Otherwise, our DIY options are blow-the-candied-roof-off cute.
7. Holiday Cake
Know for a fact that they love to host, but hate to bake? Send a holiday-themed cake, a gorgeous cake, that they can either eat before you get there or serve for the fete itself. We also love these Georgetown Cupcakes, which come in a pink, Christmas-tree-shaped box.
8. Party in a Box
Send something that has nothing to do with you, or with the party. Send a party in a box! Perhaps this Martini gift crate, aka a Cocktail Party in a box? It’s a “just-add-gin-or-vodka” situation; the reusable wooden gift crate contains everything the home mixologist needs to shake up a batch of martinis – and serve them in style. We’ve also got the gingerbread cookie decorating party your host might find cute, and an adorable “pasta party” box.
9. Flowers
“Happiness is to hold flowers in both hands,” goes the expression. We couldn’t agree more. Our fresh and dried flower deliveries have been a hit with our readers.
11. Christmas in a Cup
Send Trisha Yearwood’s Christmas in a Cup and you’ll be spreading cheer all season long. Pre-mixed with notes of pomegranate and cranberry, the cocktail mix is the one of the best shortcuts to stellar holiday drinks. Trisha shares a few of the best ways to use it in this video.
11. A Holiday Candle
If your host is the one who always has a diffuser going, check out our incredible assortment of holiday candles, votives, diffusers and décor. (We’re particularly partial to the glimmering, wintry Let It Snow frosted clove candle and our bestselling Meyer Lemon diffuser.)