Our top tips for buying that Perfect Christmas gift for couples

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with buying a combined present for a couple. 

On the odd occasion Mrs Romance has fretted about whether to buy two individual presents, worrying that getting a combined gift looks cheap or slack, I’ve had to console her.

There are so many reasons for buying a couples present is appropriate – not to mention attractive. Sure, you’re saving lots of money and head space on buying one useful or meaningful or even funny gift for two of your good friends, who just happen to cohabit.

Getting a couples gift is a good way of showing you know them both well. It also means you’re buying something for both your friends to enjoy together.

I’m not talking a carbon copy bottle of wine or a Christmas hamper. I mean these are good things to give friends, but if you want your couples present to mean something, you need to think a bit more outside the gift box.

Here are some ideas we’ve had – and one’s we wouldn’t mind receiving either!

Glassware

Okay, so a bottle of wine (unless it’s a bottle that has particular significance like the wine they had at their wedding reception or something) isn’t going to cut it. But a nice decanter can work well as a gift.

Champagne flutes or a nice set of wine glasses are great to open on December 25th.

Reidel is a good glassware brand to start with.

Cookware and crockery

Don’t think that cookware is only a housewarming or wedding present. It’s still well-received – especially if the couple likes to cook. Or one likes to cook and the other likes to eat!

We love these heart-shaped earthenware oven dishes from notonthehighstreet.com or a Le Creusier pot is a classic and will be much appreciated.

Fun stuff

His-and-hers sets can be fun – espeicially if they’re done well. Don’t just go for the embroidered towel sets, this My Side, Your Side pillow case set I found on notonthehighstreet.com [LINK] is a lot of fun. And accurate!

Movie tickets

I have an agreement with my sister where we buy each other a pair of movie tickets or cinema vouchers for Christmas. They’re perfect as the cinema handles delivery (she still lives in England), and in Australia we have luxe end cinemas like Gold Class.

We love Gold Class – and not just because you can have good food and drink delivered to your reclining leather armchair. You’re also less likely to have the usual idiots talking and answering their phones during the film.

Cinema tickets like these are excellent couples gifts.

Gold Class, by the way: perfect date night option!

Couples Experiences

The notion of a couples experience can sound a bit naff, but a couples massage or a beach picnic for two doesn’t, does it? You can get these types of experiences online through sites like mraristotle.com.

Photobooks.

Gone are the days where you’d have to beg, borrow, steal and use spy cameras to get enough hard-copy images to fill a photo album. Companies like Blurb.com take digital images – including pics from Instagram – and turn them into high-quality photo books.

You can choose from hard and soft cover, and the site’s easy to use too.

Food

Bringing food to the party will always make sure you’re popular. If you bring it on a nice platter your friends can keep, hey presto, that’s Christmas done with. It’s a nice way to make a fairly run-of-the-mill serving plate gift suddenly more personal.

Candles

My views on candles are well-known but Mrs Romance insists that they make a good couples gift. Okay, once they’re burning and making the place smell nice, I’m happy enough though I still don’t appreciate the cost vs value aspect of candles.

I suppose a good rule of thumb is to ask each other what would you be happy receiving. If you both agree that what you’re about to buy your friends would make you both smile, you’re onto a winner. They’re your friends after all!

Do you have some good ideas for presents for couples? Tell us about them in the comments below!

—

Not sure what to get your man? Here are Mr Romance’s insider secrets for your man’s Christmas wish list.

And if you’re stuck for a secret Santa present  for colleagues, friends and family, Sonia from SoniaStyling.com has some excellent ideas.

Here’s her post on Secret Santa gifts for under $30.