EDGE Holiday Gift Guide :: Gifts for the host or hostess
Parties are fun; trying to figure out what to bring the host or hostess (that isn’t the typical bottle of random red wine), not so much. Good guests never show up empty handed (with a few exceptions; see below), but if you really want to be remembered- and perhaps invited back more often- you need to set yourself apart.
EDGE Style Editor Jason Salzenstein- along with the entire EDGE style team- has been searching stores and scouring the web to come up with our list of the best gifts for the host or hostess. Fabulous, festive, frugal, or fun, anything from the following list of ideas is sure to get you recognized- and hopefully remembered when it’s time for the next big soirée!
Flowers
Recently I started a new trend among "my people" (or at least I like to credit myself for it...), which I think is an absolutely brilliant idea for hostess gifts: pre-gifting. What the hell is pre-gifting, you might ask? Well, it’s exactly what it sounds like- giving a gift before the actual party, dinner, or event.
This works fabulously with flowers; in fact, I’ve already pre-gifted flowers half a dozen times this season and every single person who’s received them has told me what a brilliant, wonderful, and fabulous idea this is (and how clever and wonderful I am)- and they’re right!
When sending flowers, please be a good gay and don’t even consider going near any of those standard companies you see advertised just before every Hallmark holiday. The best option is to get to know a small individual florist in every city where you have friends or family, which is no easy task. Instead, I trust Flora2000.com for all my floral needs. Not only are their arrangements gorgeous, they’re amazingly reasonably priced, and they’re one of the very few companies who offer same-day floral delivery to more than 150 countries worldwide. The company has more than 3,000 arrangements available- from classic to modern, country chic to urban sophistication, and even orchids, bonsais, green plants, and gourmet gift baskets and balloons. Plus, the ordering process is fast and easy.
The icing on the cake? When you order flowers from Flora2000.com, your credit card isn’t charged until after delivery has been made, they offer 24/7 customer support, and if your lucky recipient is ever dissatisfied, they’ll refund your card and replace their flowers- talk about customer service!
When sending flowers to a host or hostess, schedule delivery for two days prior to the event. That way, if they’re not home for the original delivery and the flowers can’t be left for them, they’ll still receive them in time- and have a chance to decide where to display them, etc.
No Hickory Farms here...
Another great pre-gifting idea for hosts and hostesses are gift baskets of gourmet food. Whether they decide to serve the goodies at the party or save them to savor on their own after the event (who wants to cook the evening following a big brunch, or the day after a big holiday dinner?), a basket of fabulous high-end munchies is always appreciated.
We love what’s on offer from National Geographic’s new Foods of the World collection, an online store of everything cultural and culinary. The selection includes offerings from countries and regions near and far, including an Italian Escape gift Basket, a Cheese Pairing for Egg Nog Basket, and many, many more. You can also select authentic artisanal food from around the globe by country, food type, price, or recipient, and put together a custom basket of your own! If you want to really surprise them, they offer a variety of Gourmet Food Clubs, which allow your host to sample delicious foods from all ends of the earth from 3 to 12 months; sign up for six months or more and they’ll also get a one-year subscription to National Geographic Traveler magazine.
To see their complete offerings and order go to www.NationalGeographicFood.com
Dessert :: the best meal of the day
If you really want to make a big impression, have a beautiful dessert delivered a day before the party- a beautiful and practical gift that the host or hostess is sure to appreciate. What their guests will appreciate is the delectable taste that the award-winning desserts from BakeMeAWish.com have garnished.
Cakes are made fresh, popped into special delivery containers, and arrive in an elegant gift box that includes a custom gift card with well wishes from you to the recipient. They make fabulous gift-giving so easy that it seems like there has to be a catch- and there is: choosing between the desserts proved nearly impossible for me alone, let alone when I opened the selection process to the rest of the office. With flavors like Caramel Apple Crumb, Cookies and Cream Oreo Cake, and Double Fudge Crunch, it turned into a battle royale of favorite dessert flavors and I finally had to threaten to have it delivered to my house if we didn’t agree.
BakeMeAWish.com’s cakes are priced between $20-60 each, including shipping, which is a great deal for such a fabulous gift! Order online at www.BakeMeAWish.com
