Why do we wrap presents?
The Surprise, Special and Spend. Now, don’t go jumping to conclusions on me. I know that is really easy to do.
Gifting, and the whole spirit of a singular present takes on the energy you put into it. Not too dissimilar from the phrase “you get out what you put in”. If you give someone a bouquet of flowers and leave it in the wrapping from Trader Joe’s with the price sticker on, your recipient will likely be happy with the gift but notice these details. Conversely, if you take a dollar’s worth of butcher paper and a foot of satin ribbon, much like the ones we tie up our packages with, there will likely be a much warmer reception. A few extra dollars in wrapping and maybe 5 minutes of effort can amplify the impact that a simple bouquet has. I speak from experience, it’s how I wrap most (because I am, in fact, still a human that doesn’t always have her act together) of the bouquets I gift to others. While I may feel like I did not do much, because I in fact did not do much, the impact is awesome. This effort is where the special comes in – taking the bouquet from simple to great, made it just that more special, in turn making the recipient feel just the same.
If we continue with the purchase of the flowers for a moment, we can consider how we might choose one type of flower over another. Do we know if they have a particular favorite type of flower? Is there a message we are trying to send with this gift? Or a more pressing concern: is there a type of flower they do not like? This is where you can spend the effort in making a decision that reflects the recipient more than just a random bouquet selection.
Now removing our floral subject from the conversation, let’s look at the element of surprise from great giftwrapping. Yes, you can completely disguise flowers but that isn’t easy so let’s just entertain gift boxes, wrapping paper and bags here. Much like the unadorned bouquet, you could just hand your nephew that dope Star Wars LEGO set, no ribbon or paper, and let them get right to the meat and potatoes of assembling bricks. Or, hear me out, you can be slightly more fun and wrap it in paper from their favorite movie and have them experience the surprise of finding out what the gift inside is! Personally, I think the latter is the better option.
So, no one is saying you should have the whack-a-doodle amount of giftwrap supplies that I do, but somethings, that little extra effort adds infinitely more value to the gift, in a way you can’t put a price on.
At Our Favorite Things, our commitment to curating memorable experiences is reflected in our collection of thoughtfully designed and beautifully packaged gifts. Join us as we explore the art of thoughtful gift packaging, creating lasting impressions that go beyond the ordinary. Thanks for reading our first blog post! We hope you’ll come back for more.