Every girl is different and each has her likes and dislikes, so it’s difficult to give specific Valentine’s gift suggestions, but here are some ideas that could work for most ladies.
Romantic night in
Give her a handpicked selection of romantic movies and popcorn. Brave it, and prepare for a night of chick flicks and when you’re gone, she’ll have movies to keep her company. Here are some titles that could work (available at www.takealot.co.za):
The Notebook, R73
Dirty Dancing, R45
Romeo and Juliet, R57
Valentine’s Day, R78
Ghost, R45
Bridget Jones’s Diary 1 & 2 (set) , R126
Love Actually, R106
Chocolates
It’s the obvious classic but it works every time. A box of chocolates is bound to melt her heart. These are some of the more popular choices:
Chuckles (malted puffs in milk chocolate) in a heart-shaped tin, Woolworths R59,95
Ferrero Rocher truffle boxes, available at most retails stores from R12
Lindor chocolate balls by Lindt, available at most retail stores from R15
A mixed chocolate box from Net Florist is pricier but comes in a pretty box with delicious treats, R399
Woolworths also has a selection of gift boxes including the Chocoholics Hamper version at R199, which includes chocolate fingers, Chuckles, chocolate Viennese biscuits, Nomu Drinking Chocolate and dusted cocoa truffles
If you’re feeling creative, get your own box or gift bag and fill it with all her favourite sweet treats. Cost can be anything from R50
Personalised fortune cookies
After a romantic dinner give her some fortune cookies with a personal touch. Order a batch of personalised fortune cookies with special messages just for her. Personalised fortune cookies can be ordered from Sugar Bird.
If you don’t get to personalise them, try the giant fortune cookie from Woolworths. It’s good-looking and dipped in milk chocolate. R14,95
Give a tree
Instead of giving the usual flowers, why not give her a tree? It’s sustainable, pretty and she can keep it forever. Heartwood has a range of indigenous species and citrus trees. All are delivered as saplings (about a metre high). From R320
Travel journal
Give her a journal to record her trips or even to keep as a diary. You could add pictures of the two of you on random pages to give it a personal touch. Available at stationery and gift stores. From R30.
Photobook
Make a personalised photobook of a trip you’ve done together or even a collection of pictures throughout your relationship. Popular photobook sites are Rapid Studio and Mymemory.com. They cost anything from R150 depending on the size and type of book your choose. If you don’t have time to order a book, make your own photo album or even scrapbook.
Perfume
These are perfumes that may carry that message across:
For the high maintenance girl: Romance by Ralph Lauren, R475 at za.strawberrynet.com
For the surfer girl or outdoor lover: Roxy Love by Quiksilver, R240 at za.strawberrynet.com
For the fun and fuss-free girl: Love etc by The Body Shop, R175.
For the girly girl: Love De Toi by Morgan De Toi, R250 at www.bidorbuy.co.za
For the more mature girl: True Love by Elizabeth Arden, from R199 at Clicks, Edgars and other major stores.
For the traveller: Benefit Crescent Row Mini Fragrances Gift Set, R385 at Woolworths.
Spa treatment
Spoil her with a bit of pampering with a spa voucher from HealthSpas.co.za. She can choose from over 300 spas and different packages to suit her. A couples treatment is also a good choice. www.healthspas.co.za.
Celestial Gifts
Give her the gift of experience with Celestial Gift Experiences’ range of activities including romantic dinners, outdoor adventures, flights, surf lessons, cooking lessons and loads more. Prices vary, available at www.celestialgifts.co.za.
Picnic
Give a picnic basket filled with snacks for a day out and take her some place nice for a picnic. Some baskets can be quite pricey so make your own if it’s out of your budget. Use a standard cooler bag, add paper cups, paper plates, plastic utensils a flask and the food. Cape Union Mart has a proper picnic basket with all utensils at R499.
Make simple eats like sandwiches, pastries, wraps, muffins and add snacks like nuts and fruit or anything she likes. And be sure to add the perfect picnic baguette to your basket too, it’s divine.
For a list of cool picnic spots for your romantic day, click here.
Flowers
It’s the most obvious choice, but still loved by many girls, so you might as well add it to your shopping list. Try not to leave it to the last minute on the day. Get it quite early as flower sellers tend to run out of stock fairly quickly. If you want to be guaranteed you’ll get your bunch on time, order online at www.netflorist.co.za or www.kalahari.com.
Road trip
Book a stay with Getaway Accommodation, and as her gift, make a mix tape (a CD these days) for your road trip to stay at your romantic getaway. Include all the songs she loves and be willing to listen to it all the way to your destination without complaining.
Macarons
Macarons make beautiful, colourful and, of course, delicious gifts. At Myatt Café and Chocolatier you can choose from a selection that includes pina colada, choc cherry, passion fruit, lemon, mocha, caramel and blueberry flavours. They’re R8,50 each or R25 for a box of three. They also have imported Belgian chocolates at R22 a piece. Tel 021-418-88-44,
www.myattcafe.com
Some more gift box ideas
Box option 1: Chocolate, a candle, fragrance, earrings,
Box option 2: Picture frame, chocolates, body butter, perfume
Box option 3: Beach set: flip-flops, towel, body lotion and a bottle of bubbly for you two to enjoy on your beach visit.
Box option 4: Make a things-that-remind-me-of-you box where you include things like sweets she likes, a movie she likes, a stress ball (haha), a keyring of a place or thing (i.e. surf board, car, country).
Box option 5: A pamper hamper. Fill the box with a spa voucher, lotions, movie tickets, chocolates and everything she’ll need to royally spoilt.
Tips
It’s fun to have a theme throughout your gift as well. Whether it’s a colour theme throughout (i.e everything in the gift is the same or a similar colour), a beach theme or just a love theme.
Instead of only wrapping the gifts or using gift bags, get creative by using tins, hat boxes, jars, wooden crates and even plant pots to put your gifts in. It makes the gift more fun to open and most times the holder can be used again.
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