To ask for your help with present ideas please

[Namechangedfeb22]

its my boyfriends 40th birthday and I’m taking him away for a few days as his present but I want to also make it special and memorable in other way. I have written 40 things I love about him on cards and want to attach the cards to 40 presents and hide them in the apartment on his birthday. I’ve also booked a nice meal out and asked the apartment owners to decorate the apartment while we are out.
but 40 presents is a lot!!! He doesn’t really like sweets or choc so that’s out there question . So far I’ve got him a Gail’s coffee gift card, a beer glass from his fav brewery. That’s it!! I have a few months but want to buy some each month so i spread out the cost.

any suggestions please!!!

That sounds like lots! With the 40 things written on cards, would you consider maybe doing half of them as things?

Eg. a date night idea / cheeky takeaway where he gets to pick / a day of football and bbq / unlimited cups of tea one weekend / lie ins and breakfast in bed / you'll do all the washing up for a week / he gets to control the tv for a night etc

That way he doesn't end up with 40 physical things if you're struggling to think of what to get (instead of getting random things).

This query comes up quite often on MN - and there’s a strong majority opinion that this type of gifting is wasteful and pointless.

I mean - how much are you planning to spend? £400 would mean forty probably insignificant, throwaway items. D’you want to spend twice that - and still end up with forty not particularly special presents?

The suggestion from the poster above of forty promises is at least less of a burden on space and the environment.

Presumably you’ve been together a while, and he’s generous to you? Because all too often on MN, generous girlfriends find themselves creating sad threads about boyfriends who have completely ignored their partner’s birthday, or, at best, grabbed something entirely worthless from Tesco Express at the very last moment.

Out of interest, how are you going to get 40 items to your holiday venue without him noticing? Is there not one thing he'd prefer, a trip to X, driving experience etc. that you could buy for him?

40 presents is too much. There's too high a chance a lot of it would end up in the bin or charity shop.

Yes!!! This is so true. I was th inking how nice it would be to hide 40 presents on his birthday but in reality it will cost at least £400 and I could prob get an amazing gift for less than that.

we’re already away and having a lovely dinner out. The surprise of 40 gifts is not needed.

thanks all!

I like the idea of 40 love notes - perhaps with nice things he could 'cash in' from the bank of Namechanged? Eg. One evening cuddling, one breakfast in bed, interspersed with small useful things he will like - one sweet, pair of socks etc. i still occasionally do treasure hunts round the house for teenage DD and she still loves it. It's a combination of silly rhyming clues to the next clue plus one or two tiny things. Not sure either of us would be up for a 40-part treasure hunt though! 😁 Hope you both have a lovely time

Incorporate a ‘treasure hunt’ on some of your notes that lead to one bigger gift? Or maybe things like photos that he could put into an album, a collection of meaningful songs on a memory stick?

I like the idea of 40 love notes

My dad did this for my mum for her 30th when they were very poor. He was an artist and drew her 30 cards of all the things he would buy her if he had money. She was buried with them 45 years later ❤

You xould nail some of those with items foe the holiday. Bottle of spf - Sun visor - swimming shorts - flip flops - beach towel etc.

But thats Hella expenaive and so many things. You are mad 😆

But you have to tell us what happened during those 45 years, CharlotteSt! Did any / some / all of the things your father aspired to buy materialise in their lives together? And did it matter?

Give him 38 kisses in various locations, that’ll be 40 gifts in total.

Is he a reader? I always like the idea of getting one book for each decade. I have a family member turning 50 soon so I plan to get one book published from the years - 1972, 82, 92 etc.
I will probably try and seek out secondhand copies.

@CharlotteSt that is the most beautiful present I have ever heard of ❤️

Some things of course (like a house) but some things were daft, like a tiara (top of my list personally 😁).