Gift ideas for extended family, who we don’t know well.

[incompetentcervix]

We are spending Christmas with a lovey couple, been friends for years. But will spend Christmas Day with their grown children and their partners plus two sets of older parents. I know them all a bit but not well to chose personalised gifts. I need some sort of token gifts to exchange. Not alcohol due to one being an addict. Any ideas?

Biscuits in a fancy tin.

What kind of budget?

The obvious ones:

Hamper from M&S
Beautiful candle or room diffuser
Box of deluxe fair trade chocolates

super-soft long hot water bottle from the White Company

Sherpa throw or Christmassy throw

A beautiful calendar for 2026

Family board game - but of a risk! We love Herd Mentality
Small hand-held massage gun (Boots and Argos have them on offer)

An expensive looking chutney and some cheese.

A festive candle - Yankee candle and Wax Lyrical are both nice, and places like Asda/Aldi have some nicely packaged ones in pretty jars. Also festive reed diffusers.

Biscuits as above, M&S have lovely ones…I’d pair them with a nice tea/coffee, or some Green &Blacks hot chocolate.

A lovely wool blanket or fleecy throw.

Starbucks/Costa gift cards - you could put them in a travel thermos to have something larger to give.

Ooh I forgot! Lovely posh crackers and some tapenade/chutney - Peter’s Yard crackers are beautiful and they do them in Asda!

Ringtons biscuits - my favourite

These are great. Budget is as low as possible because it’s 6 additional family units… I like the biscuits /chocolate with tea/hot chocolate type ideas.