What to bring to someone’s house for the first time? There’s no question whether you should bring your host a gift. A gift is a wonderful way to appreciate your hosts for their generous hospitality. The question many a time is what to bring to someone’s house, especially on your first visit. There’s no clear-cut answer to what to take to someone’s house.
The perfect gift will depend on several factors, including your budget, local traditions, the hosts, and others. However, the occasion of the visit clearly stands out. The gift you’re going to bring for dinner will most likely not be what you’ll bring for a weekend stay. In whatever case, it’s always a nice gesture to bring in a small gift, beautifully and carefully wrapped.
If you’re looking for a host or hostess gift ideas, I’ve got you covered. While there are thousands of possible gift items you can choose from, I’ve selected the best you can never go wrong with. However, presenting these gift items will take in other consideration. Don’t worry; nothing’s going to miss your eyes!
Gift Items to Bring to Someone’s House for the First Time
So what is a good gift when visiting someone’s house for the first time or what to buy when visiting a friend’s house? Here are some suggestions for you!
Wine
A bottle of wine is a sign of friendship, respect, and celebration. So, it fits perfectly for many occasions, including birthdays, dinners, and housewarming events. If you’re going to someone’s house for a dinner party, you surely want to bring a bottle of wine. It doesn’t have to be the most expensive wine in town, but not the type everyone’s going to say, “No, thank you” to.
When you are unsure what to take to someone’s house, wine is a good option. When bringing a wine gift, don’t expect the host to open it that night. There’s every chance your host has already made plans for the drinks they’re serving that night. They might keep your precious little bottle for another occasion. You might get lucky, and everyone cheers to your drink.
A Bouquet of Flowers (preferably in a vase)
If your host is a flower-loving type, then you’ve hit the jackpot with flowers. Flowers have always been a terrific gift idea for a selection of occasions, like anniversaries, dinner parties, and housewarming events. When bringing a flower gift, consider putting it in a vase or Mason jar to save your hosts the stress of looking for where to keep it.
Picture Frames
Who can go wrong with a picture frame? No one! When you’re completely lost on what to bring to someone’s house for the first time, a picture frame is your go-to option. They’re especially perfect for birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and graduation celebrations. Pictures are lovely records of our most precious moments, and picture frames are the little museums that display them.
Picture frames are customizable, with a variety of styles and designs to choose from. They are simple, budget-friendly, and timeless. The best part of it all is that they make a perfect gift for almost anyone. When you have a host who has ‘everything’ and you can’t think of what to add to their collection, consider going for a custom picture frame.
Kitchen Towels
For every homeowner, kitchen towels are a necessity. There are just the right types of gifts for a housewarming party. You can find different colorful handmade options on the market.
What’s even more exciting about kitchen towels is that you can customize them. Don’t we all love customized gifts? You can have them print cartoon characters or funny quotes to brighten the mood in the host’s kitchen. While you can order kitchen towels from popular stores like Amazon, you can make them right in your house. They are easy to make and take less than 30 minutes. You shouldn’t spend more than $10 on making a set of kitchen towels yourself.
Personalized Mugs
Personalized mugs make for a perfect gift to bring to someone’s house for the first time. You can create a personalized mug by printing a quote, a photo, or even initials on it. Custom mugs are excellent gift ideas for weddings, anniversaries, bachelorette parties, and several others.
When getting a mug, do ensure that it is microwave and dishwater-safe. You can have a two-sided design that features two personalized texts, photos, or inscriptions. Another option is the wraparound design that features a single custom image or text that runs across the entire circumference of the mug.
Personalized Stationery
When you don’t know what to take to someone’s house bringing personalized stationery is an excellent way to keep it simple, yet maintain class. Examples of stationery you can customize include note cards, calendars, greeting cards, labels, address stamps, journals, notepads, stickers, and holiday cards. You can create beautiful personalized stationery for a wide range of occasions.
Cheese Board
What’s better than Cheese? Cheese on a beautiful cheese board! It’s even better if your host is an ardent cheese lover. There are numerous cheeseboard concepts to choose from. A popular one is engraving the name of your host on the board.
Box of Chocolates
There’s hardly any host that’s going to reject a box of chocolates. Assorted chocolates make for the appropriate gift for just about any occasion. Whether it’s the holiday season or a family reunion, everyone’s going to be reaching for a piece. With chocolates, you have different brands you can turn into a perfect mix.
You can choose from coveted chocolates, praline chocolates, coffee chocolates, dark chocolates, ginger chocolates, marzipan chocolates, boozy liqueur chocolates, fruity chocolates, and mint chocolates, orange chocolates, raspberry chocolates, and a variety of others.
Personalized Portrait The Royals
Maybe you’ve always had the desire to look like a queen. Well, here is the chance to look like the Queen or king you are. Unlock the royal in you with this personalized portrait of a king and his Queen. The background features both crowns placed on a surface, while the kind stands beside the sited Queen. The style is robed in royal attire and a well-adorned queen.
Tin of Cookies
There’s no better way to show up at someone’s door during Christmas than with a tin of cookies. Besides Christmas, this gift idea is great for other occasions also. This gift idea will surely bring a smile to the face of your host and other guests in the house. You can shop for different tin brands in your local store or order one online.
Consider getting a tin of cookies that has several of the flavors people have come to love. Some of such flavors include chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, chocolate frosted peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip pecan, and others. You also have different tin sizes to choose from, allowing you to work within your budget.
Homemade Decorative Candles
Homemade candles are increasingly popular, edging out the factory types in many homes. They serve as amazing decorative sets, setting up your home for the right mood. Better still, they make for perfect presents to give to someone on your first visit to their house. They are relatively easy to make and there are tons of tutorials that can help.
When it comes to homemade decorative candles also, there’re different types that you can go with. We have color block candles, seashells candles, cork candles, glitter soy candles, Funfetti candles, Mason jar candles, patterned candles, essential oils candles, spice candles, lantern candles, Chai candles, pumpkin spice candles, Lavender-Rosemary candles, pressed-herbed candles, and more.
Potted Plant
What do you bring someone the loves plants? Well, the obvious answer is – a plant. Whether it’s an all-winter plant or mood-uplifting greenery, you’ll never run out of options. If you’re visiting a plant-lover (or anyone else) for the first time, you can hardly step in the mud with a potted plant. Here’s the thrill: you’re not only making an impression with the plant but also with the pot itself.
A creative, good-looking pot is like a gift wrapper that turns into a gift. How can you ever miss it with a gorgeous, chic pot? If your host doesn’t have enough outdoor space, consider getting an indoor plant. Popular options include Peperomia, spider pants, arrowhead vine, corn plants, and succulents.
Basic Guidelines for Giving Gifts
Knowing what to give out as a gift can be tricky. The following guidelines will help you to always stay in line, regardless of the occasion:
- Only bring gifts you’re sure your hosts will enjoy. If your host has an allergy, you don’t want to come to the house with a bouquet of flowers. It would be embarrassing if your host starts sneezing around because of your gift. Another example is bringing a bottle of alcohol when you know your host doesn’t drink. If you’re not sure the gift won’t cause them any discomfort, don’t bring it.
- Only bring gifts that won’t take up so much space. Imagine the hosts trying to downsize and you come in with a big, fancy shelf (I doubt anyone brings such gifts, though). While your gigantic effort might be impressive, it might become distressing to the hosts. If they’re kind enough, it’ll find some space in the backyard. As much as possible, limit your gifts to small-sized items like books, mugs, and even a Kindle gift card.
- Always find out if there’re kids and pets in the house. Knowing their kids in the house is a gift idea on its own. You should consider bringing something that will go around.
- Keep your gifts simple. While a lot of people value expensive, fancy items as gifts, not many people will appreciate a gift that gives them more work. You can never go wrong with simplicity, so it’d help if you keep your gift simple, presentable, and lovable.
The gifts presented here will give you an idea of what to bring to someone’s house for the first time. So, now you know what to buy when visiting a friend’s house. There are many lovely items to choose from, and I hope you have found some inspiration from this list of recommendations. Good luck and happy shopping!
