In the life of every person, situations happen when you need to make a gift to someone from your loved ones, friends or colleagues. There can be many reasons - wedding, anniversary, christening, graduation. To avoid embarrassing situations and not to spoil the holiday, you should familiarize yourself with the rules of gift etiquette.
Emotions
Everyone knows that gifts are successful and unsuccessful. When choosing a presentation, it is useful to ask what positive emotions it will bring. If a person finds it difficult to name them, it is worth thinking about another option. For example, no one will be happy with such a gift as an empty wallet, even if it is an expensive accessory of a world brand. In Russia, this means “handing over poverty”.
It is unreasonable to give “live gifts” without prior approval, because you may encounter complete confusion of the recipient. It may happen that he simply can not accept it, for example, if you decide to give a loved one a rat or a hamster.
There are many people who categorically do not tolerate the appearance of rodents, because not everyone can tolerate such a “neighborhood” at home.
When giving gifts, anyone wants to see rapt surprise, joy, and happiness in the eyes of loved ones. To make the holiday a success, you should try.
It is necessary to make sure that those who are gifted and those who give are satisfied. To do this, you must adhere to the basic rules of gift etiquette.
How to give?
The rules for presenting gifts on etiquette allow you to avoid awkward situations. No need to present a gift in a cramped entrance hall as soon as the door was opened. It is necessary to greet the owners with a smile, remove their outer clothing, straighten their hair, and go into the room.
According to etiquette, presents should be presented before the feast begins. Nothing terrible will happen if, in practice, someone decides to circumvent this rule, which often happens. Outside a feast, it is difficult to choose a moment to congratulate the hero of the occasion with general attention - he has a lot of worries with meeting guests. When all the expected guests arrived and the chores were over, everyone can congratulate them at the table.
To present a gift is laid with the left hand - the right should be free to shake hands or warmly embrace the hero of the occasion.
By the time of delivery, a short congratulatory speech should be thought out and appropriate to the situation. Laudatory praises and compliments should be in moderation so that, instead of solemnity, they do not create a comic effect. It is necessary to speak sincerely, congratulations should not be long. No hints, even in jest, of personal failures, mistakes, and even more so of a person’s physical disabilities — this is unacceptable under any circumstances.
You should not justify yourself with phrases such as “I'm sorry, I could not do anything else” if the present is more than modest. If the gift is expensive, you do not need to focus on this. For example, the phrase would be out of place: “I hardly found this. It turned out a little expensive, but decently. "
The main value of the present consists in attention and a sincere desire to please a loved one, and not at all in its value. Also, you do not need to pester with inquiries whether you liked the gift.
Even if this is not so, a well-mannered person will not give a look and find kind words to thank all from the heart.
Flower gifts
Giving flowers is always a good idea. If a person was invited not for the girl’s birthday, and her parents will be there, etiquette flowers should be presented not only to the birthday girl, but also to her mother. For a young man’s birthday, a bouquet for his mother will also not be superfluous, because it was she who gave him life, so she has a direct relationship to the holiday.
Having received a bouquet as a gift, you do not need to put it on the table with other gifts - the flowers may wither. Floristic decor (thin transparent packaging, decorative ribbons) does not need to be removed to preserve the composition of the bouquet. You should straighten the decorative grass, cut the stems and put the flowers in a pre-prepared beautiful vase of water.
It’s good if there will be more than one vase, because several guests can come with flowers.
How to use?
It is worth considering before the arrival of the guests where to temporarily stack the gifts so as not to place the apartment in the presence of the guests - this is contrary to etiquette. You will have to hastily choose permanent places for gifts, but in a hurry it may not turn out very well. You need to put everything on a small table or shelf where they will be “on an equal footing” until the guests leave.
When accepting a gift, you must try not to offend any of the donors with a word or a gesture.
According to etiquette, you can not put aside a box with a present without looking at what was presented. You need to open immediately, as soon as the guests handed a gift. You need to be prepared to control yourself in any situation, even if the surprise is too far from expectations, and the person received a completely unnecessary thing.
It may turn out that a person was presented with several identical twin gifts - one also needs to be prepared for this. In any case, you should smile warmly and thank everyone with a friendly, even voice.
Nowadays, the financial capabilities of many are very different.I am. You can not compare the gifts received, praising some and indifferently avoiding others - this is clearly a bad manners. Also, do not be too enthusiastic about some and give out disappointment at the sight of others - everything should look natural. Even a passing shadow of discontent is very noticeable - it is easy to offend the donor.
When can I refuse a gift?
There are times when you have to refuse a presentation.The reason may be too high the cost of the gift (this obliges), or the thing is very personal, intimate. For example, it can be a gym membership, and physical activity is contraindicated for a person, or a live pet presented without agreement with the owner, whom he had no plans to settle at home. The main thing is to overcome with dignity an awkward situation without offending the donor.
To do this, say a few kind words to the guest. We need to thank him for his attention, be sure to explain the reason for the refusal and express regret that I had to do this.
Moreover, it is not necessary at all that this will be followed by the deterioration of friendly relations.
The process of choosing, giving and receiving a gift is a whole art. No need to ignore the basic rules of gift etiquette - you should consider all the details and important little things. If a person respects and correctly uses the etiquette of gifts, then giving will turn into a joyful welcome event for all participants, and he will more often receive gifts, will want to take a reciprocal step. This will help to maintain good relations in the family and with everyone who is dear for a long time.
You can learn more about gift etiquette from the next video.
