Anyone who has spent time in a mall in November and December doesn’t need to be convinced that the holidays have gotten too commercialized. It seems like sales start earlier and earlier.
This year, instead of picking up presents that will be broken and forgotten within days, focus on gifting access to unique experiences and events. These gifts will inspire learning, growth, and most importantly, excitement and entertainment.
Here are some of our favorite unique ideas for gifting this holiday season.
1. Visit the Spa Together
There’s nothing more relaxing than a trip to the spa. Not only does it provide an afternoon of blissful indulgence, but it’s also a good reminder of the importance of ongoing self-care. Depending on your loved one’s taste, you can gift an indulgent facial with a trained aesthetician or a holistic water experience at a bathhouse. There’s no wrong way to enjoy the spa together.
If you want to continue the experience once you get home, gift your loved one a jar of beautiful bath salts, a skin scrub, or a selection of face masks.
2. Liquor Flight at a Local Distillery
Many entrepreneurs in cities and towns across the country are hopping on the artisanal liquor trend. This means that more distilleries than ever before are opening. Each offering a unique selection of beverages.
Depending on the distillery, they may offer tours and tastings. From there, you can learn about the process of making each liquor and receive personalized tasting guidance from their trained staff.
Invite your loved one on a tour and pick up the bill for liquor flights, so you can taste the distillery’s full slate of offerings. Typically, tours are reasonably priced or free and flights start around $15.
3. Indoor Skydiving Experience
Everyone wants to experience the thrill of weightlessness, but not everyone has $5,000+ to spend on a seat on a zero-gravity flight. Instead, gift your thrill-seeking loved one a session at an indoor skydiving facility. Flights start at just $69.95, which includes gear rental, training, and instruction.
You can even upgrade the experience by using VR glasses, which allow you to view videos that make it feel like you’re flying over Hawaii, the Swiss Alps, or Dubai. It’s an incredibly adventurous experience, especially if you’re sharing it with someone else.
4. A Live House Plant
A live plant is a great way to brighten up any living space. In fact, many of them have been found to purify air and remove harmful airborne toxins like formaldehyde and ammonia.
There’s a house plant for every home, even if your loved one is a non-gardener with completely black thumbs. There are many plant nurseries that ship all around the United States, so you can gift a plant to a loved one even if they’re far away.
From a $5 succulent to a $175 artisan terrarium, there’s something for everyone.
5. Tickets to Live Entertainment
Gifting access to live entertainment is a great gift. Plus, it’s a really fun way to spend time with a loved one.
Depending on your mutual taste, you could arrange for tickets to a comedy event, concert, play, dance performance, or opera. Don’t feel like you need to pick an event that’s close to the holidays, either. An event that’s a few months away allows anticipation to build.
Depending on the size of the venue and the popularity of the performers, you’re likely looking at a cost of anywhere between $25 and $200 per ticket.
6. ResortPass
The next time you want to give a unique gift, consider a ResortPass gift card. This company is focused on providing unique “daycations” at hotels all around the country. Instead of buying an entire night’s stay at a hotel in order to use their amenities, ResortPass allows people to buy access to these unique facilities for a much lower day-rate.
It’s a great choice for someone who loves to go to a spa or a family with young children. In fact, many hotels grant access to their pool for less than $20 per day through ResortPass.
7. Gift Card to a New Restaurant
Every family has their favorite restaurants that they go to repeatedly. Instead of presenting them with a gift card to their favorite restaurant — which would be a welcome, if slightly uninspired present — pick a new restaurant and purchase a gift card there.
This is great for people who love to eat out but may not have the money to take a chance on a new restaurant with their own funds.
8. A Personally Styled Clothing Box
There are quite a few companies now that advertise a regular or semi-regular service that matches customers with personally styled clothing. Stitch Fix is the most popular. However, other companies like Trunk Club, Le Tote, and Rocksbox are great alternatives depending on what style of clothing or jewelry you’re looking for.
This is a great gift for someone who is stuck in a clothing rut or doesn’t love shopping at traditional brick-and-mortar retailers. These services typically start at $20 for just the styling fee. Clothing pieces range in price depending on how much they purchase.
9. A Family Photoshoot
If a loved one on your list has recently hit a professional or life milestone, a photoshoot is a fantastic gift. It offers them the opportunity to capture their life at this important moment in time. Depending on the photographer and the length of the session, this gift will likely range in price from $75 to a few hundred dollars.
If you’re unsure of which life milestone they might want to capture, arrange for a photographer who is comfortable working in multiple mediums. You can even present the gift card in a frame, which is perfect for displaying one of the images from their photoshoot.