Red roses, glittering jewellery and anything heart-shaped is what usually comes to mind first when you talk about romantic gifts (google 'romantic gifts' or take our word). But are these things really romantic? We at Romantic Gift Ideas wanted to find out so we emailed tens of friends and a couple of customers around the world and asked them what's the most romantic birthday gift they've ever received.
If we were to summarise all the answers into one sentence it would be that the most romantic thing one can give a girl for her birthday is … not a thing. It's almost always something you can't buy and touch: an experience, a special night, a trip or maybe a song.
Here are top most romantic birthday gift ideas:
1. Go on a trip. The most frequently mentioned romantic gift was taking a trip together. And the good news is this need not to be an expensive journey to the far end of the World, weekends or even one-night getaways seem to be just as memorable as romantic gifts. Some of the places that were mentioned were Cinque Terre in Italy, St. Emilion in Bordeaux, various Mediterranean islands and, unsurprisingly, Paris.
2. Create something together. Book an artist's studio and try to put her birthday on a canvas or a piece of pottery. If you are as useless with creating fine arts as yours truly then it appears that even painting a heart on a plate, together, can be the romantic birthday gift she'll remember for years.
3. Cook dinner. Love may be blind but it doesn't like to be hungry. We kind of assumed cooking a special dinner at home would be mentioned frequently, but this is beyond popular. Works even better if you don't cook at home too often.
4. Get her jewellery (but go easy). Which is hardly surprising, but the accompanying comments may be. I love all the jewellery I have ever received from him, because they are simple, but unique pieces. It's irregular shapes, unique production techniques, etc but I can still wear them everyday, anytime, so he is always with me, was one reply we wanted to point out. Another tipped us that separating matching earrings and a ring into two consecutive presents, such as birthday and Christmas, was a really good idea.
5. Say it with a song. If composing or singing a song would have been mentioned once, and by someone whose boyfriend was a musician, we wouldn't put it on the list. But several people said it's the most romantic birthday gift ever, so even if you're not blessed with musical talents, it might be worth the effort. How else would you get comments like he serenaded me by recording a cover version of a love song in studio quality and sent me the CD. All my girl friends are still jealous about this one, even 8 years later.
A common thread for all of these romantic gift ideas is that you should rather pour your heart into the gift, not your wallet. An excessively expensive gift can make the recipient feel uncomfortable, not romantic, we were told.
There were also a couple of no-no's mentioned. We wouldn't recommend getting vouchers for a romantic birthday present. Same goes for lingerie if you're not 100% sure about the size, as I always end up taking it back as it rarely fits right. Gadgets don't seem to work either, even if their brand starts with a lower-case i. And from what we understood, getting a car for birthday can be seen as impressive, but not very romantic. So even if you can afford to splash out on a car, be careful what signals you're sending out with this gift.
All in all, based on our little home-made research, when it comes to romantic birthday gifts for her, it really is the thought that counts. Good luck!
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