Christmas Gifts for Couples: One Box, Two People

By Vicki Richards, National Customer Manager at The Gourmet Pantry.

Buy a couple one thing they can open together and finish together. In practice that means food and drink rather than an object, a box sized for two people rather than a household, and a mix of savoury and sweet so neither of them ends up with half a present. Most gifts for a couple land between $70 and $130, and Christmas hampers are the tidiest way to do it.

Why one gift for two is its own problem

A present for one person has to suit one person. A present for a couple has to suit two sets of taste, arrive at one address, and not quietly read as being for one of them with the other's name added underneath. That last part sinks most attempts. A candle set is for her. A bottle of scotch is for him. Something both of them eat belongs to the two of them, which no other category manages without pretending.

Size is the other thing people get wrong, and they get it wrong in the generous direction. Two people will finish a mid-sized box across a week of holidays and remember it. A very large one gets rationed, pushed behind the toaster, and is still there in February. Buy for the number of mouths, not the size of the gesture.

Pick by how well you know them

Sorting by recipient type produces the same five ideas every year. Sort by how much you know about them instead, because that decides whether you can risk a bottle.

The couple you know well

Your brother and his partner, or friends you have eaten with. You know what they drink, so buy the bottle and the food to go beside it. The Gourmet Treats with Red Wine Hamper at $69.95 is the one we pack most often for two: a Bay of Stones Shiraz 2021 from South Australia, sea salt crackers, Hunter's Gourmet black truffle chips, a fig and almond fruit pyramid, Belgian truffles and Scottie Dog shortbread. One evening plus a few days of leftovers, the right shape for a couple. The Red Wine & Nibbles Hamper at $99.95 is the same idea with Nutworks macadamias added.

The couple you know through someone else

Your parents' friends, your partner's cousin and her husband, the people who had you to lunch once. You do not know what they drink, so do not guess. Send the cheeseboard instead. The Just Add Cheese Hamper at $79.95 is everything a cheeseboard needs except the cheese: three styles of cracker including date and walnut ones for the blues, Kangaroo Island Mediterranean olives, Ploughman's relish and the G for George red capsicum tapenade from The Regimental Condiment Company. It hands the last decision back to them, and people choose their own cheese better than you can.

The couple who just moved in

A new house in December means a bare kitchen and boxes still in the hallway. Send something that can be eaten out of the box with no assembly. The Gourmet Bites Hamper at $59.95 is our smallest full box: crackers, olive oil and sea salt pita crisps, Kangaroo Island honey popcorn made with Ligurian bee honey, Belgian cocoa dusted truffles, cashew brittle and butter shortbread. Under $60, and nothing in it needs a plate.

The couple who have everything

Give them something to do rather than something to own. The Gourmet BBQ Hamper at $119.95 turns into a Sunday: Glasseye Creek Bonfire barbecue sauce, a Gordon Rhodes pulled pork mix, Siam sriracha and a satay cooking set, then smokehouse chips, Mr Filbert's rosemary almonds and olives to eat while the grill heats. The caveat is that it only lands if one of them cooks. If neither does, it is homework in a box, and you should go back to the cheeseboard.

The couple with something to celebrate

An engagement, a first house, a fortieth, a baby born in October. This is the year to send a bottle worth opening. Our champagne hampers start at $199.95, and the G.H.Mumm Cordon Rouge NV comes in its own gift box with olives, honey popcorn, crackers and Belgian truffles beside it. Send it where an adult can take the parcel in, not to a reception desk that shuts on the 23rd. If you are not certain both of them drink, our alcohol-free hampers carry the same food without the bottle, usually with an extra item in its place.

What to spend on a gift for two

There is no correct number, but the bands behave predictably.

Free shipping starts at $100 Australia-wide, so a $119.95 box can land closer to an $89.95 one than the tags suggest. If three of you are chipping in, buy one larger box rather than three small ones.

Sending it to two people at one address

Every hamper is packed by hand in Corio, on the northern edge of Geelong, into the French blue box with the gold ribbon, with a personalised gift card at no extra cost. Put both names on that card. It is the difference between a joint present and a present for one of them with a witness standing there.

Orders placed before 12pm on a weekday are dispatched the same day. From our loading dock it travels with Australia Post, so the date you order matters more than the postcode. Australia Post confirms its Christmas dates in October, and mid-December is the practical limit for interstate parcels in a busy year, so set yourself a deadline in the first week. If you are posting across the country, sending a Christmas hamper interstate covers what travels well in an Australian summer.

For a wider shortlist, our guide to the best Christmas hampers in Australia sets the boxes side by side, and the food and wine hampers page groups the pairings if you know which grape they drink.

Questions we get about buying for two people

What do you buy a couple for Christmas?

Something consumable that suits both of them, in one box, addressed to both names. Food and drink are the only category where a joint gift does not end up belonging to one person by the end of the day. A hamper with a savoury half and a sweet half covers two sets of taste at once.

How much do you spend on a gift for a couple?

For a couple you see regularly, $70 to $130, roughly what two separate presents would have cost. For your parents' friends or a courtesy gift, $60 to $80 is plenty. Spend more only when there is a reason: an engagement, a first house, a big anniversary. Free shipping over $100 makes the middle band better value than it looks.

What is a good joint gift for two people?

Anything that has to be shared to work. A cheeseboard kit needs a board and two people around it. A bottle with food beside it is not a solo project. A barbecue box needs one person cooking and one eating. A scented candle or a book, by contrast, gets quietly claimed by one of them before New Year.

If you are still deciding, settle the bottle question first, then start on the Christmas hampers page. The full gourmet hampers range sits behind it for anything more specific.