Also see our other holiday gift guides:
- Something for everyone
- For Chicago lovers
- Personalize it!
- Custom photo gifts
- The gifts that seem inevitable for the 2025 holiday season (a work in progress)
The hostess gift is a very particular kind of gift. It draws on an ancient tradition: the guest’s desire to show awareness of and appreciation to the hostess/host for the effort expended to pull a gathering together.
And yet it’s not quite a full-fledged gift, is it? The expression is meant to be modest. In fact, the expense of a hostess gift tends to slide depending on the grandness of the affair and the length of your visit.
And, unlike other gifts that you might go out of your way to customize, the hostess gift can get away with being less personal. The fact that you brought something at all demonstrates thoughtfulness.
What’s more, what you bring to tonight’s party may be the very same thing you take to tomorrow’s party with a different group. No one would take issue with that. Or that what you brought is the same gift you gave to the hostess last year—they might even be hoping for it!
And then there’s the real possibility that your hostess gift will become the hostess’ hostess gift the next time they go out. Not that there’s anything wrong with (careful) regifting at this time of year!
3 tests for your hostess gift
Our own trial and error and observation over the years compels us to propose these tests for a hostess/host gift.
- Does the gift require the hostess to drop everything and focus on what you brought? We recommend you rethink, opting instead for something that can stand on its own, opened by the hostess alone at the end of the evening or even the next day. They will be exhausted when opening so proceed accordingly.
- Does the gift require on-the-spot rethinking and rejiggering by the hostess? Did you bring a centerpiece that you expect to take the place of the centerpiece that the hostess planned? If you bring flowers, by all means bring them in a vase to spare the hostess from needing to drop everything to run around and arrange your gift.
- Is the gift you bring for the hostess something you think their guests would also appreciate—forcing you to fight the instinct to open your own wrapped gift just to make sure everyone sees and takes part? Come on now, are we savages?
We think the following ideas—mixed and matched—could help aid healing after hostessing, and reflect favorably on your thoughtfulness as a guest.
Other candlemakers have broader distribution and possibly better brand awareness, but we think Aunt Sadie produces the quintessential scent of the holidays. The Tree in a Can provides 70 hours of pine fragrance.
Let candy be your go-to. We know a few people who buy in bulk in anticipation of taking a pound or two of candy to every event they’re invited to. These people are permanent guests on our lists.
Dark chocolate sea salt caramels, slow cooked in open copper kettles and made with fresh Vermont cream, hit a premium note. Or consider Lake Champlain’s traditional and peppermint hot chocolate mix tins paired with their gourmet vanilla marshmallows.
$34.95
$29.52
Here’s an idea for devotees of cookbooks and/or America’s Gilded Age (1868-1900). Food writer, librarian and research historian Becky Libourel Diamond blends Gilded Age details and gorgeous photos with historic menu and recipes (cookies, cakes, pies, puddings and custards, candies and other confections, Hanukkah and New Year’s desserts) updated for modern kitchens.
This 7 x 0.7 x 9 inches hardback book is a companion to the earlier The Gilded Age Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from America’s Golden Era.
The largest of all peanut varieties, Virginia peanuts are premium nuts. Hubs Salted Peanuts are home cooked or blister fried, a process that creates the signature crunch and taste that’s noticeably different from the softer, oilier bit of many mass-produced roasted or fried peanuts. A can of these is a gourmet gift, perfect for the hostess to chomp at the party debrief.
$16.90
$12.72
What’s going to become of all the partially poured bottles of wine? Your gift of wine stoppers shaped like a bowler hat, sombrero or cowboy hat could ride to the rescue.
The stopper seals the bottle, making it airtight and preventing the wine itself or its volatile aromas from escaping. Because they’re made of silicone, they’re flexible and snugly fit different bottles. Cute.
Not all hostess gifts need to be impersonal. Depending on your relationship, something as personal as Dior’s creme abricot for nails could hit the spot for a hostess whose hands have taken a beating doing meal prep and cleaning pre- and post-event.
Beloved by users, this rich cream is enriched with emollient and fortifying agents and will be restorative. Expect a reciprocal thank you.
$38.00
$26.60
Parties can be overstimulating—so much so that your hostess could struggle when it’s finally time to wind down and go to sleep.
The Nodpod, the weighted blanket for eyes, has a weighted design that helps quiet the mind and makes it easier to drift into sleep naturally.
Note that this isn’t like one of those microwaveable heat wraps. To be used at room temperature or chilled, the Nodpod is a scent-free mask that provides gentle pressure on the eyes and temples to calm the nervous system, block light and aid in sleep. It’s available in six colors.
Other hospitality-related gifts we’ve discussed previously:
Have fun at the party!