Step Three: Pleasure is the hidden key

Pleasure is the hidden key behind any memorable gift.

Our senses have always been at the center of giving. Perfume, music, and great feasts like Thanksgiving, our wedding meal, Valentine's Day, or a birthday dinner are our way of connecting and bonding before gifting.

The more senses that are a part of the gifting, the more memorable the occasion will be. The pleasure of our senses is such an important part of the gift giving experience! Gifts without "layers" of our senses mean little and impact us only briefly.

Giving is our way to connect, bond and show our affection to those we cherish and love! Why would we give a gift that isn't special? This last part of the How to be the Ultimate Gift Giver series puts the cherry on top. By being sensitive to our recipients senses, we can add more layers to the experience and transform it into a lasting memory.

Pleasureful additions of taste, sound or smell makes a gift that much more memorable. We'll briefly walk you through the importance of considering each one for your next gift in order from most significant to least...

1. Visual
2. Taste
3. Smell
4. Hearing
5. Feeling

Visual pleasure in gifting is important and packaging and presentation is vital. If your engagement ring was presented in a cardboard box, it wouldn't have been as beautiful!

Our visual sense is the most important thing to consider when gifting. It is the introduction, presentation and delivery of the gift. You know what they say about first impressions!

By simply asking questions about the presentation, discussed in detail in Part 2,  you will surely give fabulous gifts every time. Again, the presentation (visual pleasure) of a gift is its' most significant characteristic, but coupled with other senses, a “visual gift” becomes an experience.

The next to consider in your gifting process is Smell and taste. They are so powerful, because they are so closely linked to our pleasure, happiness and strong positive (and sometimes negative) memories.  Do you ever catch a smell that reminds you of your grandmother’s cookies? How about a taste that brings you back to a moment in time? When they are both together, they create a cocktail of feel good chemicals that leave a lasting impression! That's what we are after! 

Sometimes hearing is a part of the gifting process in the way we deliver our gift to the recipient (the explanation of why we thought of it for that occasion and for that person)  and in how we speak about it afterwards. It can even be as far as the satisfying sound of the opening of a box or taking off the wrapping of a gift! I'm sure you can think of some ways to uses this to spice up a gift (maybe put some great background music on!).

Feeling, though significant, is something that we consider to be last on the importance of gift giving. It's generally dulled by daily use and not really a notable part of gifting. An embroidered bed sheet, though it doesn’t have the most important senses for gift giving, is an examples of a gift that is primarily a “feeling” gift. It can be a delightful addition when coupled with the other senses!

Inspired to give a lasting gift right now?

We have you covered!

Visit our Sweet Shop now for the most indulgent confections presented to appeal to all the senses!