Lead times catch people out more than anything else. Handmade stock and personalised print both need runway, so treat six to eight weeks out as the sensible window for a firm order, and longer if you are ordering in the run-up to Christmas when demand is heaviest. Confirm your numbers after the RSVP deadline, not before, and give yourself a buffer for the inevitable late reply.

Thank you is the most common thing a gift has to say and the easiest to get slightly wrong. Too small and it reads as an afterthought. Too large and it puts the recipient under a strange obligation. A mid-size chocolate collection or a share bag sits in the right register for almost every version of the occasion.

Choose a hamper for the occasion or a share bag for the casual version, lean on a maker with real provenance, and keep the presentation simple. The gift will read as considered because it is.

Provenance suits an occasion built on longevity. Lily O'Brien's chocolate O'Brien's has handcrafted its chocolates in Newbridge, Co. Kildare since Mary Ann O'Brien founded the brand in 1992, so there is a continuity to the gift that quietly echoes the anniversary itself. A maker with a long history behind it fits a celebration of years together.

Keep the gift aimed at the adults, personalise it for the day, and check the detail before you order. A named box of chocolates handcrafted with a bit of provenance behind it marks a christening or an announcement in a way that feels chosen, and it gives the parents something that is unmistakably for them.

What lifts either above a last-minute grab is what is inside and where it comes from. Lily O'Brien's has handcrafted its chocolates in Newbridge, Co. Kildare since Mary Ann O'Brien started the brand in 1992, so a hamper carries a bit of provenance you can mention as you hand it over. A gift with a story behind it always feels more considered than one without.