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Engagement gift boxes for the couple who just said yes

The news went out an hour ago and everybody is on the phone. I pack every box myself, by hand, here in Canada, and I write your card out in your own words. There's no price on anything inside, and shipping anywhere in Canada is on me.

I pack every box by hand here in Canada, and I write every card out myself.

Four engagement boxes from $99 to $119, shipped free, each with a card written by hand.

The Celebration Spark Box, an engagement gift box packed by hand in Canada
An example of the card, written in your words

Sara and Sam. Finally. So happy for you both.

Love, Meg

The Celebration Spark BoxAbout three things, and about two more at $119.From$99Buy now, $99: The Celebration Spark Box, $99

Four boxes I pack for an engagement

Four different boxes rather than four versions of one thing, and three of the four come in two sizes. The larger size is the same box with about two more things in it, picked the way the rest of it was picked, so the choice between them is how much and not what. An engagement gift is the first thing anyone buys these two, so it doesn't have to be big. It has to be quick, and it has to sound like you. The same handwritten card goes in all four.

Want to choose what goes in? Build your own box instead: you choose the box, you choose what goes in it, and it ships free the same way these do.

When to send it

An engagement is the one occasion on this page with no date to hit, which makes it the easiest of the five to get right. There's a week or so after the news goes out when everyone is on the phone, and a box that turns up then reads as excitement. After that the venue lists start and a quieter one is better. Either is fine, and nothing is late.

I can't promise an exact arrival date, so if you're aiming at a particular evening, order with a week or two of room. You can pick a preferred delivery date at checkout, which tells me when to send it rather than when it will arrive.

More boxes that suit a new engagement

Each of these is sold here for another reason too, so nothing on this page calls them anything else. Every price includes free shipping anywhere in Canada and a card written out by hand.

Showing all 5

If you want to spend more than this

Three of the four come in two sizes, and together they stop at $119, which is what these boxes cost, and I'm not going to pad one out to reach a bigger number. If you want to spend more than the larger size of one of these, spend it on a different box rather than on padding one of them out.

Neither of the two below is an engagement box, so the card would have to say what the box isn't saying. Nothing on this page is a smaller gift for costing less.

Or start from every box I make, sorted by priceThe whole ladder, $70 to $299, including the sizes between these boxes and those.

The card is the only part that sounds like you.

You type the message when you order, up to 280 characters. I write it out in pen on a real card and set it on top, so it's the first thing they read. Engagement news gets a hundred replies in a day and every one of them is typed. Yours turns up in handwriting.

Stuck on what to write? You could start with one of these:

"Finally. So happy for you both.""Don't rush the good part.""Take one night off from the planning."

There are more lines you can borrow in my guide to writing a gift card message.

An example of the card, written in your words

You two. Finally. Take a night off the planning and open this one.

Love, Meg

How to choose an engagement gift

There's no etiquette to get wrong here, which is the good news and also the reason people freeze. An engagement gift isn't expected, there's no registry yet and nobody is keeping a list, so whatever you send lands as a surprise rather than as an obligation met. Pick by timing instead of by price. In the first week they're on the phone constantly and something to open that night is right. A month on, the phone has stopped and the venue spreadsheet has started, and a quiet one is better. If you want a number anyway, my guide to how much to spend on a gift in Canada goes relationship by relationship.

The week it happens

Two boxes from $99 to $119: the Celebration Spark Box and the Cheers to You Box. An engagement gets announced all at once and then nothing happens for months. Something that arrives while the news is still new reads as excitement rather than as a chore you got round to.

Once it goes quiet

Two boxes from $99 to $119: the Couples Tea Box and the Luxury Romance Box. A few weeks in, everyone has said congratulations and the two of them are looking at venues and dates. A box that turns up then is the one they'll actually sit down with.

If you only really know one of them

The Cheers to You Box at $99 or $119 is the exception on this sheet. It's built for one person rather than two, which is honest about how most of these actually get bought: you were friends with one of them first. The others all have a pair of something in them and are for the couple.

Boxes for the two of them

The rest of what I make that suits a couple who have just got engaged, from $99. Every one of them is sold here for some other reason too, so none of them is an engagement box, and at this stage that matters less than it will at any of the others, because nothing is expected of you yet.

What comes next, if you're on the list again

Engaged, showered, married, a year in. Four occasions, the same two people, about eighteen months, and I stock every one of them. If you're close enough to be buying now, you'll be buying again.

The shower comes a month or two before the wedding, and it is the one where your gift gets opened in front of a room and passed around, which is why the boxes on my bridal shower shelf are quieter than these on purpose.

By the wedding there will be a registry and most people will buy off it. That is where the wedding boxes are useful: they are for the part of a wedding nobody thought to put on a list.

A year after that, the first anniversary goes past and hardly anyone marks it, which is why a box on that date lands harder than anything you send this year. The anniversary boxes are the last stop on the run, and yours turns up on its own.

Four occasions, one couple, and you never land back on the same shelf twice.

Questions people ask me

What is a good engagement gift?

Something for the two of them to open together in the first week, while the news is still new. An engagement isn't a registry occasion, so nothing is expected and nothing is being ticked off a list. The one I'd send is the Celebration Spark Box at $99 or $119, because it opens on the night it arrives. Every box here is packed by hand in Canada and comes with a card written out in your own words.

How much should I spend on an engagement gift?

Less than you'd spend on the wedding, and less than you think. There's no registry at this stage and no expectation attached, so the amount isn't what's being read. My engagement boxes run from $99 to $119 and every one of them ships free anywhere in Canada. If you want to spend more than that, the luxury boxes for her and for him are $299 each, though neither of them is an engagement box.

What is inside an engagement gift box?

It depends on the box. They run from two glasses and something to eat beside them to a warm drink, something soft and a reason to stay in. What goes in shifts with what's good this season, so I describe each one by how full it is and who it's for rather than listing it. There's no alcohol in any of them: where a box has glasses in it, the glasses come empty. There's no price on anything inside the box.

Can I send an engagement gift straight to the couple?

Yes. Put their address in at checkout and type your message. I copy it onto the card by hand before the box goes out, so the only thing they read is the note from you.

Do you deliver engagement gifts across Canada?

Yes. Shipping is free anywhere in Canada and takes 1 to 7 days in transit. There's no minimum to reach and no charge added at checkout. I can't promise an exact arrival date, so if the date matters to you, order with room. You can pick a preferred delivery date at checkout, which tells me when to send it rather than when it will arrive.

Can I return an engagement gift box?

All sales are final. Every box is food, skincare and other things that can't be resold once they've left here, and each one is packed by hand to order. If you have a question before you buy, email me at team@swipegifts.com.

While you are here

Thanks for reading this far. If you have a question about any box, write to me at team@swipegifts.com. I read every email, and I write back.