We are currently at the point of the year where summer is coming to an end and before we know it, Pumpkin Spice is going to start coming out of everywhere, leaves will be falling, and Mariah Carey will be blasting in retail stores across the US.

As a gift company, we are ALWAYS ready for the holiday time and although you aren't ready to even think about holiday gifting, it's our job to help you create a gift strategy now so you aren't scrambling during a busy time of year when all you want to do is relax and be merry! 

Not only does corporate gift giving improve employee and team relationships, but it also establishes trust, increases productivity and gives positive recognition.

A study done by Forbes stated, "among 300 corporate gift buyers, 80% of respondents claimed that gifts have improved relationships with coworkers and clients." As well as "48% of the companies said gifting had delivered a substantial benefit, as it made recipients feel valued, improved customer loyalty, and improved employee retention."

In addition to the above statement, if your company is willing to invest in gifting to employees, that in itself shows your employees that the company they work for is determined in not only their own success, but the success of their workers as well due to you investing in them.

Now, the next question is... when and how do you start?

When? In short, the answer is now. Crazy... I know, but ideally August/Early September is when to start thinking of holiday gifting.

This may seem so soon for gifts for employees, but people tend to forget that the last four months of the year are the most hectic between year-end reports, PTO and the scramble to get everything else done! We also recommend early planning to avoid inventory and supply chain issues. If a product that you want ends up out of stock, planning early gives us time to catch the issue before it's too late!

Next: the How!? Luckily, that's where we come in!

We making holiday gifting a total breeze. It starts with an inquiry where you share with us your overall intended form of gifting, we discuss some details and take it from there!

We are here to make this gifting process as seamless as possible for you: whether you are crunched for time, not sure where to start on the design process or just simply overwhelmed by the shipping logistics; we are here from start to finish. 

You can simply fill out our holiday gifting form here and to get started on your corporate holiday gift boxes!

Now that summer vacation is coming to an end, it is time for kids and teachers to start getting ready to go back to school!

Although this may be a fun time for kids to see their friends again and parents to have a little break in their mornings. Teachers on the other hand may be bringing on more of a financial burden than we may think.

Did you know that most teachers are expected to stock their own school supplies? This article, presented by savings.com has broken down the average 2022 investment of teachers in the workforce. It states that, "nearly one in four teachers say they’ll spend more than $750 of their own money during the 2022-23 school year."

There are different factors as to why this is but the main one is the lack of school funding. In addition to this, if parents do not have the means to supply school supplies for their kids, the teachers are there to help!

Lavender and Pine has teamed up with Ms. Delaney, a first-grade Teacher in the Bronx, NY who will be using these items on her Wishlist for small group instruction- focusing on the Science and Reading & literacy. You can also click here to make a donation for Ms. Delaney to buy an iPad and Apple Pencil for her students to showcase their work in real time for their families to see and helping Ms. Delaney plan her lessons digitally on the go!

From now until September 30th, we are donating 10% of our proceeds to help clear teacher wish lists! 

Check Out Ms. Delaney's Wishlist Here!

This Farmhouse Styled Wedding Shoot was an awesome opportunity for us to showcase just how intentional a welcome gift can be!

Back in May, Wedding Planner, Sarah Brehant, Owner of Brehant Creations Events asked us to create wedding welcome gifts for her styled wedding photoshoot. Sarah's eye to detail is beyond compare and being a part of helping her version come to life was so fun!

This welcome gift is inspired by the gorgeous venue, Smith Farm Gardens in CT.

We sourced simple mills farmhouse cheddar crackers, belvoir farm elderflower lemonade, a practical hangover kit and a smores kit guests can use by the fire pit during the after party on the farmhouse grounds!

Packaging was kept simple with some fresh greens and Welcome tag that tied into the gorgeous stationery suite that was designed and created by Tulaloo!

Here are some extra photographs from the shoot so you can see just how beautifully designed this day was!

Below is everyone that made this beautiful event possible!

Photographer: Lynne Reznick Photography
Planning & Design: Brehant Creations Events
Floral Designer: Enza Events
Dress: @rentthedressct
Venue: Smith Farm Gardens
Drapery & Lighting: EZ-Occasions
Linen: Nuage Designs
Glam: Upstyle & @artistrybysav
Chairs: @rentpearl
Rentals: Wylde Rose Events
Custom Gifts: Lavender and Pine Gifting
Stationery: Tulaloo
Calligraphy for Stationery: Nob Hill Jane
Custom Signage: Something Borrowed Event Decor
Shoes: Bella Belle Shoes
Cake: But a Dream Custom Cakes
Models: @savannahtayler & @s.dante_77
Accessories: Borrowed by La Jolie Brid

Wedding season is booming this year and one of our more frequently asked questions this year has been what to include in gift boxes for a wedding party. Many folks decide to DIY or go a different route and we encourage all of our couples to do whatever they want to do!

In this case, our client didn't have the time to DIY so she outsourced to us. She wanted practical bridesmaid boxes with robes and a few other items that fit her wedding vibe that her best friends could use. 

Here is the final gift concept that Hilary chose for her bridesmaids.

We kept the items simple and catered to what Hilary requested to be handed out the day of her wedding! Since the morning of the wedding was going to be super busy, Hilary wanted to make sure everyone was hydrated and had something easy to snack on. Silk scrunchies were the perfect add on to compliment the robes. Lastly, the final element Hilary wanted incorporated was to have it be self care theme which is why we incorporated the LAPCOS Brightening face mask as well as two individual Advil packets--for the day after ;).

If you are stuck on what to give and want to do your own bridesmaid DIY gifts, visit our Amazon Storefront here. It's full of fun and practical items that your bridesmaids will love!

Pro Tip #1: Be mindful when incorporating robes/pajama sets. Not all brands are size inclusive and you just want to be sure your bridesmaid all feel confident in what they are wearing.

Pro Tip #2: Don't spend your money on personalizing items or products that say "Bridesmaid" on them. Not only are they added costs, but they turn the items into disposable items that can only be one or a few times. Instead, opt for simple items that are still in your color scheme that your bridesmaids can use long term!

Testimonial: "My experience was amazing with Alexandra. She worked with me to meet my budget and provide the most beautiful wedding gift boxes!  Our guests were so impressed by her work and I would use her again in a heartbeat." - Jamie Gatto, Mother of the Bride

These wedding welcome gifts were modern with a traditional southern twist. We worked directly with the Mother of the Bride, Jamie, who made it her mission to provide her daughter with the ultimate southern wedding welcome gift-down to the perfect hue of baby blue! I had the pleasure of meeting Jamie in person (who lives a few towns over in Connecticut) when she came to pick up her gifts and drive them all down south! Our experience working together was both fun and collaborative. 

Below is the final gift guide we provided that showcases the delicious and 'beyond the snack sized' portions so guests with children can enjoy the goodies as well along with a gorgeous map of the grounds, itinerary and matching gift tag!

This custom wedding welcome gift was so fun to see come to life. We kept things simple with just a few, great quality products that offered more than a 1oz serving size and, rest assured, we definitely assure the contents we suggest to our clients are of high quality.

Looking for custom wedding welcome gifts? Fill out our form to get started and work 1:1 with us!

Have you been thinking of adding wedding welcome bags to kick off your epic wedding weekend?! If you're not sure about what to put in welcome bags, we have you covered!

We have added a DIY wedding welcome gift guide to our Amazon storefront with fun goodies and gift ideas to help you sort through decision overwhelm and help you curate your very own wedding gift bags if outsourcing isn't in your budget.

You don't need to break the bank to have a beautiful gift and if you have the time and extra helping hands, DIYing is the way to go (that's what I did for my own wedding!)

Have fun, mix and match your favorite snacks and pick your packaging to make your welcome gifts a bit more personalized from you both!

1. White Gift Bag | 2. Spindrift Sparkling Water | 3. Polar Seltzer Water | 4. Unreal Chocolate Coconut Mini Bars | 5. Milano Cookies |  6. Cape Cod Wavy Potato Chips | 7. Unreal Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups | 8. Stacy's Pita Chips | 9. Lindt Lindor White Chocolate Truffles

These are some of our most popular items that are fan favs all around.

💡Pro-tip: When curating your gift, a great rule of thumb when choosing products is to stick with more common/popular flavors so everyone can enjoy!

💡Below is our quick checklist of quantities to include in your welcome bags:

2 x preferred beverage (flat or sparkling water are best)

1-2x salty snack

1-2x sweet snack

1-2 x snack that you both enjoy together

Want to add an on-brand itinerary to outline all of the fun events going down? This Zazzle Wedding Welcome Note is simple and sweet!

If you are looking for a specific theme check out our Amazon Store where we are frequently adding new themes and plenty of alternative options for you to pick and choose from within different price ranges!

Share your gift curation with us @lavenderandpinegifting on Instagram!

Are you in charge of an upcoming beachy Bachelorette Party and need ideas for welcome gifts?

We got you covered, and the best part is that EVERYTHING for these awesome gifts can be found in our Amazon storefront!

This gift guide was curated to help kick off the day or weekend off on an amazing, and FUN note to get everybody ready to celebrate!

These are some of our favs (trust us, it was hard to choose) but our Amazon Store has plenty of other options for you to pick and choose across all different price ranges!

Want to add an on-brand itinerary to outline all of the fun events going down? This Zazzle Itinerary is PERFECT! Get 30% off your first order by using this link!

Share your gift curations with us @lavenderandpinegifting on Instagram!

Are you a wedding planner or photographer looking for client onboarding gift ideas? If so, you're in the right place--Client gifting is our specialty!

Our gifting service offers a huge assortment of pre curated gift boxes across all budgets that can be used as client gifts.

Below are 6 of our most popular premade gifts that can be used not only as onboarding gifts; but also client gift boxes that can be delivered at any point during your clients experience: 3 months out from their wedding, offboarding or even a first anniversary or housewarming gift!

If you want to add your branding and truly make them your own, we now offer a add your logo program, which allows you to upload your logo for stationery and tags that we will use whenever you place an order!

These gifts are ready to order, include a gift tag of your choice, and a handwritten message to your clients for a super personal touch!

1. Something Blue Deluxe Gift Box - $195

2. Relax + Retreat Gift Box - $140

3. Self Care + Celebrations - $105

4. Love at First Sight - $77

5. The Proposal - $65

6. Teanie Tiny Tea Lover Gift Box - $32

What makes these gifts so popular?

Are you celebrating your wedding soon and just realized you want to create welcome gifts for your guests?

I know there are a million blogs out there saying the same thing when it comes to welcome gifts but what sets this one apart is that I'm here to share what's necessary or a total waste of time, what to consider that I see NO ONE talking about and how you can save some money if you choose to DIY!

As one of the first details your guests will see as they arrive, you want to wow them and give them a sneak peek into your epic party! 

Although we offer Custom Welcome Gift services, we JUST launched our new DIY (Design it Yourself) Welcome Gifts for those of you that aren't feeling full custom or are on a tight turnaround. If you do decide to delegate these to your family or friends, use our ideas below to help you!

Always Include 2 Bottles of Water 

As far as beverages go, it's always good to stick with water. Hydration is often times an afterthought with so many things going on and your guests will appreciate not tapping into the mini bar and paying $8 for a bottle! 

Money Saver: do yourself a HUGE favor and save your money on the custom water bottle labels, it's an added expense and total time suck to do! Your will know no difference! Sign up for Rakuten and purchase your items from sites that offer Cashback!

Don't forget a salty snack!

The perfect pre or post a wedding snack to munch on is a carby one! I recommend pretzels, chips, or popcorn and stick to crowd favorites like a simple sea salt! If you get too specific with flavors, your guests may not eat them and leave the behind which is a waste.

Pro Tip: DON'T repackage snacks AKA buy a big bag of Costco chips and add them to clear bags unless you plan to include an ingredient line. People have allergies and digestion issues and it's imperative to be conscious of ingredient lines with food. My advice is to simply order packaged snack packs and leave them be. You'll also save A LOT of time! 

Money Saver: Repackaging also adds up because you are purchasing additional products (bags and labels). Stick with the original packaging of the food items. Sign up for Rakuten and purchase your items from sites that offer Cashback. Head to your local Sam's or Costco to buy these snack pack items in bulk.

Pair that with a sweet snack!

What's a salty snack without a sweet snack!? If you prefer to be more health conscious than please feel free to do so! The options are endless- we recommend granola bars, nuts, cookies or chocolate. Again, keep the flavors to basic crowd-pleasing favorites like chocolate chip or a cinnamon sugared almond vs anything to specific. 

Pro Tip: similar to the salty snacks, I suggest to not repackage snacks unless you plan to include an ingredient line. My advice is to simply order packaged snack packs and leave them be. You'll also save A LOT of time! If you add anything with chocolate to your gifts, ensure they are stored in cool places at all times during warmer months to avoid melting! 

Money Saver: Repackaging also adds up because you are purchasing additional products (bags and labels). Stick with the original packaging of the food items. Sign up for Rakuten and purchase your items from sites that offer Cashback. So often, online grocers offer 10-15% off your first purchase so utilize these discounts!

The extras!

Some folks like to include a keepsake, but my advice is to ditch it. It's an added expense on something that will get tossed. Our most popular add on are Tylenol/Advil packets or our Hangover Kits. Hangover kits are awesome if the contents are practical- keep them simple to Advil, Tums/Pepto tabs, gum and if you want to take it a step further--add in a hydrator packet or Emergen-C. All other items you see in hangover kits are great and all, but unnecessary for a one night stay.

Money Saver: Sign up for Rakuten and purchase your items from sites that offer Cashback! If there's anything out of this that you should DIY, it's the Hangover Kits. People charge A LOT for these and all you really need are the Tylenol/Advil packets at the end of the day.

Choose your Packaging!

This is the part that usually trips people up. Do you do bags or boxes? Where do you get that "shredded paper stuff" aka crinkle. If you DIY, you can certainly find bags, boxes, ribbons, crinkle, tissue and tags on Amazon or Etsy so whatever you choose, it's good to pick what goes best with our wedding vibe. Outsourcing to us will allow you the headache of needing to know HOW MUCH crinkle, ribbon, tissue etc is need. We also can determine what size bag or box is needed to fit the contents you choose. 

If you DIY: If you are shipping welcome gifts to your venue, we HIGHLY recommend to stick with boxes. Shipping bags will be a nightmare and put all of that hard work to waste. 

Money Saver: Sign up for Rakuten and purchase your items from sites that offer Cashback! Crinkle is also very expensive and sold at astronomical prices on Amazon ($25 for TWO lbs.!). My advice is to buy a 10lb box (you'll need way more than 2 lbs. anyway) off of a company like Nashville Wraps for $40 and save any extra for future gifting or sell off to folks that may need it for their events!

To DIY or NOT to DIY..

My goal is to always be transparent and helpful when it comes to gifting, whether you just need gift ideas or someone to completely take the task off of your list. Offering up useful advice to those that simply don't feel it necessary to outsource or curious minds is why I love doing what I do: Take my experience and share it with you all!

I understand the urge to do it yourself, but trust me when I say, you MAY want to reconsider the DIY route and outsource to an expert the very same way you did your flowers, stationery and all the rest!

Doing it yourself can often lead to just throwing items in a bag which can come out messy and even appear as an afterthought to your guests. People have ordered items too late in the timeline, products were delivered damaged, ordered the wrong quantities, didn't order enough ribbon etc. which just led to wasted money and frustration in the weeks leading up to their wedding day.

To avoid all of that, check out our services: Custom Welcome Gifts and Curated Welcome Gifts. Both were created to fit a certain need and we welcome you to explore how it all works! If you have any questions about welcome gifts, or want to hire us for your wedding, we are more than excited to work with you!

The question that most people are left with is this: but what TYPE of gift do I give?

Well, the type of gift that is right for your business ultimately depends on what your goal is for you and your recipient!

What do I mean by goals? Ask yourself this: why am I gifting in the first place? how will this help my business and  what is the result I want for my recipient? 

In our experience working with businesses of all sizes, across many different categories, we have realized there are 3 main types of business gifts: 

Appreciation Gifting: is gifting anything that makes your clients feel appreciated and expresses gratitude for doing business with you. Not to be confused with a promotional gift that includes branded items. An appreciation gift is an authentic way to say thank you!

• Example: In an effort to maintain your client relationships and show your appreciation for continued business, you want to acknowledge your clients birthdays with a thoughtful gift (minus branded products!) with a hand written note celebrating them and showing your appreciation. Afterall, 94% of C-Suite executives believe that personal relationships are important to business success. So maintaining these personal relationships is key!

Informational Gifting: great for virtual cohorts, trainings and educational conferences. Informational gifts can include materials and products you need your recipients to use while working with you. Set them up for success by providing materials they will need along the way (vs instructing them to buy anything).

• Example: You have an 8 week long virtual DEI course you are hosting and want to set your participants up for success with your pre-printed workbook, extra curricular reading materials, weekly planner and a preloaded gift card for some coffee. They have a lot of work to do and this will get them motivated from the start!

Promotional Gifting: Promotional gifts are described as items used for promotional purposes in marketing. They almost always contain the company logo. Think corporate swag or PR kits. Many people think that a promotional gift is an appreciation gift and this is not the case. Promotional gifts are great for showcasing a rebrand or new product launch and they create awesome brand recognition when done correctly. My advice is to stay away from tchotchkes like fidget spinners with your logo on them. Stuff like that most likely isn't related to the work you or your recipient is doing.

• Example: You're a CPG brand and want to showcase your new line of beverages to your investors, partners and employees in the form of a branded gift box. Inside the gift you include your 3 new beverages, a branded insulated bottle to drink from and reusable straws in a branded sachet.

Can there be a hybrid of the above? Absolutely! the below is an example of all 3 types of gifting in one!

• Your company has a weekend conference coming up and you are looking to welcome your recipients upon arrival after they've traveled from afar. They will need badges for entry, an itinerary of events and several pre-printed materials. Upon check-in, you greet them with a branded tote of those materials along with with some snacks for their room, a branded portable charger and notebook to use during their back to back meetings and a voucher to the hotel spa or restaurant to use on their downtime as a "Thank you" for being here!

Having a strategy in place for your gifting needs is necessary for the results you want to achieve. Whether it's building relationships, keeping your participants engaged or developing a marketing tactic through gifting, not knowing the WHY behind your gifting can lead to money wasted and a failed initiative.

Working with a gifting service will not only lead you in the right direction, we will execute every logistical detail to ensure your vision is brought to life. 

Want to find out more? Work with us on your next gifting project!