The Affordable Luxury Christmas Gift Guide 2014: Something for Everyone

That time of year has come around so fast once again. Creating that dream luxury Christmas may seem like a rather daunting task, but with quality gifts to be found online and on the high street with greater ease and with more variety, you’re actually spoilt for choice when it comes to finding the perfect presents and stocking fillers...

photo credit: wwarby 

So I’ve compiled The Affordable Luxury Christmas Gift Guide 2014, a great collection of everyday luxurious items that can also be found on your local high street, with something for everyone in the family, as well as covering your friends and colleagues.

photo credit: andy castro

For those who need to relax

Christmas can be a hectic time; the holiday season is hard work in itself and leaves little time for any jubilation at all. You probably know someone who will be putting all their efforts and hard work into creating a memorable Christmas for family and friends, so why not reward them with something that’ll sweep them off their feet for once? They may not have the time to run away to a luxury spa in the countryside, so allow them the same pampered treatment with sumptuous spa gifts, containing luxurious items designed for rejuvenating and uplifting the skin, body, and spirit. Spa collections range from sets designed for romantic nights in to glamorous nights out. These collections also make great gifts for friends, colleagues, and partners. Most spa gift sets are beautifully presented and make for a stunning gift to be unwrapped and lavished upon by your lucky recipient. Typically, spa gifts contain an essential mixture of natural cosmetic and bath items, and are available for both men and women.

photo credit: mothernaturebeauty

For the technology obsessed kid (or big kid)

Chances are if you’re looking to buy for your family, you’ll know someone who would love nothing more than an impressive and flashy toy to play with on Christmas day. If you want to make trendsetters out of your lucky recipients, the two big trends on the meteoric rise are RC Quadcopters and robotics. Right now, both are on the path to becoming highly accessible gadgets for the near future. For personality, the MiP Robot is an impressive automaton with buckets of charm and smarts, skilfully able to glide around the room avoiding obstacles whilst carrying items, as well as learning and adapting to your responses and commands. Perfect for when you’ve eaten too much Christmas dinner and need something from the kitchen! RC technology is also coming on leaps and bounds, but the biggest trend for this growing market appears to be in Quadcopters. I wrote a post about Quadcopter flying tips earlier this year. Whilst RC Helicopters and Planes have long been a staple of the Christmas shopping period, experts predict a sizeable shift in how we use consumer RC technology, with increasingly advanced features being fitted into smaller products. However, if you feel your recipient could be more inclined to natural flying and manoeuvrability, their heart may be set on stunt kites, the most advanced kites on the market which allow for expert moves and flight patterns through relatively simple motions.

photo credit: Rev. Xanatos Satanicos Bombasticos (ClintJCL)

For your employees and clients

Workplace Christmas gifts should reflect both the playful nature of the holiday season, and serve as a thank you to your employees for their hard work all year round, bringing them back in the New Year in high spirits. Buying for such a diverse group of people can be difficult, and knowing what to get that will make each of them happy can be a logistical nuisance. Christmas is a time when we throw caution to the wind, and eat as much as we can in jubilation of our good fortune, so look to a high end bakery to produce a bespoke range of corporate Christmas gifts for your hard workers. A selection of artisan Christmas biscuits, puddings, cookies and chocolates are sure to be popular with your staff, and with the added option of branded and customised baked goods, you can present a luxurious gift that has a personal touch. Christmas edibles can also make great gifts for your clients, and showing them some love over the Christmas period can only help improve your professional relationship. If you really want to blow them away, arrange for some custom biscuits bearing their logo to be sent to their offices, the flattery is sure to go a long way.

photo credit: Ana_Fuji

Sending quality Christmas cards

If you’re like me, you have a growing list of Christmas cards to complete and send each year. I’m always proud every year of the cards I receive, each from a friend who thought about me, each with a beautiful design reminiscent of the joyous Christmas period. I always seek to make my recipients feel the same way I do each time I receive a card. Personalised cards are perfect for the closest of friends. To me, knowing that a person has taken the time to create something representative of our friendship is an inexplicably superb way of wishing well for Christmas. There are many, easy to use, online services that provide bespoke Christmas cards including customisable images, text, inlay and sizes to suit whatever ideas you have. Every Christmas, it’s also important to count your blessings and give back to those in need by buying charity Christmas cards. All proceeds from the sale of such cards go toward fighting a cause of your choice, as well as illuminating the issues for others. It also helps that charity cards are beautifully designed and illustrated, depicting famous scenes from the nativity, as well as more secular images. Many charities around this time of year require more help than ever, so do all you can this Christmas.

photo credit: zakka inspired

Accessorising with Elegance

For the sophisticated and stylish woman, high end fashionable accessories are a perfect gift choice. Something small and chic can completely raise the status of an outfit. It is a compliment to a woman’s current fashion sensibilities without changing ones sense of style. Something for the current and enduring winter cold would be a practical and fashionable gift choice, such as an elegant pair of long black leather gloves, reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn’s sophisticated sixties. A pair of leather gloves can also be worn as part of an evening outfit, and they’re simply perfect for adding an extra elegance to a social outfit. The same can be said for a trendy hat. Once only considered the upscale signature of the super wealthy, a hat can bring an extra air of poise to an outfit, as well as comfort and warmth. A classic and elegant accessory suitable for both genders is a luxury watch. Watches are always in fashion, so do some research about your intended recipient and find out which model would suit their sense of style. In addition, a luxury watch box is perfect for protecting a watch from damage and keeping it secured safely in one place. Another soon-to-be mass market product currently on the rise is smartwatches. Right now, all the big tech players including Apple, Google and Samsung are entering the market in some way, making smartwatches a highly desirable piece of luxury consumer technology, placed firmly at the intersection of fashion and electronics.

photo credit: minxlj

Happy Shopping!

photo credit: Wilson Hui 

Ultimately, the most affordable luxury at Christmas is the company of others; everything else is just a bonus. That being said, what would we do without retail therapy? There’s just an innate pleasure to be gained from buying a gift for someone, and the happiness it can bring is all the proof you need that holiday cheer is alive and well.

Don't forget to check out the rest of my work on The Spoon Drawer and Follow me on twitter for all the latest posts - @EdwardPhelan1.