Gifts for Your Girlfriend – The Perfect Guide Guide For Men To Know The Perfect Gift For Every Milestone

Whether you want to believe it or not, (most) women have an idea of what gifts you should give her depending on how you feel about her at that specific point in the relationship. So finding the perfect for your girlfriend is key to making sure you value her and your relationship – especially if her love language is gifts.

Imagine this: Month one of dating you gift her a diamond right. Might be a little too soon, no?!

Now imagine this: Year 3, you’re still dating, not yet engaged, and you buy her an expensive sweater… You think she actually wants a sweater after dating your ass for 3 years? No, she probably wants a ring by now. She wants to know you’re serious about being with her for the long haul.

If you don’t get this right, you’ll send her mixed signals or frankly just waste a lot of money because literally if you get this wrong, sometimes the present that cost you $$$ will completely backfire and be worse than no present at all. (See examples above).

Here’s a gift guide for men shopping for their girlfriends:

One month: Watch for her hints.

Listen and watch closely to the things that she cares about most and that light her up. Sometimes asking “What do you think of (xyz)?” can be helpful too, just make sure it’s casual. Asking her friends can be a great resource too. That way they know you care about their friend and if it goes wrong, you can always blame it on them 😉 (kidding…)

Some easy gifts that are always thoughtful include a dozen tulips or gerber daisies, a jewelry holder, a bud vase, a beautiful sweater, a nice dinner, or tickets to a show.

Three months: Gift certificate & flowers

Gift certificates can be seen as impersonal if you’ve been dating for a while and you should really know her taste. However, the key here is to get a gift certificate for something you know she’d love like a massage, day spa, her favorite store. Bad ideas: McDonald’s, Amazon, PF Changs – come on, we know you bought that from Costco.

Six Months: Something sparkly

You’ve now entered the jewelry zone. Stay away from any type of ring, unless you’re actually thinking of marriage because that’s exactly what she’s going to think if you give her a ring. A safer bet, yet still very meaningful are earrings (don’t do diamonds just yet), bracelets, and necklaces. Pay attention to what she already wears to get an idea of her style. If you’re stuck get a picture of the jewelry she wears and take it to a jeweler to get their opinion.  If jewelry is too much, don’t fret, a handbag, handcrafted gift (not by you), or something vintage of her favorite artist or author could be a great gift as well.

One year: Something meaningful

This is a big deal. She’ll expect that you know her pretty well by now so try to remember how to she responded to your other gifts. Which ones did she love the most? Remember as the relationship progresses it’s important that your gifts are more impressive too. You can’t really go backward at this point, so you better pace yourself. Some great gift ideas for your one year anniversary include a weekend getaway (put the tickets in a card with flowers), jewelry that you have engraved (this is a major deal to women), or a gorgeous piece of clothing that she has been obsessed with such as a nice jacket. If you’re already living together a nice piece of furniture that you know matches her taste shows you love living with her.

Other gift-giving tips for guys trying to find the best gift for their girlfriend:

• Personal is always better than generic.
• How much should you spend? Remember each occasion will likely be more money, so start off on the lower end so you have room to build up.
• How fancy? Take a cue from the style gifts she gives you.
• Funny or homemade gifts? Homemade gifts are always a hit especially in between holidays. But for major occasions, stick to something nice.

That’s it. Use this gift guide and your girlfriend will be blown away by your gifts on every occasion.