Gentlemen listen up! The old adage, “it’s the thought that counts” is one hundred percent true. While flowers and chocolates make nice anniversary presents, they’re hardly special. Give her a gift that truly says, “I love you” by applying these three simple gift-giving techniques: make it personal, get creative and present it properly. With these easy-to-follow steps, you’ll be sure to knock the socks off of the woman you love.

She’s not generic, so her present shouldn’t be either.
Flowers, chocolates and jewelry are so expected. Sure they’re nice to receive, but when you think about it, do they really say “I know you” and “I love you”? Didn’t think so. Take a few moments right now to think about your wife and her hobbies. What does she enjoy doing in her spare time? Does she love cooking? Taking bubble baths? Shopping? Pinpoint just one of the things she loves doing and then select a gift that correlates to that action or hobby. If she loves cooking, for example, get her a beautiful cookbook or a subscription to Food and Wine Magazine. If she’s a bather why not buy her a selection of bath salts, bubbles and lotions. This technique can be applied to nearly any hobby she might have. But don’t stop there. You can take your gift to the next level with a little bit of creativity.

Apply a little creativity.
Let’s say that you’ve purchased a new cookbook for your wife, the aspiring chef. With just a little more effort you can make the gift even more thoughtful and exciting to receive. Open up the book and select one of the recipes from its pages. Now, hop on over to William’s Sonoma and get her a few of the utensils that the recipe suggests using or go to the market and purchase a some of the spices it calls for. Need another example? Add some scented candles and a smooth jazz CD to the bathing salts and lotions you’re getting your bathing beauty. It’s simple really, but with a little extra effort and a couple more components, you’re turning an already personalized gift into an even more thoughtful one. Now, one last component: packaging.

Presentation goes a long way.
Presentation is half the fun of gift giving and receiving. There’s a reason why women love getting a present from Tiffany & Co. as opposed to any other jeweler. Receiving their signature Robin’s Egg Blue box is almost as exciting as the treasure that lies inside of it! Try individually wrapping each of the gifts you’ve selected rather than throwing them unwrapped into a gift bag. With multiple gifts to open there are multiple elements of surprise to be had. Take it one step further and number each gift in the order of which you’d like her to open them. Then present her first with a numbered card that has a clue assigned to each number as to what each gift will be. You can even pepper your clues with a little romance. For example, wrap your cookbook and number it “1″. Then put a 1 on the card and write something to the nature if “Here’s to a future of candle-lit dinners.” No need to be long winded, just have a little fun with it and she’ll have fun, too.

Now doesn’t that leave flowers and chocolates out in the dust? With a little effort and thought you can easily give a gift that truly says, “I love you”. Just remember to make it personal, be creative and don’t forget about presentation. By following these three steps you’re pretty much guaranteed a happy wife. And a happy wife makes for a very happy anniversary. Now, get shopping!