Secret Santa & White Elephant Gift Ideas

Secret Santa Gifts

A Secret Santa gift exchange is all about the mystery and fun. So how can you make the experience even more exciting and rewarding? Here are 10 simple ideas to add an extra oomph to your Secret Santa celebration – whether you are celebrating at work, school, or in the comfort of your own home!

How to Host the Best Secret Santa Gift Exchange:

• Pick a Theme: While Secret Santa is already a theme party, take it one step further by adding a theme to the gifts. Choose from themes such as gag gifts, nostalgia or themes based on holiday movies.
• Send an Enticing Invitation: Every iconic party has started with an alluring invitation. Tease some of the highlights (such as holiday movies you’ll be showing) and include all necessary details (such as time, place, and theme if you have one). Celebrations.com has tons of free and premium Christmas Invitations to choose from, such as this chic Secret Santa Invitation.
• Revisit Last Year’s Secret Santa: Before tearing into this year’s Secret Santa stash, revisit the memories from last year. Whether you recorded it in video or photographs, set up a quick viewing session so guests can relive old memories before making new ones (and so they can compare this year’s haul to last year’s).
• Record the Reactions: They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so catch the emotion on camera in video or photograph! This will also enable you to relive this year’s Secret Santa during next year’s festivities.
• Prepare a Festive Playlist: Playing holiday music in the background is an exciting and simple way to take your party to the next level! Put one together on your own or consult your favorite music streaming websites – they will probably already have one ready for use.
• Play a Holiday Movie in the Background: Another alternative for subdued entertainment is to simply pop in a holiday favorite and play it in the background. Guests will tune in to their favorite parts and it’s sure to make for some talking points and conversation starters. Alternatively, you can throw your favorite version of “Yule Log” on, such as the undeniably adorable Lil BUB’s Magical Yule Log, available for free on Youtube (along with some other must-view classics).
• Choose Gift Wrap Over Gift Bags: Half the fun of opening gifts is tearing at the perfectly wrapped paper that houses said gift. Ask all participants to wrap their gifts rather than throw them in a gift bag – include this information on the invitation AND in an email.
• Guess the Gift Giver: Ask the gift-giver to omit their name in the greeting card, so recipients have a chance to first guess who the gift is from! Depending on the size of the group, gift 2-4 “guesses.” You can offer a small prize for guests who guess the right person, or just have the correct guess be the prize itself.
• Invite Santa’s Elves: Dress up (or invite someone else to dress up) like Santa’s Elves in order to help deliver the gifts. This is a cute and simple way to really add a festive feel to the celebration.
• Make it a Treasure Hunt: If you are the organizer of the Secret Santa party, ask guests to bring you the gifts ahead of time. Then, the day of the party, hide gifts throughout the event space and give recipients small, festive clues on where to find them.