50 Ways to Speak Love Using Gifts

My lowest scoring love language has always been receiving gifts. But I’ve come to appreciate a really well-given give over the years. Gifts are a huge part of our everyday society, more than we might realize. You might assume that if your spouse’s love language is receiving gifts, they’d appreciate stuff, but that’s not the case. I hope the thoughts and ideas in this post help you understand and speak your spouse’s love language in a deeper way than you have before.

Related: 7 Things You Need to Know About the Love Languages

What is receiving gifts as a love language?

Receiving gifts is all about the thought and intentionality that goes into your gift. If your spouse rarely wears jewelry and you gift them with a diamond necklace they’ll never wear, they won’t appreciate it as much. But if you have a spouse who loves to go see movies when they hit theaters and you gift them one of those packs that include a refillable mug and popcorn bucket and a gift card to the theater they love, that’s a really great and thoughtful gift. It’s not about how much you spend on your spouse’s gifts, it’s about the thought behind the gift.

How do I give a good gift without gifting a bunch of “stuff”?

I hope that what I’ve shared so far has helped to answer this question a bit. I like what Gary Chapman says in his book, The 5 Love Languages, “Gifts are visual symbols of love”. This couldn’t be more true! Your gift could be as simple as a link to a playlist you put together on a free music app, with songs that remind you of your spouse and your relationship together. Or you could purchase a gorgeous piece of jewelry that represents your children, your marriage, or something else that is important to your spouse. There are 50 ideas below to help get you started. And if you use the printable, your spouse can verbalize exactly what speaks to them in the receiving gifts love language.

Related: The Secret to Success with The 5 Love Languages

50 Ways to Speak Receiving Gifts as a Love Language

1. Bring home a bouquet of their favorite flowers or surprise them with a flower delivery at work
2. Plant some flowers in the yard or in a pot in the house that they can enjoy all season long
3. Send them a surprise at work ( ie drink, meal, treat, flowers)
4. Make a mix CD or Spotify playlist of songs that remind you of them
5. Sign them up for something they’ve always wanted to do
6. Pack a small gift or love note or treat in their bag for work or when they go out of town
7. Give them a random gift for a random holiday like Leslie Knope in Parks & Rec
8. Make a scrapbook of your time together or a special moment in their life
9. Make special occasions a big deal, especially their favorite ones
10. Listen for hints on things they love and write them down so you can use them to surprise your spouse later
11. Always keep an eye out for things that they’d love to be surprised with
12. Keep a closet of gifts, small and large, that you can gift them when special occasions or reasons to celebrate pop up
13. Pick up their favorite drink or treat when you’re at the gas station or the grocery store
14. Leave love notes around the house where they’re sure to find them
15. Bring home dinner or make dinner, preferably their favorite meal
16. Wrap their presents really nicely
17. Bake their favorite treat
18. Have lunch delivered to them at work
19. Find little tools to make their life easier and buy them for them (ex. apple slicer, new tape measure)
20. Make and bring them breakfast in bed
21. Put together a photo album of the two of you
22. Buy “just because I love you” gifts
23. Let them have “the last” of something (pizza, cookie, donut, etc.)
24. Put their towel in the dryer and bring it back warm as they get out of the shower
25. Purchase a warm, fluffy robe and slippers for them to enjoy after a long day
26. Surprise them with their favorite breakfast, at home or a restaurant, on the weekend
27. Splurge on something that’s a luxury for them
28. Save up to surprise them by purchasing something big the two of you or they have been wanting
29. Plan a surprise trip for the two of you to go on
30. Take them on a date that includes all of the things they love (restaurant/food, activity, movie, etc.)
31. Find a super thoughtful gift that you know they’ve been wanting
32. Create a Pinterest board and fill it with things they mention or that you see and know they’d love. Use it to purchase gifts for special occasions
33. Make a list on Amazon of things they want but aren’t totally a necessity or something they’d just buy
34. Don’t forget special occasions or holidays and never forget to give them a gift
35. Fill a notebook with one thing they do that makes you smile, every day for a year, then gift it to them to read
36. Surprise them with season tickets to a theater, attraction, or sporting event that they love
37. Give them a small gift that is a symbol of your relationship or love story
38. Put a lot of thought into the gifts you get them and don’t be afraid to explain the thought process behind it so they know
39. Remember that the monetary value of a gift doesn’t matter as much as the meaning and thought behind it and the value it will have to your spouse
40. Cut a heart out of paper, write ‘I love you’ on it, and give it to them
41. Make a list of all of the gifts you’ve noticed your spouse get the most excited about (from you or anyone else) and use that list as a guide for future gift ideas
42. Use a skill you have or learn a new one to help you create a gift just for your spouse
43. Be willing to invest in something that matters to them
44. Give them the gift of your time by spending a day with them or taking time off to do something they’ve been talking about wanting to do
45. Be present for the important things they ask you to be there for
46. Give them a break from meal prep and bring home one of their favorite takeout meals for dinner
47. Surprise them with gift cards to their favorite restaurant/clothing store/online shop/etc. and tell them that it’s for them to use on them and only them, nobody else
48. Plan a date and surprise them with tickets to the event, a gift card to the restaurant or something else that represents your plan
49. Cut a flower from your yard to give to them or cut a bouquet to display
50. Give them a small gift every hour, on the hour, for a special occasion

Related: Things to Avoid with Each of The 5 Love Languages

Printable checklist of Receiving Gifts Love Language ideas

Click here to download a printable version of this list, checklist-style. If you or your spouse’s love language is receiving gifts, you can use this to find ways to love each other better. It is written in the first person so your spouse can read and mark things as “I appreciate it when you do these things for me”. The checklist includes a few blank spots you can use to fill in your own preferences or examples of receiving gifts if they are not already included in the list. Click here to grab checklists for each of the other love languages.