A candle is the best holiday hostess gift you can bring. It's useful, it asks nothing of your host on a busy night, and it gets lit later, once the dishes are done and the house goes quiet. You'd be in good company, too. According to the National Candle Association, 66% of candle buyers consider a candle a fitting gift for a hostess or dinner party. Below you'll find the best scents for Thanksgiving dinner and for December parties, what to spend, how to wrap it, and when your host should (and shouldn't) light it. Start with Old World Christmas scented candles and you're most of the way there. Table of contents Why Is a Candle a Good Hostess Gift? The Best Candle Scents for Thanksgiving Dinner The Best Candle Scents for Christmas and Holiday Parties What If You Don't Know the Host's Taste? How Much Should You Spend on a Hostess Gift? How Do You Wrap a Candle Hostess Gift? Should the Host Light Your Candle at Dinner? Frequently Asked Questions Why Is a Candle a Good Hostess Gift? The doorbell rings at 4:45. Your host has a turkey resting, gravy on the stove, and a timer going off somewhere behind the potatoes. A guest hands over a bouquet of grocery-store tulips, and the hunt for a vase begins. Flowers are lovely. They're also a small chore. The Emily Post Institute says a bouquet is "best brought in a vase," for exactly that reason. Wine has its own wrinkle, since your host has to decide whether to open it now, save it, or set it beside the bottle already chosen for the meal. Homemade fudge lands on a counter crowded with three kinds of pie. A candle skips all of that. It goes on a shelf and waits. It suits the friend who doesn't drink and the couple who already own every serving platter on earth, and it feels personal when you pick the scent with your host in mind. Our thinking on giving good gifts comes back to the same idea: make it easy to receive. The best hostess gift is one your host can set down and forget about until tomorrow. The Best Candle Scents for Thanksgiving Dinner Thanksgiving smells like a kitchen that's been busy since 6 a.m. Lean into that with something warm and baked. Your host has been living inside those scents all day, and a fall candle that carries them into the long weekend feels right. 1. Spiced Pumpkin Creme Candle Vanilla and pumpkin open this one, then it settles into cinnamon, nutmeg, and a little clove. It suits almost any host, from your mother-in-law to the neighbor who runs the Friendsgiving potluck. 2. Caramel Pecan Pie Candle Caramel drizzle and glazed pecans sit up top, with brown sugar and vanilla bean underneath. Bring it to the host who made three pies from scratch, so they can smell pie again on Monday without turning on the oven. 3. Sparkling Apple Cider Candle Brighter than the others. Crisp green apple and cedar meet honey and caramel, so it reads like an orchard more than a bakery. It's a good match for a host whose house already smells like turkey. 4. Dark Rum Pistachio Fig Candle The grown-up pick. Cocoa and fig sit over pistachio and maple sugar, with dark rum and sandalwood at the base. If your host keeps a Thanksgiving tree in the entry, set this candle on the table beside it. See Product See Product See Product See Product See Product See Product See Product See Product See Product See Product See Product The Best Candle Scents for Christmas and Holiday Parties December runs on a different clock. There's the office party, the cookie exchange, the open house where everyone stands in the kitchen, and Christmas Eve dinner on the good dishes. Evergreen and sweets set the tone for most of them. And if you're the one throwing a Christmas party this year, keep a Christmas candle for yourself. 1. Fresh Balsam Fir Candle Fir needle, pine, and cedar over a soft musk. For the host with an artificial tree, this one fills in the scent the tree can't. 2. Twisted Peppermint Candle Cool peppermint first, then clove and anise, then vanilla and cinnamon to round it off. It smells like a candy cane hanging on a low branch, which makes it a fun pick for a family party with kids underfoot. 3. Vanilla Christmas Cookie Candle Almond, apricot, and vanilla lead, with ginger and cream in the middle and a caramel-sugar finish. Give it to whoever hosts the cookie exchange. (It's the one cookie that won't be gone by 9 p.m.) 4. Marshmallow Cocoa Candle Marshmallow and frothed milk drift over melted chocolate, with spiced vanilla bean underneath. Save it for a snow-day host, or anyone whose holiday mug never seems to empty. 5. Frosted Cranberry Mandarin Candle Tart cranberry and mandarin brighten a room the way a bowl of citrus does in December, and a creamy vanilla finish keeps it soft. Since it isn't strictly a Christmas scent, it carries right through New Year's Eve. What If You Don't Know the Host's Taste? Some invitations come from people you barely know, like a new neighbor, your boss, or your partner's aunt meeting you for the first time over ham. A food scent is a guess in those cases, so skip it. The Cozy Cashmere Blanket Candle is the safer choice. This one starts with bergamot and lavender, moves through jasmine and sandalwood, and settles on a soft base of cashmere and tonka. Clean and warm, with no particular season attached. Etiquette expert Elaine Swann has suggested a candle for the host who spends the whole holiday taking care of everyone else, and this is that candle. Or hedge your bet. The Trio Votive Candle Set ($39.99) holds three 2.5 oz votives in Fresh Balsam Fir, Dark Rum Pistachio Fig, and Frosted Cranberry Mandarin, and your host gets to pick a favorite. When in doubt, give three small scents instead of one big guess. How Much Should You Spend on a Hostess Gift? Plan on $25 to $40. That's enough to feel considered without leaving your host feeling like they owe you something. Emily Post's advice is to stay within your means, and a hostess gift is a thank-you for the evening, nothing more. One 8 oz Old World Christmas candle is $24.99 and burns for up to 60 hours, which puts you right at the floor. Add a Fresh Balsam Fir Votive Candle ($14.99) or a glass ornament on the ribbon, and you're at the top of the range. How Do You Wrap a Candle Hostess Gift? Skip the gift bag. Wrap the candle in kraft paper, or tuck it into a linen napkin and tie the corners up with ribbon, so the napkin becomes part of the gift. Then add the piece that outlasts the candle: a glass ornament tied into the bow. A scented ornament keeps the fragrance going on the tree long after the jar is empty, and one of our Thanksgiving ornaments makes sense for a November dinner. If your host has a sense of humor, tie on a Twinkie from our Hostess ornament collection. (Wrong kind of Hostess, but the spirit's right.) The ornament outlasts the candle, and that's the whole idea. Keep the tag short. A few lines that work: For the quiet night after. Thank you for having us. Thank you for the seat at your table. Light this once the dishes are done. Should the Host Light Your Candle at Dinner? No, and don't expect it. A scented candle on the dinner table competes with the food, and pumpkin creme next to a roasting turkey is a lot for one nose. Your gift belongs to your host, and what they do with it is their call. That's why the tag line about the dishes earns its place. It tells your host the candle is for later. For the table itself, unscented tapers or a low arrangement keep sight lines and flavors clear, and our ideas for holiday table decorating go further. One practical note. The National Fire Protection Association reports that December is the peak month for home candle fires. Keep a lit candle at least 1 foot from anything that can burn, and blow it out before you leave the room. Frequently Asked Questions Is a candle a good hostess gift? Yes. A candle is easy to receive, needs no vase or corkscrew, and works for nearly any host. The National Candle Association reports that 66% of candle buyers see a candle as a fitting hostess or dinner party gift. What should I bring to Thanksgiving dinner as a guest? Bring the dish your host asked for, plus a small thank-you they won't have to manage that day. A warm scent like Spiced Pumpkin Creme or Caramel Pecan Pie suits the holiday. Are hostess gifts still a thing? They are, especially the first time you visit someone's home. A small, easy gift in the $25 to $40 range is plenty, and a candle fits that budget with room for a ribbon. Should you bring a hostess gift to a Christmas party? For a dinner or a small party at someone's home, yes. For a big open house or an office party it's optional, though a candle or a single ornament is always welcome. Pick a scent with your host in mind and tie an ornament into the bow. The full candle collection is ready before your first invitation of the season arrives. Then, some quiet evening after the last guest heads home, your candle gets its turn.
Wishlist
Log in
Wholesale