Do you have close friends or family who live out of town, across the country, or perhaps even in another part of the world?
Finding the perfect birthday gift can be challenging!
Gift cards are good, but they lack the personal touch. Ordering gifts online and having them delivered is nice, but unless you know what size they wear or what they need in their home, you risk having the gift exchanged for something else or returned.
Our children are in the UK and the US. We have other relatives on both the east and west coasts of Canada and our good friends are around the globe. So we've become very used to being creative in celebrating long distance birthdays.
Here are 6 long-distance birthday ideas that my husband and I have sent that were huge hits!
Fun and Easy Ideas to Celebrate Birthdays From a Distance
Here are some fun, easy and affordable ways you can make your long distance friend or family member feel loved and special on their birthday. They're all easy to organize, and depending on which idea you choose, you decide how much or how little you want to spend, so you can stay within your budget.
Create a group video gift.
This gift works especially well if your family and friends are spread out geographically, like ours.
Once you've decided who will contribute to the birthday group video gift, send them an invite by email, text or social media. Each person creates a brief video message.
You can choose different themes for the video, such as sharing a story about their favourite moment with the birthday person, a trip they shared together, or a time they made them laugh.
They all arrive, nicely organized on your clipboard. You can then merge all the video submissions into a single video, add music or text if you like, and share it, either via Zoom or just by sending a link by email.
This may sound hard to do but with Celebrate, it’s a breeze — easy enough for anyone to do in just 15 minutes! No technical skills needed.
The beauty of Celebrate’s group video gift is that it's a birthday present that lasts a lifetime. Your friend or family member will be able to watch the video wherever and whenever they want, and also share it with their friends.
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Treat your friend or family member to dinner.
With so many ways to order dinner online, arranging to have dinner delivered to their home from one of their favourite restaurants is a great birthday gift.
Let them know in advance that you would like to host a birthday dinner for them and their friends. Ask them what type of food they would like to have for their birthday dinner or which is their favourite restaurant. Let them know their job is only to decide the time and to invite their friends — the rest is up to you!
You decide the budget for the dinner, how many people they can invite, and order the food. Depending on time zone differences, you can even arrange a Zoom dinner and order your food online so you share in the celebration with the birthday person. Make sure they send you pictures of the feast!
Have a birthday cake delivered to their home.
Everyone loves a birthday cake!
If your friend or family member lives alone, they may miss out on this important treat.
During the pandemic, many bakeries went online and started delivering birthday cakes to the home. You can order online and choose the size, decorations, flavour and price of the cake. Some bakeries will let you add balloons, chocolates or other treats to the cake. The bakery will deliver the cake to your friend’s or family member’s home on their birthday.
What a great way to be a part of their birthday celebration!
Create a handmade birthday card with photo
Birthdays are incomplete without the birthday cards and it becomes even more memorable when one takes the effort to make their cards. Cards with photos make the best long-distance birthday cards, leaving an everlasting impression on the recipient. These can be created easily on handmade papers which are visually appealing. You will find many good ideas for birthday cards on the internet. Like you can have a photo collage on the card or make it extremely colourful or add just a single photo and keep it simple yet elegant. There are many ways to surprise your loved ones with a personalised greeting card which is sure to make them feel special.
There is no better gift than a thoughtful one. Since you can’t be there in person to celebrate your friend’s or family member’s birthday, these ideas are a great way to say “Happy Birthday!” and to let them know you are thinking of them.
Create a birthday fundraiser on Facebook
Raising fundraisers and charities are something people love doing on their birthdays. It gives them peace to do something for others. Today, people use Facebook for doing such things. You too can create a birthday fundraiser on Facebook for your close ones and make them feel special. You can set a goal amount and create custom messages for your friends. Other known people will also receive the notifications and they can also come forward to donate. The fundraisers end at the midnight of the birthday and all the raised funds go for a trusted charitable trust and non-profit organisation.
Create a birthday countdown clock virtually
A great way to make the person feel special is by creating a birthday countdown timer for them, which shows how eagerly you are waiting for their birthday. You can post their photos online every day using the countdown tools on Snapchat or Instagram and tag their profile. You can also create a birthday countdown calendar till their birthday and post a group video or video call them at the midnight. A virtual countdown clock is the best way to increase the hype about the birthday and make the person feel special and excited. You can further incorporate other birthday ideas to make it a memorable day.
