How do you determine which kinds of gift baskets would be perfect for each unique occasion? Here's a short breakdown of the possible combinations of goodies if you wish to make your own gift baskets.

Birthdays

Birthdays should be considered as pinnacle events for everyone- especially for people who have just reached a turning point in their careers, or have reached a particular age. Gift baskets signify life and truly, the best of wishes to the ones celebrating. Age is an important component in making the combinations work. Here are combinations that would generally be appreciated based on the age factor:

1. 20-30- People within this age bracket generally still feel young, so you would have to emphasize this as much as possible. Combinations might also be based on preferences, but with gift baskets you can go all out with your own personal tastes in what to give. For this age range you may give: vintage wines, ham, chocolates, biscuits, plain cigars or flavored cigars (for smokers), leather goods (wallets can be a nice addition to a gift basket full of wine and food) and so on.

2. 40-50- for this age range, things should change significantly. Unless the person you are giving the gift basket to is really into alcohol and cigars or cigarettes, you should keep these articles to a minimum if you include them at all. A more appropriate selection for this age range would be the following: vintage wine, fruit, special cheeses, dark chocolates, fruit-based sweets and lean processed meat.

3. 60 and above- once again, you should only give alcohol, liqueurs or cigars to the person if he or she still likes them. If not, you can opt not to include these. A nice selection may be composed solely of the following: fruit, wines, light cheeses and similar light foods.

Corporate

Giving to clients or bosses can be similar to giving gift baskets to birthday celebrants, but with one catch: your career is in the picture. This can be a very tricky selection; but never panic, help is always around the corner. The best way to go about it is to truly find out what the recipient wants. Determine what kind of personality the recipient has. If this is impossible, then try the "safe" selections- stick to plain but bountiful selections of fruit and sweets.

If your boss is into expensive things, then you can go about two ways: buy all the expensive kinds of wines and chocolates, or go plain and simple: both can be appreciated by your boss. Just make sure that your over-all presentation of the goodies in the basket is superb.

Holidays

Gift baskets for the holidays should be guided accordingly by one simple word: bountiful. Go all out. If the gift basket is for family, then you wouldn't have to worry about the price of what you would be giving. Just make sure that you cover the basics: if you're giving the gift basket to a family of five, make sure that each and every member of that family would get something from your gift basket.

Remember, gift baskets are supposed to be memorable gifts- something that people would still be able to remember years later. Gift baskets represent a bounteous passage from one season to another- something that is getting rarer and rarer in our present time.

Gift baskets remain wonderful reminders that there are still people who go out of their way to select little gifts and arrange them in a manner that feeds not only the body, but also the human sight and the soul.