It was the first week of November when my boss walked into my office and said the words every office administrator dreads: "We need holiday gifts for our top 40 clients. And something for the home office team. Oh, and make it nice this year."

I'll be honest — my first thought was panic. I manage all purchasing for a 300-person marketing company, roughly $60,000 in annual vendor spend spread across 8 different suppliers. Holiday gifting is the one task that never fits neatly into my procurement calendar, mostly because it sneaks up on me every single year.

When I took over purchasing back in 2020, I learned the hard way what happens when you don't plan ahead. That first year, I ordered 150 branded corporate gifts from a vendor I'd never used before. The price was unbeatable. The delivery was not — they showed up three weeks late, and I spent Thanksgiving week explaining to my VP why our biggest clients went giftless. The vendor couldn't provide proper invoicing either, which cost us $2,400 in rejected expenses. That experience is exactly why I now verify everything before placing an order.

The Search for Something Actually Nice

This year, our CEO was clear: no branded pens, no USB drives, no tech gadgets. She wanted something luxurious. Something people would use and actually enjoy. A colleague from our East Coast office suggested candles. And not just any candles — she said, "Voluspa. Their big jars are stunning, and clients love them."

So I started researching the Voluspa brand. For those who haven't seen their stuff: Voluspa is a luxury home fragrance brand known for beautifully packaged scented candles, reed diffusers, and gift sets. Their product photography alone makes you want to buy everything. The scents are unusual too — things like Baltic Amber, French Cade Lavender, and the one that kept catching my eye, Voluspa Forbidden Fig.

Here's where my gut and the spreadsheet disagreed. Every cost analysis said go with a cheaper candle supplier — roughly 15% less per unit with similar-looking jars. The numbers were clear. My gut said no.

Something felt off about that cheaper vendor's responsiveness. They took two days to reply to a simple availability question. When I asked about shipping timelines, they gave me a vague "should be fine" instead of a concrete date. Turns out, that "slow to reply" was a preview of "slow to deliver." A deeper dive into their reviews revealed late shipments and broken jars — the exact things that ruin corporate gift orders. I went with my gut, and I'm glad I did.

Making the Call Under Pressure

But now the clock was ticking. It was already mid-November, and the USPS holiday shipping deadlines were approaching fast. I had about two hours to decide before the rush processing cutoff. Normally I'd compare product lines, read fragrance descriptions, and build a multi-vendor comparison. There was no time. With the CEO waiting and the shipping calendar in front of me, I made the call with incomplete information. I ordered:

The Voluspa Forbidden Fig Candle is described as a rich, warm scent with fig, black currant, and coconut. Honestly, the name alone sounds sophisticated enough to impress the pickiest COO. The packaging is gorgeous — the jar looks like a piece of decor, not just a candle. It's the kind of gift that sits on a client's desk long after the wax is gone.

The Voluspa Wildflowers Large Jar Candle smells like a summer garden, and it was the obvious choice for our internal team, who'd been working insane hours all year. If you've ever opened a box and thought, "this smells like a field in spring," you know the feeling.

The Hanukkah Holder Question

Now here's the moment I almost tripped over. Someone on our planning committee asked me, "What's the candle holder for Hanukkah called?" For a split second, I went blank.

I knew the answer — it's a menorah, and more specifically a hanukkiah — but I didn't know why it mattered until our facilities manager explained it. We'd already ordered the votive candles and a few decorative holiday figurines for the lobby. He wanted to make sure our Jewish team members felt included in the display.

Here's what I learned: a traditional menorah has seven branches and was used in the ancient Temple. The nine-branched candle holder used during Hanukkah is technically called a hanukkiah. It has eight branches for the eight nights of Hanukkah, plus a ninth raised holder for the shamash, the "helper" candle used to light the others.

In common conversation, most people say "menorah" and mean the Hanukkah one. But if you're ordering for a workplace, knowing the difference shows attention to detail. I found a beautiful modern hanukkiah in brushed gold to place alongside the holiday figurines. No one said anything directly, but the advisory board member who'd asked the original question gave me a small nod. That was enough.

The Holiday Figurine Learning Curve

Speaking of holiday figurines — this was another near-miss. I almost ordered a classic Nativity set without thinking about the fact that our office has team members from many different backgrounds. That would've been a disaster. Instead, I went with a neutral winter scene: glass reindeer, minimalist silver trees, and a few mercury-glass ornaments.

It's the same principle I've applied since 2020 to every purchasing decision: five minutes of checking upfront beats five days of awkward fixes later. This is the prevention-over-cure mindset. The checklist I've built over the years has saved us an estimated $8,000 in potential rework — maybe more. 5 minutes of verification beats 5 days of correction, and I have the spreadsheets to prove it.

The Shipping Headache Nobody Warns You About

Here's where things got genuinely stressful. Because I'd spent that extra time researching the brand, the cultural details, and the figurine situation, I was now up against the holiday shipping calendar. According to USPS (usps.com), as of January 2025, the First-Class Mail letter rate is $0.73 — but that wasn't my concern. I needed ground shipping for 100+ jars across three office locations.

And here's a fact I learned the hard way: candles are heavy. Glass jars add up fast. The Voluspa large jars are substantial — that's part of their appeal — but it means shipping costs are nothing like shipping a box of pens.

My regular vendor network didn't cover corporate gifting at this scale, so I worked with Voluspa's wholesale team directly. They said they could ship by November 30th if I confirmed the order within 48 hours. I have mixed feelings about decisions made under that kind of pressure. Part of me wants to tell you I did a full audit, checked every product spec, and weighed the environmental impact per jar. The honest truth is that I skimmed the details, built a quick shipping spreadsheet, and hit send.

There was also a legal surprise I didn't see coming. A few clients requested home delivery, and one of our coordinators suggested leaving packages by the front door. Don't do that. Under federal law (18 U.S. Code § 1708), only USPS-authorized mail may be placed in residential mailboxes. Violations can result in fines up to $5,000 per occurrence.

"We ended up shipping everything to office addresses or requiring signature confirmation for residential deliveries. That was an extra $180 in shipping costs I hadn't budgeted for — but it beats a $5,000 fine."

The Unboxing

The gifts arrived on December 3rd. A full week before our client dinner.

I'll never forget unboxing one of the Voluspa Forbidden Fig Candles to check the quality before we wrapped them. The jar was heavier than I expected. The packaging was glossy, art-deco-inspired with gold foil accents. And the scent — you could smell it before the lid even came off. It was exactly the kind of "wow" moment we'd hoped for.

We paired each Forbidden Fig candle with a small card, tied with a satin ribbon, and sent them out to the clients. The response was better than anything we've done in previous years. One client wrote back to say it was the best corporate gift they'd received in years. Another asked where we bought them — then placed a personal order.

The Wildflowers Large Jar Candles for our home office team were just as well received. I walked by two of our executive assistants sniffing their jars like expensive perfume. One said, "Can we just burn this in the office every day?" That's the reaction you want when you're giving gifts on behalf of leadership.

What I'd Do Differently

If I'm being honest, the whole process worked out — but it worked out despite a few things I could've done better. Here's what I'll do next year:

  1. Start in September, not November. The research always takes longer than you think.
  2. Get the cultural details right the first time. Ask the right people before you order, not after.
  3. Verify shipping costs and federal mail regulations before promising anything to leadership.
  4. Trust your gut when a vendor's responsiveness feels like a warning sign.
  5. Keep a written checklist — it's the cheapest insurance policy there is.

Prevention over cure isn't just a slogan. It's the difference between a calm December and a chaotic one.

If you're thinking about Voluspa candles for your own corporate gifts — whether it's the Voluspa Forbidden Fig Candle, the Voluspa Wildflowers Large Jar Candle, or just a few votive candles to make your office feel warmer — I'd say go for it. But do your homework first. Check the shipping calendar, confirm the details, and know your audience. And if someone ever asks you what the candle holder for Hanukkah is called, you'll know the answer: a hanukkiah.

That's the lesson I keep learning, one holiday season at a time.

Jane Smith

Jane Smith

I’m Jane Smith, a senior content writer with over 15 years of experience in the packaging and printing industry. I specialize in writing about the latest trends, technologies, and best practices in packaging design, sustainability, and printing techniques. My goal is to help businesses understand complex printing processes and design solutions that enhance both product packaging and brand visibility.

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