Family Secret Santa, Without the Arguments

Big families and Secret Santa go together nicely, mostly because buying for everyone gets expensive fast once you've got partners, kids, and whoever's joined the family this year. One gift each instead solves that, as long as the draw is actually fair and actually secret.

Setting a budget

Agree a figure that works for everyone, not just the people who suggested it. Families tend to have a wider range of budgets than, say, an office, so it's worth checking nobody's quietly struggling with the number everyone else picked.

Managing a bigger family

However big the family's got, it's the same process: add everyone taking part, draw, done. No limit on how many people can join in beyond what makes sense for your family and your budget.

Excluding couples and household members

This is the one families actually need. Nobody wants to draw their own partner, and most households already buy for each other anyway. Set an exclusion for any couple or household, and the draw will never pair them together.

Keeping the draw secret

No bits of paper in a hat that someone's toddler finds and hands to the wrong person. Assignments go out by email, and nobody, including whoever organised it, can see the pairings again once they're drawn.

For more on how the whole thing works, see our Secret Santa rules guide.