Christmas Gifts for Your Parents-in-Law

Last updated: September 2026

Christmas Gifts for Parents in Law

Quick answer: Buying for your in-laws is a different job from buying for your own parents, because you don't yet know three things: what the family normally spends, what they actually like, and whether the present is from you or from you both. Settle those with your partner first. Once you have, the reliable Christmas gifts for parents in law are either consumable and good at a modest budget, or one joint gift that stays. If there are grandchildren or a wedding photograph in the mix, a hand-painted family portrait from a photo you already own is the strongest version of the second kind — £220 to £549 by size, about three to four weeks to paint plus delivery, and worth ordering by mid-November for Christmas.

Why in-laws are harder than parents

With your own parents you have thirty-odd years of data. With your partner's parents you have a handful of Sunday lunches and a wedding, and the gift is read more carefully than any other present you buy.

Three things are unknown.

• The family's spending convention. Every family has one and it's rarely said out loud. Some do a £20 limit and a Secret Santa; some spend £150 a head; some don't give between adults at all. Your own family's convention is irrelevant here.
• What they like, as opposed to what they own. A house full of blue-and-white china might be a collection or an inheritance they're stuck with. You can't tell from outside.
• Who the gift is from. A present from the two of you is a family present. A present from you alone is a personal statement, and it will be noticed.

All three are solved by one conversation with your partner, ideally in October rather than on 22 December. If your partner shrugs, ask what their siblings gave last year. That's the convention.

Decide who it's from before what it is

The order matters. Choosing the gift first and the giver afterwards is how people end up spending £90 on their mother-in-law while their partner spends £25 on their own mother, and everyone quietly registers the gap.

A joint gift from the two of you is the default once you live together or are married. It costs more than either of you would spend alone, which opens up the better categories, and it removes the question of whether you're trying too hard.

Separate gifts suit the early years, when you're still a guest at their Christmas, or families where everyone gives individually. Keep the budget level with what their own children spend, never above it.

One gift for both parents rather than one each is often better, particularly for anything consumable or anything that hangs on a wall. A joint present for mum and dad isn't a cop-out if they'll both use it.

What to spend

Here is the honest range. As an individual giving to one parent-in-law, £20 to £40 is normal and £60 is the ceiling before it starts to feel pointed. As a couple giving jointly to both, £60 to £150 covers most families, with the top of the range for a first married Christmas or a year they've hosted everyone.

Two rules hold regardless. Don't outspend their own children — it's their family, and being the most generous person at the table is not a compliment. And don't spend so little that it reads as an afterthought when their child is standing next to you. The gap between those two lines is where good Christmas gifts for parents in law live.

What not to buy

The list is longer than for anyone else, because the margin for misreading is smaller.

Anything for the house is a taste judgement about a house that isn't yours: cushions, vases, candles in a scent you chose, artwork you liked. Anything that could be read as a hint is worse: cookery books to someone who cooks, gardening kit to someone whose garden is their pride, exercise equipment, any gadget that implies they've been doing something the slow way. Alcohol is safe only if you've seen them drink that particular thing. Joke presents need a relationship that can carry them, which after eighteen months you probably don't have.

And nothing with your own face on it. A framed photograph of you and your partner is a gift for your own parents. To your in-laws it's a picture of their child with someone, and the someone is the person handing it over.

The options, compared

Gift	Typical UK cost	Order or book by	Risk of misjudging	Still there next Christmas
Good cheese, cake or a case of wine they already drink	£40–£90	Mid-December	Low	No
A table booked for the whole family	£120–£250	Now, for a December date	Low	No
Tickets to something they've mentioned	£60–£200	Depends on the event	Medium	No
A year's membership: National Trust, RHS, a gallery	£60–£160	Mid-December	Low	No, but it renews
Something for a hobby they actually have	£30–£120	Early December	Medium	Yes
Photo book of the grandchildren	£35–£60	Early December	Low	Sometimes
Framed print of a family photo	£40–£90	Mid-December	Low	Usually
Hand-painted oil portrait of the family or grandchildren	£220–£549	Mid-November	Low, if the subject is theirs	Yes

Read down the right-hand columns. Consumables and bookings carry almost no risk because they ask nothing of the recipient's taste; the hobby present does, because you might be wrong about the hobby. The portrait sits low for a simple reason: nobody objects to a picture of their own grandchildren.

When a painting is the right call for in-laws

The trap with in-laws is that a personal gift feels presumptuous and an impersonal one feels cold. A painting gets round this only when the subject belongs to them, not to you.

The grandchildren. If you have children, this is the version that works. A portrait of the grandchildren is a gift about their family rather than about you, and it's one of the few Christmas gifts for parents in law that grandparents hang immediately rather than politely. Each face after the first adds from £59, and the pricing page sets out the size bands.

Everyone, from the wedding. Your wedding is the one event they attended that involves you and is also theirs. A painting from a wedding photograph of the whole group — both sets of parents, the two of you, siblings — includes them without being a picture of you.

The dog. If the house revolves around a spaniel, a portrait of the dog is the lowest-risk personal gift there is. No one has taste objections to their own dog.

The mechanics are the same either way. You send the photograph. Painting takes about three to four weeks, plus delivery. Before it ships you receive a photograph of the finished painting so any changes can be made, and it arrives rolled in a tube, unframed — a local framer stretches it onto bars and fits a frame, and it's ready to hang from there. Sizes run from 12 × 16″ at £220 to 36 × 48″ at £549, and the code WELCOME20 takes 20% off a first commission.

Ordering early, and why it matters more for in-laws

A joint gift needs two people to agree on it, and one of them has to quietly get a photograph out of their own parents without explaining why. Add three to four weeks of painting, delivery, and a few days in case the photograph of the finished piece shows something you'd like changed, and October is the sensible month to start.

For Christmas delivery, order by mid-November to be safe. After that it's honestly a January painting — not a disaster, since a card saying what's coming interests most grandparents more than another parcel, but a different gift from the one you planned. The last order dates for handmade Christmas gifts follow the same logic.

When a painting is the wrong choice

• It's your first Christmas with them. A commissioned painting is a big gesture, and in year one it reads as trying too hard. Good cheese and a bottle of what they drink is the right size.
• You'd be painting yourselves. Only give in-laws a painting whose subject is theirs.
• The relationship is cool. A large personal gift into a cool relationship doesn't warm it; it makes the temperature visible.
• You don't have the photograph. If all you can get at is a distant group shot or a blurry phone picture, ask your partner to find a better one, or choose something else.

FAQ

How much should you spend on Christmas gifts for parents in law?

As an individual, £20 to £40 is normal and £60 is the upper limit before it looks pointed. As a couple giving jointly, £60 to £150 covers most families. The real rule is to match what their own children spend.

Should Christmas presents for in-laws come from both of us?

Usually, once you live together or are married. A joint gift matches how most families give and raises the budget without either of you overspending. Separate gifts suit the early years, or families where everyone gives individually.

What should you not buy your in-laws for Christmas?

Anything that's a taste judgement about their house, anything that could be read as a hint about how they cook, garden or exercise, alcohol you haven't seen them drink, joke presents, and anything with your own face on it.

What do you get in-laws who say they don't want anything?

Believe them about objects and ignore them about everything else. A booked table, tickets to something they've mentioned, or a job done around the house take up no space. If there are grandchildren, a picture of them is the exception most grandparents make.

Is a painted portrait too much for parents-in-law?

It depends on the subject and the year. A portrait of yourselves, or anything of that scale in a first Christmas, is too much. Their grandchildren, their dog, or the whole family from your wedding, given jointly after a few years, is about the right size.

The short version: in-laws want to be read correctly more than they want to be impressed. Match the family's budget, give from the two of you, avoid anything that judges the house, and if you want one thing that stays, paint something that's theirs.