Timing is easy compared with weddings or corporate orders, but if you want personalisation, a new address or a short message for instance, allow a few extra days rather than ordering the night before.

A quick word on dietary needs. Guests will ask, so check the ingredient information published for each product and pass people to that detail rather than making assurances yourself. It is the honest way to handle it and it saves awkward conversations on the day.

It also suits the man who is hard to buy for precisely because he says he wants nothing. A collection asks nothing of him, needs no assembly, and does not sit around as clutter. He opens it, shares some, keeps the rest, and that is the whole transaction. For a certain kind of recipient, that ease is exactly the appeal.

Choose a chocolate made with care, present it simply, order in good time, and your favours will do exactly what they should. They will say thank you, look the part on the table, and quietly make it home in a handful of pockets.

Explore this further at Lily O'Brien's chocolate gift delivery.

For the major milestones, a fortieth, fiftieth or beyond, the gift is often shared with family, so scale and presentation both matter. A generous collection works as a centrepiece as much as a present, something the wider gathering opens together. A personalised lid marking the number of years gives everyone the reason for the day in a glance.