A hamper suits the occasion where you want to make a gesture. It arrives looking like an event, it gives the new owners something to open in front of guests, and it shares around a room full of people who have come to see the place. For a couple moving in together or a family setting up a first proper home, it reads as warm without being fussy.

Lead times catch people out more than anything else. Handmade stock and personalised print both need runway, so treat six to eight weeks out as the sensible window for a firm order, and longer if you are ordering in the run-up to Christmas when demand is heaviest. Confirm your numbers after the RSVP deadline, not before, and give yourself a buffer for the inevitable late reply.

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

A few practical points make personalisation go smoothly. Check the character limit before writing your message, and read the spelling back carefully, since a printed name is permanent and a misspelt one is worse than none. If you are working from an image, use a clear, bright one. Allow extra time in the order, because personalised print adds a step, and longer still if the christening falls near Christmas.

For a birth announcement, the same idea travels well by post. A box carrying the new arrival's name says congratulations more warmly than a card and reaches family who cannot visit in person yet. It suits grandparents, godparents and the friends who want to mark the moment without turning up with yet another set of babygrows.

Get the count right with a sensible buffer, place each favour consistently, and order well ahead of the day. The etiquette looks after itself once the logistics do.