A Secret Santa (amigo secreto, as it is called in Colombia) is rarely ruined by the gifts. It is ruined by the rules: nobody knows how much to spend, the date moves twice, someone ends up with nothing because their Secret Santa went on holiday, and the exchange turns into a rushed handout of plastic bags in the meeting room.
All of that gets fixed before the game starts, and it takes under half an hour. This is the part almost nobody organizes, and it is the part that decides how the whole thing goes. If what you need is gift ideas, those live in gifts for Amor y Amistad; this is about setting the game up.
The real date is not the one on the calendar
Amor y Amistad in Colombia falls on the third Saturday of September, the 19th in 2026. And there is the first trap for every office: the 19th is a Saturday, and nobody will be at work. The actual exchange happens on the Thursday or Friday before, meaning the 17th or 18th.
That shifts the whole countdown. If the draw happens the same week, half the team is panic-buying the day before. The schedule that works:
- Three weeks out: agree the spending cap and run the draw.
- One week out: a reminder in the group chat with the exact date and time of the exchange.
- Three or four days out: the cut-off for ordering anything personalized, which is not made overnight.
- On the day: everyone exchanges in one sitting, together. Not "whenever you get a chance".
The cap has to be a number, not a vibe
"Something small" is not a cap. Neither is "nothing expensive". Everyone translates that into a different figure, and that is how one person opens a keyring after giving away a full gift box. It is the number-one cause of awkward Secret Santas.
Set one exact figure, put it in writing in the group chat, and do not move it afterwards. Two details that help more than they sound like they would:
- Make the cap a floor as well as a ceiling. "Between $35,000 and $50,000 COP" heads off both the last-minute afterthought and the person who wants to outdo everyone.
- Make it enough for something real. Too low a cap forces people to give filler, and the game loses its point. A gift hamper starts at $35,000 COP and already reads as a proper gift; a treat from our artisan bakery sits in the same range.
The draw, without the crumpled slip of paper
Slips of paper in a bag do work, but they have two known flaws: someone can draw their own name, and there is always a witness who caught who picked what. If the team is hybrid or spread out, it is not even possible.
- If you are all in the office: have each person open their slip alone and confirm privately that it worked. If someone draws themselves, redo the entire draw, not just that slip.
- If you are hybrid or remote: use an online draw that sends each person their result separately. The best part is that not even the organizer knows the pairs, which makes the game far more fun for whoever is running it.
- Ask for a short wish list at sign-up: two or three things they like and one thing they will not eat or use. Allergies especially, if the gift might be edible.
Three rules that prevent nearly every problem
- Nobody goes without a gift. The organizer buys one spare gift within the cap. If someone drops out or falls ill, the spare goes in and the game carries on without anyone being singled out.
- Say what does not count. Joke gifts at someone's expense, second-hand items, and in-jokes only three people understand. It sounds strict until someone unwraps an anti-wrinkle cream "as a laugh" in front of the whole team.
- The card is mandatory. It is the one thing that makes a gift feel personal even when the object itself is simple. If you are stuck on what to write, our gift guide by occasion has ready-made messages to copy.
Games that make it last longer
A one-day Secret Santa is over in ten minutes. These versions stretch it out, and they are the ones people bring up again the following year:
- A small thing each day: Monday to Thursday everyone leaves a small anonymous item (a sweet, a note), and on Friday the real gift is handed over and identities are revealed.
- Clues before the reveal: the giver says three things about their person without naming them, and everyone else guesses who it is before the gift is opened.
- Blind pickup: all the gifts go on one table and each person hunts for theirs. Open them one at a time.
- Themed round: everyone gives something from the same category (something sweet, something handmade, something for your desk). It levels the field and kills comparisons.
If the team is not in the same office
This is the most common case now and the one most people handle badly, sending the gift late, or handing it over the next time they happen to meet, which is not the same thing. What works is arranging for every gift to arrive on the same day, at each person's own address, and opening a video call at the agreed time.
For that, order the gift with the message already written and with the recipient's address, not yours. We deliver around the clock in Medellín, Envigado, Sabaneta, Itagüí and Bello, so a delivery can be pinned to a specific hour, useful when eight gifts have to land before the 10 o'clock call. And if you want to start the day with something, a surprise breakfast first thing works well for a boss or for the whole team.
If you are organizing for a large team
When the company gives everyone the same item, it stops being a Secret Santa and becomes a corporate gift, and the logistics change: it matters that every gift looks identical, that they all arrive together, and that they are ordered early. For volume orders, give us more than a week's notice. You can see the full catalogue under personalized gifts.
Hampers and gifts for Secret Santa in Medellín
Once you have the date, the spending cap and the names drawn, the gift is what is left. If the team is in Medellín, Envigado, Itagüí or Bello, we can build several gift hampers delivered in Medellín to the same budget and bring them on exchange day, together or to separate addresses if the team is hybrid.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Secret Santa for Amor y Amistad held?
Amor y Amistad falls on the third Saturday of September, which in 2026 is the 19th. Almost no office celebrates on the day itself, because it is a Saturday: the actual exchange usually happens on the Thursday or Friday before. Run the draw two or three weeks ahead so everyone has time to find a gift.
How much should you spend on a Secret Santa gift?
The amount matters less than agreeing on an exact number before the draw. Saying "something small" or "something cheap" is not a cap: everyone reads it differently, and that is how one person ends up with a keyring after giving a full gift hamper. Pick a specific figure, put it in writing in the group chat, and do not change it later.
How do you run the draw without anyone finding out?
Slips of paper in a bag work, but they have two flaws: someone can draw their own name, and there is always a witness who saw who picked what. If the team is hybrid or remote, use an online draw that sends each person their result privately, so not even the organizer knows the pairs. If you do use paper, have each person open their slip alone and confirm privately that it worked.