Weddings, birthdays, prom, graduations, baby showers… there are a ton of milestone events in one person’s lifetime. You can make these boring, run-of-the-mill moments, or you can celebrate how special they truly are with personalized items.

Think about it! Your daughter is going to love an engraved bracelet for her sweet 16. Dad will go nuts over a stainless steel mug with his favorite team’s logo for Father’s Day. And dear old Aunt Lou might just surprise everyone at the family reunion when she kicks butt in the 3-legged race wearing her “The Smith Family Rocks” t-shirt.

Here are facts, figures, and stats that prove the value of personalized gifts for special occasions.

1. The market for personalized gifts is expected to reach $31.63 billion by 2021. (Source: Business Wire)
   
   
2. 62% of Americans want to receive a gift that comes from the heart and feels more personal. (Source: NY Post)
   
   
3. About 52% of people feel that the giver put a lot of thought into their gift if it’s personalized. (Source: Personal Creations)
   
   
4. 39% of people feel happy when they give a personalized item as a gift to their loved ones. (Source: Etsy)
   
   
5. More than 50% of consumers are interested in buying custom gifts. (Source: Deloitte Consumer Review)
   
   
6. 70% of millennials plan on buying personalized gifts like home décor, clothing, and jewelry items. (Source: Etsy)
   
   
7. 58% of people will tell other people about their gift if it’s personalized. (Source: NY Post)
   
   
8. Mobile searches for “personalized” (i.e., personalized gifts, personalized stockings, personalized blankets, personalized necklaces, etc.) have grown by over 60% in the past two years. (Source: Google Data)
   
   
9. 55% of people keep personalized gifts a lot longer than traditional store-bought gifts. (Source: NY Post)
   
   
10. Sports fans love receiving team merchandise as gifts, and the market for this gear is expected to reach $48.17 billion by 2024. (Source: Transparency Market Research)
    
    
11. You can’t go wrong with a band t-shirt for a music fan. In fact, the market for music merchandise is worth over $3.1 billion. (Source: BBC)
    
    
12. The custom charms at Pandora Jewelry make up 52% of the store’s revenue share. (Source: Statista)

13. At Quality Logo Products® alone, over $25,000 was spent on custom balloons and party hats. (Source: Quality Logo Products)
    
    
14. Custom birthday cakes are the #6 best-selling bakery item at most grocery stores in the United States. (Source: Progressive Grocer)
    
    
15. 27% of men and 18% of women plan on buying personalized gifts for Valentine’s Day. (Source: Statista)
    
    
16. 34% of men and 19% of women plan to buy a personalized gift or service for their mom for Mother’s Day. (Source: National Retail Federation)
    
    
17. 45% of shoppers are looking for a Father’s Day gift that’s more unique. There’s nothing more thoughtful and special than a personalized gift! (Source: National Retail Federation)
    
    
18. 4 out of 5 Americans would give a personalized gift to a family member for the holidays. (Source: Personal Creations)
    
    
19. 73% of company holiday gifts are imprinted with the company’s logo. (Source: Advertising Specialty Institute)
    
    
20. Americans spend about $16 billion on holiday gifts that end up in the trash. There’s less of a risk with a heartfelt, personalized gift. (Source: Market Watch)

21. There are an average of 2.4 million weddings every year. (Source: Trip Savvy)
    
    
22. You’ll see about 136 guests at every wedding, and each one expects to go home with a nice personalized favor to remember the Big Day. (Source: Trip Savvy)
    
    
23. An average of $400 is spent on wedding favors for the guests and/or gifts for the bridal parties. (Source: Wedding Wire)
    
    
24. The average cost for custom wedding rings is between $2,500 and $5,000. (Source: Thumb Tack)
    
    
25. You can expect to spend about $150 to $200 for 100 “Save the Date” postcards or magnets. (Source: Woman Getting Married)
    
    
26. It costs about $5.30 each for custom-printed wedding invitations. (Source: Rachael Ray Magazine)

27. Americans will spend over $5.5 billion on graduation gifts every year. The graduates want either money or something personal and memorable. (Source: National Retail Federation)
    
    
28. Over 50% of families hold reunions every year or every other year. (Source: Group Travel)
    
    
29. Families love custom gifts for their reunions. In fact, over 3,000 orders were placed for reunions in the past year. (Source: Quality Logo Products)
    
    
30. 15.5% of the revenue made from a family reunion comes from souvenir sales, which are typically custom items ranging from drinkware to t-shirts. (Source: Group Travel)
    
    
31. A baby shower will typically cost somewhere between $100 and $1,000.(Source: Cost Helper)
    
    
32. At Quality Logo Products®, there were over 5,000 orders for custom baby shower favors. (Source: Quality Logo Products)
    
    
33. Wall décor, like personalized signs, photos, and art, represents 31.81% of the personalized gifts market. These are great gifts to give to a new homeowner at a housewarming party. (Source: Business Wire)

Personalized gifts, favors, invitations, and decorations are becoming more and more popular as time goes on. People love these items because they’re memorable and way more heartfelt than something you can buy at a store.  

So go ahead… get a bunch of personalized cups for your grandma’s 80^th birthday extravaganza! Buy a bunch of notebooks with your company’s logo for all your employees. Spring for fun shot glasses printed with your initials and put them on the dessert table at your wedding.

Whatever you do, make it personal!