Catholic and Orthodox Easter Customs and Traditions

Despite some of cultural differences that exist between Catholics and Orthodox Christians, Easter is one of the most important holidays in both religions. Although dates and traditions of the celebration might differ, in both cases Easter does not have a fixed date and is a movable feast. Originally the holiday was established on the date of the first Sunday after the fool moon following the March equinox. And this year Catholics celebrate Easter on March 31st while Orthodox Christians will have the celebration on May 5th. 

Customs and traditions are varied, despite the common attitude to the holiday. According to the Catholic legend colored eggs are brought to children along with some candies and sometimes toys by the Easter Bunny before the respective holiday. Later different traditional Easter games and customs appeared, such as Easter egg roll, egg tapping, and egg decorating.

Games and traditions mentioned above did not spread in Ukraine. During the Easter holiday religious Ukrainians go to the church for the blessing and afterwards people visit each other’s homes bringing fruit baskets or food baskets as a gift to the hosts along with traditional Christian Easter bakery - Pascha. Usually it is one family going to visit another or close friends as Easter is a kind and loving family spring holiday. Children are granted with chocolate gifts or sweets. Another important attribute of this holiday is of course Easter eggs which are colored brightly specifically for the holiday. This tradition is common for both cultures. 

If it happened so that you are going to be miles away from your close and beloved person on this lovely and festive holiday you can still send them a part of your love throughout the distance. You can send your loved ones a gorgeous gourmet basket or a fruit basket to share your love and care as a gift to Ukraine. If your close person has a child, a younger sister or brother it would be very nice of you to remember about little family member by sending them a box of chocolates and a toy. A spring bouquet of beautiful Ukraine flowers will brighten the day of your beloved one and will be a nice decoration on this holly day.

Let the people who mean the most to you feel your care and love. Express your warm feelings and make your special people happier on the wonderful and lovely Easter day.

Women’s Day Gifts to the most beautiful woman in the world

International Women’s Day that is celebrated on March 8^th is a holiday of mothers, grandmothers, sisters and daughters, but most importantly this is a holiday of beloved women, an occasion to make them feel as the most beautiful women in the world.

On this day you want to make her feel unique and special and to do your best to choose the right present, which will make her smile with joy. Sometimes choosing a right gift might seem to be more difficult than it actually is. I’d like to share a few ideas, which will help you to choose an elegant romantic gift she will cherish:

1. The most traditional gift on March 8^th is a flower bouquet. Currently we have a great selection of roses, tulips, lilies and other spring Ukraine flowers.  As a great alternative to fresh cut flowers you could also present a beautiful plant, like a spatifillum, a blooming orchid, azalea or others which will last for a long time. Ukrainian women love plants and will definitely appreciate such a gift.
2. Another popular gift to Ukraine on Women’s Day is a piece of jewelry. Please check our collection of jewelry as we have a large selection starting with very affordable silver jewelry to high end pearl jewelry.
3. Another long lasting gift that is going to be appreciated by all women is perfume. Delicate and sophisticated or fresh and energizing fragrance will give your lady joy and will make every day feel special.
4.  If your lady has a romantic heart you can present her a cute toy along with a box of chocolates. Toys make a simple and lovely intimate gift that reveals your romantic side.
5. Help your woman create a relaxing atmosphere for this holiday by presenting a spa gift set. Calming and relaxing spa procedures will open a new world perspective and fill a woman’s heart with joy and happiness. Tender aroma will bring up tender memories of you and fill a woman’s heart with love. 
6. And as the last tip I would like to suggest making your gift as personal as possible. Also mind the fancy wrapping as women, being sensual and romantic, pay attention to these little details. Write her a personal message on a card for your special person as it also will be appreciated.

It would also be an important gesture if you congratulate female members of your lady’s family. If she has sisters or a mother living with her it would be thoughtful to present something to them as well.

Lavish your beloved women with your affectionate attention on International Women’s Day!

Why is my order on hold?

Dear friends,

It is our goal to have your flowers and gifts delivered right on time.  Unfortunately it is not always possible for certain reasons. Let’s go over the most common difficulties which can occur with your orders and the ways we can go around them:

1. To protect you, under some circumstances your bank can mark your payment as suspicious in this case we have to put your order on hold until your payment is cleared:

* Common cause: your billing address was not verified by your bank:

Please put your billing address exactly as it appears on your bank statement

* Common cause: your IP address does not coincide with your billing address:

If your billing address is different from your IP address (the actual location of your computer) when you place your order, we have to put your order on hold. For example if you reside in the USA and travel to Portugal and place your order there, your payment will be flagged as suspicious. In this case, we will ask for the proof that you are a legitimate holder of the credit card.

* Common cause: the names of the billing client and the person who ordered the gift are different:

In this case we also need a proof that you are a legitimate owner of the card account and we may ask you send us a scanned copy of your photo ID.

2. If we cannot get in touch with your recipient to schedule the delivery:

* Common cause: the contact phone number for the recipient was not provided, or the phone number is incorrect, or the recipient does not pick up the phone, or the phone is turned off:

In order to arrange a timely delivery we always contact the recipient and agree upon a time and place of the delivery suitable for them. Please remember that our deliveries must be scheduled and without verification of the address, the delivery cannot be arranged. In Ukraine most people live in apartment buildings, and unlike the West these buildings do not have door buzzers at the main entrance. In this case our florists and couriers would have to spend an hour waiting until someone opened the entrance door so that she could enter the building. Please note that it is also possible to ask your recipient to contact our offices to schedule the delivery.  

If delivery must be made without first contacting the recipient at the provided address at the scheduled time, we cannot guarantee that the gifts will be delivered to the recipient in person and the pictures of the delivery will be taken. If the recipient is not at home, your gifts will be left to the neighbors or taken back to our office.

In order to avoid delays in the delivery of your gifts, please provide all necessary information and correct phone numbers when you place your orders. If you have alternative telephone numbers, please inform them too.

Please remember that you can check status of your order any time. Just log in to your account, open your order and check Order Comments. If there is any problem or delay, there will be a note about it.

And as always you are welcome to contact our Live Chat support if you have any questions.

With warmest regards,

Victoria.

6 Tips on Elegant Valentine’s Day Gift Giving

February 14^th, the most romantic day of the year, is coming soon. This is the day when all lovebirds express their affectionate feelings for each other. It is very important for us to find an elegant and thoughtful gift for our special one. So I’d like to share with you 6 gift ideas that will come in handy when selecting a gift for your Ukrainian lady:

1. Women love with their ears. So believe it or not, your Valentine’s Day Card is the most important thing she will treasure. Add a romantic, sweet and witty message and make her smile with happiness for the whole day.

2. The other thing, which will perfectly compliment a card, is a red rose bouquet that is considered to be the classical gift in Ukraine. It can bring up the tenderest feeling of love in any woman’s heart. To impress even more, select a heart-shaped bouquet or a colorful flower arrangement.

3. Whether your lady admits it or not, but she loves chocolate. An elegant heart-shaped box of fine chocolates will emphasize the sweetness of your feelings.

4. As another option, a bottle of a fashionable perfume which will keep reminding her about your feelings for a long time. Nice perfumes are always appreciated by Ukrainian women.

5. If you’ve been dating for a while now and you want to take your relationship to another level consider giving her a piece of jewelry on St. Valentine’s.

6. If you want to make your gift more personable, think about the hobbies of your loved person. There must be something she has always been dreaming to get. Whatever it is, we will help you find it, providing you give us enough notice. Place your Custom order at least in 5 days prior to the delivery and we will find deliver your special gift in time!

Our special offer on Valentine’s Day: for all orders over $100 you can select a free gift to go with it – a box of a heart-shaped chocolate or a bottle of champagne. Just make your selection at the checkout page

Great news for early birds: we have extended our offer of free standard delivery for orders over $150. So place your order before February 11^th and you will have it delivered for free!

Make those you love happy and full of joy on St. Valentine’s Day sending gifts to Ukraine!

Celebration of the Name Day in Ukraine

Today name days are usually referred to as a second birthday and another occasion to get your family together and have a sweet and lovely get-together with people who mean the world to you. Every month there is a certain name day for both men and women, sometimes even more than one per day.

Originally Name Day was a Christian tradition to celebrate the memory day of that saint, which name was given to a child while baptizing. Each day of religious calendar is dedicated to a memory of a certain Saint, often not the only one. And when a child was baptized, it gained the name of the Saint, which became the child’s guardian. Although they shouldn’t be mistaken for guardian angels, which are given to each soul for the protection and guidance. It used to be necessary for a person to go to the church to light a candle in the name of the Saint, after which he/she was named. But with time this tradition became not so common due to the slight decay of the religious customs and traditions.

On January 25th is Tatiana’s Day according to the Christian calendar. Which means that every family that has Tatiana among the relatives will have a cozy little evening celebration. On this day birthday person receives gifts and warm thoughtful wishes from the beloved ones. Friends and family help to organize pleasant and unexpected fun parties for the one they care about.

It sure is nice and lovely when you can simply come by and congratulate your close and loved person. But sometimes they might be thousand miles apart from you and they seem impossible to reach. Despite the distance you can still send your love and affection throughout the countries to that very special person who celebrates the Name Day. You can always turn to UkraineGiftDelivery for our help to deliver lovely fresh-cut flowers, terrific gift sets, passionate perfumes, toys and chocolates or any special present that you choose and would like to send as a gift to Ukraine. You may pick one of the most luxurious Ukraine gifts for those you love and care about expressing your love and thoughtful care.

We all have those special people we want to be happy and it is especially pleasant for them to see that you remember to show your affection on Name Day that means a lot to those we love.

Remember to express your love to others and it will return to you as well!

National Hug Day

Most of you have probably heard of the holiday before and even if you haven’t I am sure you are not having a hard time guessing how it’s celebrated.

National Hug Day occurs on January 21st and this day is dedicated for helping people showing their emotions in public. The holiday was originated in the late 70s but more specific details of its appearance are unknown.

The majority of people have no problem with expressing their love to their close friends and family and I am sure you hug your beloved ones pretty often. But on the National Hug Day you can offer a hug to anyone and everyone you want, including passing sad looking strangers. Unlike some similar holidays, National Hug Day doesn’t encourage to embrace everyone in your hugs, but asking first. It implies that you are offering a hug, not giving it to anyone despite the will of the other person.

To some it might be a little weird why and how did this holiday become recognized throughout the world. Why hugs? Well, for the most of it the reason hugs are appreciated by the different nationalities equally is the meaning it has for every person. Hug has a universal meaning of support, concern or just the way of saying “I am here”. There are lots of different hug types, which can show various feelings like affection, support, tenderness, love and care. So sometimes it might be inappropriate to give such an intimate hug to a stranger, that is why one type of hug is considered as the one everybody can enjoy – heart centered hug. Such a well-needed heart hug can lift anyone’s spirit and is a perfect way to express friendly emotions and to show that you care.

Sometimes it happens that the person we want to hug the most is not with us on this day. There is always a way to express your affection, love and care even to those who are not right by your side at the moment by sending a lovely gift to your beloved ones. If you have close people living in Ukraine we in UkraineGiftDeliver will be pleased to deliver your gifts for people you would love to hug. If you want to send a gift to Ukraine be sure your loved person will receive that gentle hug you have for them.

The Old New Year in Ukraine

I’d like to share with you interesting information about one fascinating tradition that Ukrainians are still following to these days.

You might have heard before that people in Ukraine and former Soviet Union celebrate New Year’s Eve twice: on December 31st and on January 13th. Of course it has a reasonable explanation. Such a tradition is connected with certain historical changes when people didn’t want to switch from the old Julian calendar to new Gregorian calendar. It sure is understandable that changes were inevitable so as a result New Year is celebrated twice. Most of Ukrainian families keep holiday spirit and their Christmas trees till the evening on January 13th when whole family gathers once more at the dinner table and give each other presents. If you have beloved people living in Ukraine, UkraineGiftDelivery will gladly provide any help needed to deliver your gifts to Ukraine in order to keep the tradition alive.

If people you care about the most are living miles away from you, you can still create a magical surprise for those you love. It could be a romantic gift set or perfumes for the woman of your heart, or lovely gorgeous fruit and gourmet baskets for your family, which no doubt misses you a lot on holidays. If your close person has a child in the family it would be a very thoughtful gesture to send a little thing for kid too. It can be a box of chocolates or a toy, which is a real holiday surprise for the little buddy.

Holidays are really important time to remind of your care and warm feelings. It happens that most of the time we are preoccupied with everyday routine and we can forget to remind our close people of the pure feeling of love we have for them. Take a moment to show how much you appreciate them in your life and how much you care.

And remember, you don’t need a holiday to express your love and gratitude. Show your beloved one’s tender and sweet gesture for an occasion and without any reason and it will bring more smiles and happiness in their lives.