Russian Gift Giving Customs
You probably heard that Russians love gifts. It usually has nothing to do with materialism and in my opinion Russians are much less materialistic than Americans. If you want to appear cultural and make your Russian woman/bride/wife happy, you need to know Russian gift giving customs.
Russian women like flowers, but you have to be very careful when shopping for flowers for her, because different colors mean different things and the amount of flowers matters as well.
Never ever bring an even number of flowers to your woman. An even number of flowers is brought and sent exclusively for funerals. I have no idea where this tradition came from, but it is very important not to screw this one up, so make sure you count flowers before giving them to a Russian woman. Giving an even number of flowers to someone who is alive, is a bad omen. My American fiancé (husband at this time) didn’t do his homework before bringing me flowers. He brought me a beautiful huge bouquet of white roses. I couldn’t help myself not to count them and guess how many they were? 20. :-0
We laugh about it now, but I felt a little uncomfortable, because I didn’t know that Americans don’t have the uneven number of flowers rules.
Russian women will appreciate boxes of chocolate, jewelry, perfume. It doesn’t to be super expensive, because in Russia they say that it is not gift that counts, but the attention. Just make sure your gift is thoughtful. If she wears only gold, don’t buy her a sterling silver bracelet.
When talking about Russian gift giving traditions I have to mention Russians love for books. Most Russians love to read, so giving your Russian woman a book, is always a good idea. If she is not fluent in English, you can find books in Russian in numerous Russian online stores (such as Ruskniga.com, Kniga.com etc). Don’t stress too much about getting something she might not like. Again, it is the thoughtfulness of the gift, which counts, not the gift itself.
When we got married my husband got me a bunch of Russian children books. I was very excited, because first of all- they were in Russian; second of all – they brought me memories. We were thinking about having children, so these books were a sign that my husband would love our kids to speak Russian as well. This was a very thoughtful gift. I can guarantee you that 90% of Russian women will appreciate it.
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I have been conversing with a Russian women in Komi. I asked for her address as I wanted to send her a gift. She gave me her address but said a gift would shame her if it was given before we met personally. Could she be a scammer?
Hi Todd,
Well, pretty much everyone can be a scammer. It is hard to determine that just by one fact. The girl may be just modest and/or shy and she really doesn’t want any gifts from you until she knows you and likes you. But you know often when a woman says No it may mean Yes, so it is hard to figure out what we really want.
Keep in mind though that some women think that accepting a gift from someone is sort of an obligation (especially if it is an expensive gift; candy and flowers don’t count). She may think this as well. Or she is may have too much pride (Russians are known or that) to accept anything from the guy she has never met.
Again, hard to tell without knowing more.
I was happy to find this site. My son is dating a girl who is originally from Novokuznetsk. I had thought of getting her some Russian children’s books for a gift. Could you recommend some titles for me to get for her?
Hi, glad you found our site useful.
This is the store I usually buy Russian books from: http://www.fromrussia.com/default.aspx/type/navigation/cat/1/subcat/21/list/1
This one is a good one as well: http://www.kniga.com
There are plenty of good Russian kids books. What is the age category are you looking for?
Here are my favorite ones:
Agnia Barto, Poems: http://www.fromrussia.com/default.aspx?type=navigation&cat=1&subcat=21&list=1&id=100258
or
http://www.fromrussia.com/default.aspx?type=navigation&cat=1&subcat=21&list=1&id=67903
My kids love Barto poems.
Here are some classical kids stories in one book: http://www.kniga.com/books/7-LUChShIKh-SKAZOK-MALYShAM-Baba-Yaga__m9374-1021.html
Eduard Uspensky is a fantastic kids writer. Every Russian (kid or adult) knows and loves his stories: http://www.kniga.com/books/USPENSKY-E-Vse-samoe-luchshee__k5904-1021.html
http://www.kniga.com/books/USPENSKY-E-Troe-iz-Prostokvashino__A8747-1021.html
Here is a good Uspensky book on Amazon: Stories about Cheburashka and Crocodile Gena / Istorii pro Cheburashku i Krokodila Genu.http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Cheburashka-Crocodile-Cheburashku-Krokodila/dp/5170648782/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311177138&sr=1-3 Cheburashka is the most favorite character of pretty much every Russian.
Thank you for your quick response. I’m not looking for any particular age, just some books that would be popular among Russian children that she (Lidia, his girl friend) might would enjoy having. I will check on the authors that you have mentioned.
Oh, and I am going to pass on to my son about the number of flowers in a bouquet. I had never heard about that, and am not sure if he has or not.
Thank you, once again.
Ellen
Ellen,
I think it is a great idea to get her some books. Before we got married, my fiance at the time also gifted me some of the Russian classical kids books. Our kids now read them.
Yes, make sure your son knows about the even/uneven number of flowers. This is very important.
Natasha