A birthday reminder is most useful when there is still time to choose. Keep the occasion with the person, so the next gift starts with what you already know.
The birthday message appears while you are making coffee. You remember the person immediately. You also remember that you meant to choose something last week. Now the first decision is how quickly you can arrange a gift, rather than what they would most like.
A reminder is useful because it makes space before that moment. We built occasion reminders to help you keep important dates somewhere you will use them, alongside the details that make choosing easier.
A date with a person attached
You can save birthdays, anniversaries and other occasions in Reminders. Alongside the date, you can keep favourite flowers, gift ideas and the delivery details you have. When you return to plan the gift, those details are there with the person.
One customer invited to try Reminders told us: “I do sometimes have trouble keeping track of birthdays, particularly for friends. I’ll occasionally put them in my iPhone calendar, but I’m not especially consistent with it.”
Another described saving a date, an occasion and a person with their favourite flowers as a way to make ordering easier and help her remember. These are familiar problems. The date can be in a calendar while the useful gift idea sits in a bookmark, and the address lives in a message. Keeping them together reduces the work of getting started again.
The time before the occasion is part of the gift.
See how it works
Begin with the next occasion
Choose the occasion and add the details you know. The dates in this walkthrough are examples.
- Choose the occasion
- Add a name and date
- Unsure? Ask them to confirm
Start with the next date that matters
- Open Reminders and add the person you have in mind.
- Choose the occasion and save the date you know.
- Add useful details, such as favourite flowers or an address, as you have them.
- Choose your notification preferences, including email or text where available.
You can keep a date saved with notifications switched off. That makes the page useful as a place to organise details even if you do not want alerts for every occasion. You can also mark a gift as sorted when you have taken care of it.
If the birthday is missing, you can still begin with the person. Add the date later, or send a private request to confirm it. There is no need to abandon the whole task because one field is unknown.
Leave yourself room to choose
The value of an earlier prompt is practical. It gives you a chance to look at what they would like, check where they will be and choose an available delivery date. If siblings are buying together, it gives you time to start a group gift rather than collect contributions at the last minute.
Saving an occasion does not place an order. You still choose the gift and confirm the address and delivery date at checkout. It is worth checking those details each time, especially if someone has moved or will be away for their birthday.
Nor does every saved occasion need the same attention. One customer’s preference for “fewer, more relevant notifications” is a useful principle here. Start with the dates you genuinely want help remembering, and choose notification settings that make the reminders useful to you.
Save your next occasion in Reminders. If the date is the detail you are missing, read how to ask for it through a private link.
