Giving sweets, love hearts, and heart-shaped cards are all common customs on Valentine’s Day. But why do we bother with these traditions anyway? In this blog, we take a look at contemporary Valentine’s Day and how you can give your partner a mesmerising and love encapsulated surprise for the special day.

Does anyone wonder how and when Cupid’s special day began? One of the common beliefs is that during the 1800’s, lovelorn patients were told by their doctors to eat as many treats as possible to soothe their nerves. It is also thought that as far back as the era of the Aztec empire, sweet treats were considered an aphrodisiac and was used to win love.

There are also other reasons that sweet treats bring us and our partners together, and it’s not our fault! The mental craving comes from serotonin – this being a neurotransmitter that puts us in a great mood and moderates a sense of wellbeing!

Another reason is due to our primate heritage; the human tongue can detect four basic flavours — salt, sour, bitter and sweet, but humans are naturally drawn to sweet because we are primates, animals that evolved eating fruit in the trees.

Even the act of licking a lollipop or chewing on one of our Vegan Duals can lift your mood. While we won’t go as far as saying that candy is the answer to a stressful day, some evidence suggests that very well may be the case.

The most popular day for all lovers being Valentine’s Day, what better way to express your love than with our Valentine’s Day Collection? With a variety of jars, shakes and boxes to choose from, we're sure to have the perfect Valentine's Day gift for that special someone in your life!

It will be the ultimate expression of love and is bound to make your lover feel very special and cherished. Why don't you treat yourself to some yummy sweet treats? We have a whole host of sweets to choose from on our Love Collection page, or you can choose something from one of are other Collections and enjoy!

Visit Our Love Collection Page >

As it's been quite a while since our last giveaway (Christmas, we're sorry) and after receiving such positive and engaging feedback following the launch of our new Duals vegan sweets range, we thought this would be the perfect time to run another giveaway! 

To celebrate the successful launch of Duals, we are giving 4 lucky winners the chance to win a Duals bundle, which will include a 50g pack of each of our four Duals flavours as well as a personalised Duals Letterbox Treat! The giveaway will be held over the course of a week on Instagram from Friday 19th July until Friday 26th July at 2pm and is super easy to enter. 

All the information that you need can be found below:

And that's it! The winner(s) will be picked at random and notified via DM on Instagram after the competition has closed, so get ready, get tagging and sharing and good luck!

You can head over to our Instagram page and find the giveaway post by hitting the button below.

Visit Our Instagram > 

The start of a new year means preparing for another 365 days of exciting festivities. We've put together this helpful chart to give you an overview of some dates worth putting in your diary - dates like Valentine's Day, International Women's Day, and of course Star Wars Day!

It's always good to be prepared, so make a note of the dates that are important to you...and don't forget to stock up on sweet gifts for that special someone!

Need some sweet gifts for a special occasion? Browse our full range here >

Following the huge success of our previous #HideAndSweet and SweetSummer'18 competitions, we have decided it’s time for another giveaway!

As Christmas is the season of giving and it has been some time since we held our last competition, we thought this would be the perfect time to giveaway some festive goodies! Our Christmas competition will run on Instagram from 7th December - 14th December 2018 and is super easy to enter once again!

All the information you need is shown below...

Yes, it’s as easy as that! The winner will be picked at random and notified via Instagram after the competition has closed after 12pm on 14th December 2018, so get ready to enjoy the sweetest Christmas yet with Sweets in the City. Click below to go straight to the Instagram post - Good luck! 

Enter Competition >

There are lots of sweet treats we enjoy at Christmas time, from candy canes to selection boxes and advent calendars. But where did they all come from? More often than not, we enjoy delicious festive treats without sparing a moment of thought for their origins. Don’t worry, in this blog, we explore the stories behind some of your favourite Christmas sweet treats. You’re in for a surprise!

Advent Calendars

Adults and children alike look forward to the first of December when they can finally open the first door of their advent calendar. But where did the idea for advent calendars come from?

Well, the idea supposedly came from a gentleman called Gerhard Lang who was inspired by a simplistic colourful Christmas countdown that his mother created for him. He took the design one step further and include small gifts, the idea took off. By the early 1900’s advent calendars, as we know them today, were widely popular. Do you have an advent calendar this year?

Candy Canes

Candy canes are an iconic symbol of Christmas, with their sweet peppermint flavour and swirly red and white design.

These delicious treats originated in Germany. According to folklore, candy canes were created by the choirmaster of Cologne Cathedral as a way to keep excitable children quiet during the church service on Christmas Eve (although we aren’t convinced this was an effective choice). He asked the confectioner to shape the sugary sticks into the shape of a shepherd’s crook to remind the children of the shepherds who visited the baby Jesus.

Selection Boxes

The history of where selection boxes came from is largely unknown. However, records suggest that during the 19^th and 20th-century chocolatiers started to produce them and they became a popular gift but, in some cases, they would cost more than an entire week’s wages! Nowadays, the average child receives on average six selection boxes every Christmas!

Milk & Cookies

Leaving milk, cookies and a carrot out for Santa and his reindeer is something we’re sure you did as a child and has been done by children and parents alike for centuries. The tradition is based on an old Norse myth and became commercially popular during the Great Depression. Parents wanted to teach their children to be grateful for the gifts they received at Christmas by offering a small gift to Santa and his reindeer in return for delivering their presents. Adorable!

How many of these traditional Christmas sweets will you enjoy in your household this Christmas? Why not take a look at our Christmas sweets range? You might see something a little less traditional that you’d like to try this year!

View our Christmas Range >

The Sweets in the City team have handpicked products from across our Christmas collection that will look perfect nestled under the Christmas tree or tucked into a stocking by the fireplace. Whether you’re looking for a festive Christmas eve gift or a jar full of American candy favourites, we’ve got you covered! Here’s a little inspiration for how you can give your loved ones the sweetest Christmas this year.

A Christmas Eve Treat

Some of us follow the tradition of having one gift to open on the night before Christmas. Some people even create a box of smaller gifts that can be used on Christmas eve to get children (and adults) into the Christmas spirit. These boxes contain things like, a Christmas pair of pyjamas, a Christmas movie to watch before bed, and some Christmas treats to enjoy while watching it!

We think that our Merry and Bright Super Shake would be an amazing addition to your Christmas eve box, or as a stand-alone Christmas Eve treat!

Order a Merry & Bright Shake here >

Give an American sweet lover a festive treat

We all know someone who adores American sweets, so here at Sweets in the City, we’ve created a Christmas Jar of Joy filled with iconic American candy! This jar not only contains American favourites such as:

• Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups
• Nerds
• Tootsie Rolls

but it can also be personalised for FREE! Whether Santa pops this Jar of Joy under the Christmas tree as a festive surprise, or you add it to an American themed stocking, it’s sure to be a hit.

Order a Christmas Candy Jar here >

Remember that all of our sweet gifts can be personalised and delivered for FREE. Take a look at everything Sweets in the City has to offer here or view the rest of our Christmas top picks here!

Here at Sweets in the City, we think that waiting for your presents to come down the chimney is so last year! This year we have created two personalisable Christmas Letterbox Treats that are sure to provide a little more festive sparkle than a standard Christmas card and just as much excitement as a stack of presents under the tree.

Merry Christmas Letterbox

Our Merry Christmas Letterbox Treats come in a beautiful box adorned with adorable gingerbread men, Christmas candies and stars. Perfect for younger sweet lovers! We have written Merry Christmas on the front of our boxes, but you can customise both the front label and message inside to make this gift extra special.

Season to be Jolly

Looking to send a gift that adults can get giddy about this Christmas? Check out our Season to be Jolly Letterbox Treat. We have chosen a black and gold design that perfectly compliments those chilly winter nights. Like our other Letterbox Treats, this box is easily customisable and a perfect gift for a grown-up sweet lover!

If you know someone with a sweet-tooth who deserves a special treat this Christmas, head over to Sweets in the City to check out our entire Christmas range - Merry Christmas!

View Our Christmas Range >

There are lots of options when it comes to sending a birthday card. Firstly, you need to find the perfect card and then decide what to write inside. You want them to know you’ve put some thought into it!

If your recipient is notorious for having a sweet tooth, why not take one of our birthday card ideas and send them a Sweets in the City Letterbox Treat? A Letterbox can be personalised on the inside and out, creating a memorable birthday gift that’s completely unique for your recipient!

Choosing the Card

When choosing the perfect card for someone, you should try to think of things that remind you of them. How did you meet? Have you shared any special experiences together? Choosing something reminiscent of your friendship or relationship with someone can take a birthday card to the next level and stand out from others!

Share a Memory

Whether the memory is a big event you attended together, or something intimate and personal between you two, sharing a memory with someone is bound to put a smile on their face! It’ll also remind them to remember all the good experiences of the past if they’re feeling down about getting older.

Choose a Special Birthday Quote

If you’re struggling to find the right words to say, why not take to the internet for a little inspiration. There are plenty of quotes and birthday messages that you can tweak to suit your recipient - sometimes all we need is a little inspiration.

Send a Personalised Gift

If you’re still unsure what kind of birthday card to send, or what to say, why not combine the gift and card into one! Sweets in the City offers a huge variety of gifts including Jars of Joy and Giant Lollipops that can be personalised to wish someone happy birthday with very little effort!

So, you’ve finally found the perfect card and written a lovely message inside, why not take a look at Sweets in the City’s range of Birthday sweets to accompany your chosen card? Give someone the treat they deserve with our sweet birthday card ideas & gifts.

View Our Birthday Gifts Here >

With summer over and Christmas still a little while away, it's Halloween that everyone's excited about right now. The 31st of October is always a great opportunity for fun and shenanigans, and even if you're a bit too old for trick-or-treating (or you simply prefer to spend your autumn nights indoors), you can still throw a spooktacular Halloween party to mark the occasion!

We love a good Halloween hoedown here at Sweets in the City - here are some suggestions to help you organise your own end-of-October bash:

Halloween Party Games

A great Halloween party is all about the games! Try these old favourites, and make sure you have plenty of sweets on hand to give away as prizes!

• Bobbing for Apples - Fill a bowl, basin or bucket with water and drop a few apples in (one per player). The apples will float on the surface of the water - players take it in turns to pick up an apple using only their mouths, no hands allowed. Be sure to keep a towel handy!
  
  
• Doughnuts on Strings - Buy a pack of ring doughnuts and tie a string around each one. Hang the doughnuts from a line and challenge players to eat their doughnut without using their hands. The first person to finish the whole doughnut wins!
  
  
• Jelly Babies in Flour - A sweet alternative to apple bobbing! Heap some flour on a plate (you can also use icing sugar if you prefer) and arrange some jelly babies in the flour. Players take it in turns to pick up a jelly baby using only their teeth...and hopefully get their faces covered in flour in the process. (Speaking of jelly babies, have you read these fun facts about everyone's favourite wibbly-wobbly sweets?)
  
  
• Memory Game - Arrange a variety of objects on a tray. Halloween-themed objects are ideal: rubber spiders, vampire fangs, fake eyeballs, and so on. Give everybody a minute to memorise the items on the tray, then cover it up with a tea towel and secretly remove one object. The aim of the game is to spot which item has gone missing - the person who guesses correctly gets to remove the next object.

Other Activities to Try

• Get dressed up! Fancy dress is one of the best things about Halloween - it's always fun to see what gruesome and creative costumes your friends have come up with! If you're feeling lazy, of course, you can always cut two holes in a bedsheet and dress up a ghost...or just cover some old clothes in fake blood and go to the party as a zombie version of yourself. But it's always better to do something a bit more imaginative if possible!
  
  
• Carve a pumpkin! Nothing says 'Halloween' like a jack-o'-lantern. Be careful when using a knife to give your pumpkin a suitably menacing grin - if you're not sure how to do it, have a read of this guide from BBC Good Food.
  
  
• Decorate your home! If you're hosting a Halloween party, you should make sure your home looks the part before welcoming your guests. Obviously you can buy all sort of fab things online or in your local shop, but it might be even more fun to create your own decorations - grinning ghosts, black-winged bats, and scary spiders are all surprisingly easy to create. Check out these ideas from AnglianHome.co.uk.

Halloween Party Treats

Of course, it would be Halloween without a few sweet treats to share out! We've got plenty to choose from here at Sweets in the City, including...

Spooky Treats Super Shake

This large shake is filled with delicious Halloween-themed treats! Grab a couple of shakes to pass around at your party, or add a personalised message and send someone special a dreadfully delicious Halloween gift!

Order Now >

Letterbox Treats

We've added three great 'Trick or Treat' designs to our popular range of letterbox-friendly sweet gifts! Customise the Halloween-themed box and send it to someone special to wish them a happy Halloween.

Order Now >

Pick & Mix

We've got plenty of other treats to choose from in our Pick & Mix section, including vampire fangs, jelly eyeballs, and sugar-coated worms. Pick your favourites and buy in bulk to make sure you've got plenty for everyone at your Halloween party!

View All Sweets >

Pumpkin photo from Pixabay