How to run a Secret Santa without a spreadsheet
A cozy way to draw a gift exchange, keep couples apart, and play the names when everyone is in the room.
Pick a spending limit before the invitations go out. Write it in the group chat once, then leave it alone. A single number keeps the gifts in the same range and saves the week of side messages.
Collect first names or nicknames only. You do not need addresses. If two people share a last name, a nickname is enough for the video to tell them apart.
Keep couples and roommates apart when they should not draw each other. The free name draw on the home page does that. It also refuses to give anyone their own name.
Leave Surprise me too on if the organizer wants to find out with everyone else. The pairs stay off the confirmation page and out of the email. You learn who has who when you press play.
Personalized Secret Santa videos are coming soon. Once ordering opens, order at least two days before the party; it arrives when you choose. You get a TV version and a phone version, so the living room and the group chat can both watch.
On the night, dim the lights a little, start with the TV cut, and let each scene finish. The name is the point. Nobody has to read a list off a phone.