Secret Santa rules, and what to do when it goes sideways

How it works

Everyone is secretly matched with someone else. You buy a gift for that person within the budget, keep it quiet until the exchange, and hand it over. Then people can try to guess who gave them what, or you can keep it anonymous for good. No swapping, no telling.

What to agree on before the draw

What	Why
Budget	A clear limit stops one person spending $100 while another brings a candle. In an office, keep it low enough that nobody feels awkward.
Date	Leave time to order. If gifts have to ship, work backward from the delivery date.
Exclusions	Couples, siblings, anyone who exchanges gifts anyway. Decide now, because changing it later means a redraw.
The reveal	Some groups tell at the exchange, others never do. Both work. Just pick one.

When things go wrong

Someone drops out after the draw

There's one fix that doesn't expose anyone else: whoever was giving to them takes over their match. But someone has to know the pairs to do that, so that person is no longer playing blind. If nobody knows, redraw.

Someone joins late

You can't add a person without moving other pairs. If gifts have already been bought, have the newcomer and one volunteer exchange gifts with each other, outside the draw.

You drew your partner

With a hat, your only option is to redraw. Exclusions solve it up front.

Someone's result got out

If one person knows, carry on. If half the office knows, redraw.

When exclusions make the draw impossible

Every exclusion removes options. Three couples can exclude each other with no trouble. But in a group of three, if Ana can't give to Luis or to Marta, there's nothing left to draw. A hat won't warn you; Gift Shuffle tells you who ran out of options so you can remove one.

Small groups that repeat every year can hit the same wall: avoiding the last two years' pairs on top of exclusions may not be possible. Gift Shuffle tries, and tells you how many pairs had to repeat.