Exclusions step by step
- Start a list. Pick how the draw starts: when you click, on a date or by a vote.
- Send the link. Everyone joins the list through it.
- In “Who doesn't draw whom”, pick two people and click “Add”. The block is on your page, the organizer's. Each pair separately; “Remove” next to a pair takes it back.
- The draw. Click “Draw the letters”, or the list draws by the rule you picked: on the date or once more than half have voted.
Exclusions can be added only before the draw and only between people who are already on the list. So wait until everyone has joined, add the pairs, and only then draw. After the draw the pairs can't change, and the draw can't be repeated. What else can change before the draw: Secret Santa rules.
Who to exclude
- Couples. Spouses and partners usually give each other a gift anyway.
- A whole household. Every two people from one home are a pair: three people (A, B, C) are three pairs: A ↔ B, A ↔ C, B ↔ C.
- A parent and a small child. A small child's gift is bought by the parent anyway: without the pair, the parent could end up choosing a gift for themselves.
- Last year's pairs. santa.haus doesn't remember last year: each list is new. Write down who gave a gift to whom, and next year add those pairs.
With the whole family: Family Secret Santa.
How many exclusions can a draw take?
Each exclusion narrows the draw. On a small list too many pairs leave no possible draw, and the page says so right when you add the pair: With this exclusion the letters cannot be drawn: it takes more people or fewer exclusions.
The draw is one circle: everyone gives a gift to the next person. So from 3 people on no two people draw each other, even without exclusions, and nobody draws themselves. With exactly 3 people everyone stands next to everyone, so no pair can be excluded.
If the list draws on a date or by a vote and the pairs leave no draw, it waits, as it waits for a third person, until someone joins or the organizer removes a pair.
Works for sure: 2 pairs among 4 people, 3 pairs among 6 people, or a household of three among 6 people. With 4 people, 2 pairs is the most: everyone can be in one pair at most.
Everyone at one table, no link?
The name picker on one phone knows pairs too: type them under “Pairs who don't draw each other”, one pair per line, e.g. Anna + Ben. Draw names on one phone.