The holidays can be a weird time with parties and family gatherings. Depending on how long you’ve been with your significant other, the holidays can make or break a relationship. A dating service for busy professionals, called It’s Just Lunch, has come up with some nifty pointers for making sure your relationship survives the New Year.

The holidays seem to magnify everything you do as a couple. From inviting them home to meet the family to gift giving, the pressure transforms the “most wonderful time of the year” into a veritable mine field.

One of the biggest hurdles a relationship will face is meeting the family. Whether you’re celebrating Christmas, Hannukah, or Festivus, you should keep two things in mind before bringing your honey home for the holidays: how long you’ve been together and how far your family lives. If you’ve been together for less than 3 months, dinner with your friends is fine, but limit exposure to your family to dessert and coffee. After you’ve been with someone for 3 months, dinner should be fine. However, keep any long distance traveling and overnight stays until you’ve been together for at least six months.

The length of your relationship also is a key player in gifts. If you’ve been on less than 10 dates, apply the “KISS” rule, “Keep It Simple, Silly.” Low-key and clever gifts are good for new relationships; brownies, sweets, favorite books, music, and the old standards of flowers and wine are good gift ideas. Between 3 and 6 months, you can stand to go a little bigger. You can pick something you know they like or want, but don’t over do it. After six months, you’re free to get whatever you feel comfortable with giving. Irene LaCota, spokesperson for It’s Just Lunch, says that after the six month mark, you are with someone you feel comfortable with.