I've had family request a couple of my photos blown up and framed as Christmas presents.

Talk about a really basic question, but how do you go about getting a photo printed?
I shoot in RAW, and use a Canon, so do I take the RAW CR2 file to get the print done from THAT (for maximum quality), or do I convert to a jpg first (and risk losing some quality)?

With normal photos it used to be an option to go with gloss or matt surface. If that's the case with big prints, what is the best option for something you're getting printed large enough to frame.

Basically, I'm after anything that I need to know so that I don't waste a heap of money blowing up photos and finding that I needed to know something beforehand.

The camera is a 60D, the photos were taken in RAW mode, and on the highest setting which is apparently approx 18mp.

What size would make a reasonable gift without breaking a very fragile bank account?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.