How to Order Holiday Cards: The Definitive Guide
Time Custom Holiday Cards For the Perfect Seasons Greeting
The holiday season is just around the corner. We have to make it through Halloween, and then I'm putting on fuzzy socks and sweatpants, bulk ordering chai tea, sipping on fire cider, and maybe even starting to prep my holiday cards.
I suffer from the plague of procrastination — an affliction that affects about 25% of the population — and I find it more than difficult to string together successful portions of the holiday undertaking so that we actually get our greeting cards out on time each year.
I wrote this article to help me — and you — get it done this season.
Let's start with the basics.
When to Send Out Holiday Cards
For some, a trip to the local post office during the holiday rush is akin to hell on earth - packed lobbies with anxious senders, long waits with only two or three attendants, and coughs and sniffles in close quarters that can make anyone concerned in our post-quarantine America.
Luckily, Postable wrote an extremely in-depth article on holiday card mailing dates to ease the process and allow you to slip your mail into any box, avoiding the lines. I've updated it for the 2024 holiday season:
Thanksgiving cards- Nov 7th - 14th
Hanukkah cards- Dec 2nd - 11th
Christmas cards- Dec 1st - 10th
Kwanza cards- Dec 1st - 10th
Holiday cards- Dec 1st - 15th
Business Holiday Cards- Dec 1st - 15th
New Year cards- Dec 1st - Jan. 7
Their data considers any potential postal delays due to the holiday rush or the lack thereof in the case of Thanksgiving cards.
Knowing when to mail your cards is only part of the puzzle, but it does help determine when you'll need to accomplish the other tasks on your holiday card to-do list so that you can make your season's greeting mailer special.
When to Schedule Your Photo Session
Timing your photo session is critical. If it's too late in the year, you could miss the best shipping deadline, and your greeting cards will arrive late to their destinations.
Assuming your photographer has a three-week turnaround time, you'll need to schedule your photography session before the third week of October.
How did I come up with that date?
There are outliers in any industry, but typically, a photographer will deliver your photo gallery anywhere from one to four weeks after your session. That estimate totally depends on the type of session. Weddings, for example, take longer to edit because of the sheer number of images so that this estimate could be on the lower side.
If you know that you plan to use the photos from your family session for holiday cards, make sure to ask your photographer how long they typically take to edit a gallery. It'll help you plan when you need to schedule your photo session, and it'll help you decide if they are the right photographer for you.
Once your gallery is ready, it's time to order your cards.
When to Order Custom Holiday Cards
Order and processing times vary from company to company, so you must verify the turnaround time with your vendor's customer service team. However, most major online card companies have a 2-3 business-day print time and a 3-5 business-day shipping window.
In order to give yourself a bit of a cushion, allocate about a week-and-a-half from the time they are ordered until the cards arrive on your doorstep.
You should also include at least five days as a buffer between receiving and sending the cards. You'll need this time (or more) to address, stamp, and write any potential greetings onto each holiday greeting card.
Where to Order Photo Cards
My clients can order their holiday cards directly through their gallery, but in case you're not a client of mine (yet), I've compiled a short list of some of the most popular sites for holiday photo cards.
Paper Culture
If you are an eco-conscious buyer, look no further than Paper Culture. When you order your Christmas party invitations or holiday photo cards from the company, they plant a tree where reforestation is most needed. The number has reached 1,000,000 trees (and counting). Paper Culture also uses sustainable materials, such as recycled stationery or bamboo, to create their cards and offset their carbon footprint. The EPA has recognized the company as a Top 10 Climate Leader and certified it as a Green Business. Paper Culture clients receive free design assistance, helping them perfect content, make layout and color changes, and personalize messages and pictures. It also offers free return address printing, free recipient address printing, and free stamp application.
Minted
Minted offers a vast selection of Christmas and holiday cards designed by independent artists. The company offers plenty of sizes, colors, and paper options, including recycled paper. It also provides free custom envelopes and free recipient addressing.
Tiny Prints
As part of its custom designs to a dozen colors and sizes, Tiny Prints offers photo cards with personalized foil, foil stamps, and glitter.
What's the Christmas Card Etiquette
Like everything in life, sending holiday cards has its own set of rules. According to Her View From Home, there are some best practices that all senders should follow to ensure their season greeting is well received:
Send your cards out early, but not before Thanksgiving. (Unless, of course, it's a Thanksgiving card).
Use your handwriting as much as possible, especially for the envelope, personal touches, and signatures.
Make sure to add a return address.
Forget digital versions. They don't have the same personal touch as a paper greeting card.
Final Thoughts
Let's get to work! Feel free to tag me on socials so I can see what you've created.
PLEASE NOTE: This article has been updated from its original (written on Sept. 20, 2022) to reflect updated dates for 2024.
