One of my favorite activities every fall is designing our family Christmas card. It means we get to have a family photo shoot AND then decide how to share those photos with some of the most special people in our life. It almost feels like it kicks off the holiday season for me — partially because it’s a task I begin in October so I can get the cards sent out RIGHT after Thanksgiving! Type A much, Anna? It’s just who I am.
This year (per tradition), we got the incredibly talented (not to mention all-around wonderful human) Sarah Shinsky to take our photos, and the shoot at Reynolda Village and Reynolda House was a blast. Sarah takes photos for us a couple times a year, just to help beautifully document our family as Maggie grows, and our photo shoot this time last year was NOT a happy one. (To clarify: Kevin and I were very well behaved, but Maggie was NOT into it.) We got great photos, but the experience was a little painful. This time around, everyone was in a great mood and we had a blast.
Here are just a handful of my many favorites. We definitely had some good options to work with for Christmas cards this year!
I’d already chosen a new website to use to get our cards this year: Basic Invite. I wasn’t familiar with them, but they reached out to me offering me a discount on our purchase in exchange for a blog post. I headed over to their website and was quite happy with the designs and overall feel I found there. (As you know, I’m not one to endorse a brand I don’t feel really good about, so I had to do some research first!) Based on my experience using Basic Invite, I only have great things to say about the brand. I was obviously paying attention to their merry Christmas cards and happy holiday cards, but they also have options for wedding, baby, events, stationary, event websites, holiday party invitations, and business cards.
I played with a couple of different card templates and ultimately landed on the “Merry & Bright Foil Holiday Cards” template. It has a pretty dark gray background (so the photos pop) and has space for five photos on the front of the card, which helped since I loved so many from our shoot and didn’t want to have to narrow them down too much! The customization process was simple, and they have a handy chat feature should you need help along the way. I used the chat at one point to clarify something and their customer service team was kind, helpful, and responsive. For the back of the card, you can choose to have a blank card, images, a design, etc. I went with one image and some text.
Just a few minutes after I’d added the design to my cart and paid for my order, I received an email letting me know a designer had looked at my card to make sure everything seemed good to go. She let me know she’d adjusted the placement of the text on the back of the card to make sure none would get cut off during printing. (Whew — thanks!) I approved the proofs and the order was finalized. Easy peasy!
Our cards arrived yesterday (exactly a week after I placed my order), and y’all: They are GORGEOUS! The quality of the paper is great, the pictures look amazing, and I love the raised gold foil lettering on the front of the card. I can’t wait to send these out later this month!
Plus, the packaging and overall presentation was impressive. They even included an ornament for our tree with one of our photos on it. What a nice touch!
I’m incredibly happy with Basic Invite, and can wholeheartedly recommend them if you’re looking for a holiday card (or any card) resource. Oh, and be sure to use this coupon code to get 15% off your order!: 15FF51
