The time has come for the dreaded Christmas Card. Except that it doesn’t have to be dreaded, instead, it should be a fun thing. With a background in graphic design and as a photographer I love getting to see people’s Christmas cards every year. It’s a great way to update your friends and families and to provide grandma a photo she can keep on the fridge and show off to her friends. For me, it was a good childhood memory. Every year my parents would have us take a family photo in July, get 200 printed the week before Thanksgiving and have a family night of stuffing all the letters and photos into envelopes. There was also the annual Christmas card letter that my dad would add giving each person in the family a paragraph of their own to update everyone we sent the card out to. Think of it as the original Facebook.
Every year as I see Christmas cards come in there are a few ways that people go wrong. These are my biggest pet peeves when it comes to the annual Christmas card. Stick with this guide and you’ll have the best card in the pile, one that will forever live in the minds of your friends and family for a long time and possibly live on Grandma’s fridge forever!
Keep Your Christmas Card Short & Simple
The number one way that people go wrong with their Christmas cards is that they include every detail of their lives creating not just a Christmas card but a novel. Keep the font at size 12, don’t write edge to edge of the paper but leave room for the margins and keep it to one page or less. A Christmas card is the highlight reel of your year, we just want to hear about the biggest things that have happened, where your family is at, and how you’re doing. If you have a pet or older parents it’s a great time to give a status update on them too.
Get Your Christmas Card Designed
My family always went with the classic printed photo inside a 3 fold letter. It wasn’t special but it worked. I will admit that the graphic designer in me does love a well-designed card. If you’re looking for an easy way to get this done check out Artifact Uprising’s Christmas Card templates (You get 10% off when you sign up for their newsletter). Looking for a way to save a little more? Check out the variety of options and prices that Shutterfly offers for their Christmas Card designs.
Keep Your Christmas Card Photos Large
You have a beautiful relationship and the two of you have done some amazing things this year, so I can understand wanting to share all your favorite photos from the last year. Sharing an bunch of photos should be saved for an album or at least a Facebook album. Your Christmas Card photo should be a single photo or just a 2-3 photos. The idea is that the photos are large enough that even grandma can see what’s happening in the photo and how everyone looks. Choose the best photo of you and your man and use that. If there’s 2-3 that you just can’t live without, find a great layout that will highlight all the photos and keep them large.
Can’t find a photo that reallys shows off your personality, or one that you feel confident in sharing? It’s time to call in the big guns and create a photo that showcases unique love of your relationship. If you need help finding a photographer that could do that for you, you’re in luck, you happen to be on their website (wink wink!) Set up a date night that you won’t forget and that will capture the magic of your love while making sure you’re confident and sexy in every shot.
It’s never too late to get your Christmas card photos or to send out your card. My parents were always the first ones to send out their cards every year (everyone got their’s by Thanksgiving). But my parents don’t have to be you. Sending your card out after Christmas or even as a way to celebrate the New Year is a great option. I’ll help tell your story and impress all your friends with photos they’ll be jealous of. Book a consult today and let’s start planning your date night shoot!
