But this year? Should we send one? In some ways they feel kind of hokey, but on the other hand I like GETTING holiday cards, and I assume that other people feel the same way, right? AND, because we've only been married for like a year, we have a relatively current address list for a lot of our friends from our guest list, so it wouldn't require too much legwork there--just a bit of address collection from friends who have moved or who we met after the wedding.
AND, even though the actual writing of the cards sounds like kind of a pain, it will be similar to writing thank-you notes, right? And that wasn't bad at all. And I think it's a good way to stay in touch with people and let them know we're thinking of them.
So then, IF we decide to do it, the next question would be: photo card or regular card? Again, even though I LIKE photo cards from other people, I worry that I would feel silly or self-absorbed sending out a photo of us as a card. So maybe something more general and classic would be better?
I went over to Shutterfly real quick and mocked up a quick card with the photo that several people have told me would make a great holiday card:
And then I checked out Paper Source and found a lovely more classic card (though we would not use this exact one because it is $20 for a box of eight and that is just insane--if you sent out 80 cards you'd spend $200, and that's before postage):
So tell me, do you normally send out holiday cards or have you in the past? Why or why not? If we do send out a card, should it have a photo on it or not?
I most definitely think you should do it. L and I sent out holiday cards last year and I was totally against it because 'hi, we're not married!'. But I was blindsided. His mom took some pictures of us and the puppies when we were there in the fall - I thought it was just so we could have a nice picture of the four of us. Then he we go back for Thanksgiving and she's like, ok pick your favorite so i can frame it. Hmm, ok. THen before I know it we have a stack of photo cards sent to us for us to send out.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it was a little weird for us, but I don't think it would be weird for you guys at all. And I like the photo card - especially since you have Montana now - and I agree, I think that photo you posted would be absolutely perfect. It's got your whole family, plus your new location in the background!
My vote:
ReplyDeleteYES CARD
YES PHOTO
Love receiving both!
The photo is cute, though I have never done a photo card before. But if you decide to go the generic route, and want to be cheap about it like I do :-), then you should just get a random assortment of cards you think are cute whenever you are at a store and they are cheap and not worry about if they are all the same. Since, hello, no one will know what card everyone else on your list got. I don't spend more than 50 cents per card - though I also go after Christmas and buy them up on super cheap clearance... something to look forward to for after Christmas in anticipation of next year!
ReplyDeleteAll that being said, we didn't send out cards last year... and most likely will not this year either. In part because we don't have any friends anymore, haha!
Personally, I think sending holiday cards are a HUGE WASTE of our natural resources. Particularly in this digital age, where we keep up with friends and family via Facebook, Flickr, email and other electronic venues. I'd much rather get a RANDOM personal email with a few photo attachments from friends/family throughout the year than one staged card (photo or not) around the holidays. Not trying to ruin the feel-good aspect of the holidays (and won't hold it against you should you decide to do it) ... just being a little realistic about earth, mother nature and the limited supplies they give us. =)
ReplyDeleteI used to send out a ton of cards, but now I do maybe 20-25 a year. I usually do a variety pack of inexpensive cards with a small photo of the kids tucked inside. I much prefer receiving cards that include a photo.
ReplyDeleteI send cards, I love it. I don't send a photo, because I think it would be lame, since it's just me :) My parents always sent out holiday cards with photos of my brother, sister and myself when we were younger, often in cute matching outfits. I'm sure I'll do the same, once I have babies! Maybe next year, I will send a photo of the corgi I hope I have by then!
ReplyDeleteLast year was the first year we sent out cards. We only sent them to family and close friends who don't live near us. Perhaps we'll expand it this year to include our in town friends as well :)
ReplyDeleteWe just went to Wal Mart and found nice cards. We're simple. But perhaps when we have kids we'll do photo cards.
Yes, we send out holiday cards. I'm up in the air this year just because the baby is due 2 weeks before Christmas and well... there's already a lot to do.
ReplyDeleteWe usually do a photo card, but didn't before we had kids. We live far from family, so they always want to see pics of the kids, plus, it's easier IMO.
Everybody likes Christmas/holiday cards, don't they? Photo cards are my fave!
Oh, and we only send out about 30-35 so as not to break the bank.
ReplyDeleteI love getting holiday cards and I generally like sending them. When I was married, I always did one -- now that I am single, I haven't been as good about it. I have never sent out photo cards - there is a part of me that wants to wait until I have kids to do that...not sure, just a mental hangup of mine, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteI say go for it!
LOTM and I always sent out cards with a letter tucked inside. Fortunately, the letter was well-received because we always poked fun at ourselves.
ReplyDeleteKiller, on the other hand, has never done the card thing, so I'm not sure what we're going do to. It will probably depend on finances, since postage is a budget wrecker.
Oh, and some years, I even made my own cards with paper stock I had on hand. Maybe I'll do that this year.
I think you should send cards. I don't know anyone who dislikes receiving them. I would also go with the photo cards - they're pretty inexpensive and getting photos is an added bonus.
ReplyDeleteThe last two years I've handmade holiday cards for a few close friends and family. Maybe 20 cards in total.
ReplyDeleteI prefer to personalize them, especially since we have two religions between my family and D.'s family. So I'll make a few Christmas, a few Hanukkah, and a few non-denominational or Happy New Year cards.
My vote is for the non-denominational photo card!
I LOVE holiday cards, both sending and receiving them. I don't do photo cards, because it does seem a bit self-centered, but I do tuck a picture or two of the kiddo in for some people (mostly grandparents, et al).
ReplyDeleteWe send out holiday photo cards. I figure we're at a point in our lives where we're actually going cool places and seeing cool things. They're more for our friends who are also settled down and married or family friends, and not so much for B's college beer buddies.
ReplyDeleteI think you should send out a photo card. I love getting them.
ReplyDeleteI'm a photographer so I am a little biased towards photo cards, but you should definitely send out that photo card. I love the card and the photo and I love getting photo cards in the mail. Not so much the generic cards -- I'd just as soon not get them at all because they're usually way more expensive than photo cards and not interesting to me. Nowadays, I do photo cards for every occasion for my clients -- invitations, new year's or valentine's (for those that were too busy at Christmas), graduation announcements. I just did a cute invite for a surprise 50th birthday party.
ReplyDeleteI love that photo and card! I have always sent holiday cards, and this is actually the time of year that I used to write them out. Addresses, anyway. Since my husband coaches, I'm on my own lots of nights and it's a cozy thing to do. Now that Maddie's here, well... we'll be doing a photo card this year, and I completely just didn't get it done last year.
ReplyDeleteBut yes, yes, you should send them. I love sending/receiving them.
Before Madeline was born I bought cards on the cheap after Christmas and put them away for the following year... if you're not attached to a certain design, you can get really lovely ones for super cheap.
I do or do not send holiday cards depending on how lazy I feel that year. I usually do cards and cookies for my co-workers, so I pick up a few boxes of cards after Christmas at the big sales. I usually just write up a few for close friends and mail them out a little before Christmas (or a little after, depending on my level of disorganization). I do, however, LOVE receiving Christmas cards, specifically photo cards.
ReplyDeleteI love getting and sending Christmas cards, so I definitely support the idea. I used to send a huge amount of cards -- basically to everyone I knew -- but now I've cut back to only send cards to people who we aren't really in touch with at other times of the year. It's become more of a "catch up" kind of thing. I guess I could drop an email, but I love getting letters in the mail, so I stick with it.
ReplyDeleteI usually pick out a pretty boxed card from the local department store and then tuck in photos of the kids. I always get a lot of people saying how much they love to get the photos, so a photo card for you guys (LOVE the picture you chose) would be awesome.
When Christmas is over, I use the cards that we've received to make tags for next year's gifts. A bit of reuse and recycling :).
I send out holiday cards. In response to holiday cards I get. I'm lazy.
ReplyDeleteYou know me, I LOVE sending out cards. So, yes! Send out a card! And yes, send out a picture! Wahoo!
ReplyDeleteWe get a photo card made with our son's picture, and sometimes with a second family picture as well. We don't write personalized notes on them.
ReplyDeleteWe send them too - although last year I narrowed our list down considerably since the first year I did them I was sending to what seemed like everyone I'd ever met. Impossible to personalize them that way - I decided I'd rather do a small number and write a quick personal note than mass produce them.
ReplyDeleteIf I happen to have a picture of the recipient (or us with the recipient) from a visit that year I try to include it with the card (a lot of our friends are from distant places so we only see them on trips).
And ever since we had our baby we've done photo cards.
One thing we try to do to keep it fun is make a tradition of writing the cards - I have my mom and sister over (we all live in the same town), we have dinner, we play "A Muppet Christmas Carol" in the background and sign/address the cards together. Helps with what is otherwise kind of a tedious task.
We didn't send a holiday card until we had a baby. Before then I just couldn't get my act together in time. But, I totally cop out and just order a Snapfish card and send it without any additional writing. For me it's either card with no writing, or no card at all. I don't mind getting cards without writing as long as there is a picture. No picture, I expect some WORDS!
ReplyDeleteHi, I think it's a great idea to send out holiday photo cards. It's a great way to send out positive energy to your loved ones!
ReplyDeleteWe haven't but we will this year, now that we're married and responsible and all :)
ReplyDeleteWe did our wedding announcments as postcards. We designed them ourselves w/ photos front and back and ordered from www.gotprint.com (which is local for us but they'll ship anywhere in the US). it was something around $30 for 250 cards and postage was only 28 cents per card. Cheap, effective, lots of room to be creative and everyone LOVED them!
I was just thinking about cards this weekend! I have an accidental tradition of mailing them every-other-year. This year we're sending them. I want to do them on-line, but I'm not sure have a good photo of our family for it. We're thinking maybe just the kids, but even that's a bit of a challenge. Also, I sort of love writing the holiday letter, and if I mail them from on-line I won't be able to do it. I like holiday letters! I know I am a minority. I don't even care if they are bad or braggy or whatever.
ReplyDeleteWe did a fun photo card last year and sent out like 10. If it's too big a project I get overwhelmed and don't do it. I like the idea of a photo even for adults. I know some people think it's self absorbed but I know *I* like to know what my friends/family currently look like, so I hope they wouldn't mind getting a pic of me. For adults I do prefer a random "out and about" pic rather than a sitted posed studio photo. Ie) I like the one you mocked up!
ReplyDeleteI think sending out holiday cards are one of the most fun parts of the holidays! We don't very often receive actual snail mail these days, that a card at Christmas time with a little hand-written message is just so nice to get! I love writing cards and sending them out myself too.
ReplyDeleteI don't send photo cards, but mostly because I'm not a married person or with a family, and I think a photo of me would be a little odd to send (unless I pick one from Jamaica last year -- a little treat of Stephie in a Bikini? Rawr! --- omg, so KIDDING). I usually pick up a cheap package of random holiday cards that I find cute whenever I see them, and send a mix of cards.
I like photo cards though, and most likely WILL do them once I'm married/have kids, etc.
So, I say go for it! I think you'll enjoy writing your little messages and sending a little something off in the regular mail for your friends and family!
I like the family holiday cards with pictures, but at the same time, it's a bit strange that they're limited to only marrieds or families. No one takes a picture of him/herself and mails it out to friends, so am I less interesting or worthy because I'm not married? I can see how this began as a way to show that the kids have grown, but it has morphed into a way for the married folks to make the single folks feel bad around the holidays.
ReplyDeleteThat sounded far more bitter than I meant it.
We never have before but this we're making the big leap. We'll do a photo and a little newsy update.
ReplyDeleteI like sending *and* receiving cards! Most years, I have done "regular" cards (not photos).
ReplyDeleteThe year I moved into the condo, I took a photo of Pan and Harold curled up together and did a "Merry Christmas from our new home"-themed photo card, since I moved at Thanksgiving and there was no way I could send out new-address cards and Christmas cards too! I did another photo card of the cats the following year.
Last year I went back to regular cards; Pan had just died and I couldn't bear to do a photo of Harold alone. Don't know what I'll do this year!
I lovvvvvve holiday card stuff and look forward to it every year. A photo is a huge bonus (I open each card thinking "Please photo please photo please photo please photo!") and I love the one you have there. I buy cards I love on awesome post-Christmas clearances, and tuck a photo inside.
ReplyDeleteI like that you're thinking about this nice and early! You'll be able to get really nice cards (if you end up buying) before the selection gets poopy.
ReplyDeleteI love sending and receiving holiday (mostly Christmas) cards. I've never done the photo card, but I like to receive them.
I say send the cards and most definitely send a photo card!
ReplyDeleteHoliday photo cards are soooo festive! I love them..
ReplyDeleteI do send holiday cards, although the older I get the less people I send cards too. Usually limited to family, close relatives and close friends these days. The rests are via online greeting :p but if anyone sends me, I always send one back :)
I send a card. I love getting mail! I usually make mine if I am not too lazy or busy.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, you must be my long lost sister. I was FREAKING OUT the other day because of this, and it was only mid-September.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I have only been living with my bf for a yr. and a couple months, but we DID send Christmas cards last year. It was something I said I would always do if/when I moved out, because I loved it how we received tons of them at home, and we still did receive a ton of them last Christmas.
As for the picture, we took pictures at Wal Mart [it was fairly cheap, although I cannot remember exact numbers right now] and stuck them in pretty/cheap Hallmark cards. That way people can keep the picture without having to keep the whole card, cause I know not everybody likes that. Personally, I keep all my cards and stuff, but I'm just damn weird. So, yea that's what we did. It was really fun, and the feedback was great. We sent out, I believe somewhere between 50-65.
PS: If you decide to use a picture, that one is GRRRREAT.
We send out holiday cards every year. I usually make them and put a picture of us inside, but since I don't have the time or energy for that this year, we're going to do photo cards with a picture of the three of us after Lucy is born. However, I've started now only sending cards to the people who send us cards, which cuts down the number a bit.
ReplyDeleteI love sending holiday cards and even moreso now that I found this awesome way to do it on my computer, but a REAL card goes out in the mail. You can even add one or more photos to the card, click send and this company prints, stamps and mails the cards for ME!! it's really awesome. Plus the cards only cost .62 without the photos and .93 with the photos. Please check it out -- you can even try it out for free and send a few sample cards. http://www.easy2sendcards.com
ReplyDelete