Tips for Sending Holiday Cards — The Haus of Hamilton

**OUR LIFE**

Preparing Our Annual Holiday Cards
One of our favorite traditions is sending our holiday card, which features a snapshot of our year including our favorite recipe.

This is one of our favorite traditions, but it definitely takes time. We’re happy to report that the effort we put into sending these each year doesn’t go unnoticed by our loved ones. Every year, we receive images of our card on fridges, walls, and Christmas trees. We get pictures of people cooking our recipes and enjoying it with friends and loved ones. And as we near the holidays, we get messages of updated addresses to make sure our card makes it to their new homes.

But preparing to send holiday cards can be a daunting task! Here are Victoria’s tips and tricks to make this as easy of a lift as possible every year.

The Plan

Give people a reason to keep your card.
People don’t tend to receive a lot of snail mail, so when they do, it’s exciting (especially if they’re not bills)! It’s always nice to receive a thoughtful card, but with the investment that goes into these holiday cards, we want to make sure our recipients keep them.
We’re hopeful that some people are like Victoria and keep every single card they’ve ever received. But we know that at the end of the holiday season, people may toss these mailed greetings away. That’s totally fine! However, we hope that by including something unique on our cards, people might be more willing to tuck them aside and revisit them throughout the year.
So what do we do? Well, we include our favorite recipe from the year on the back of our card! Whether it’s our favorite cookies or the mushroom risotto we kept making in the lead-up to our wedding, we add the recipe to the back of our card so we can share a meal with our loved one’s even if they’re not sitting at our table.
Mark your calendar for early October to avoid the holiday rush and to take advantage of early-bird pricing.
You might not know this, but so many stationery shops and sites offer insane promotional incentives to encourage people to buy their holiday cards ahead of the rush. We’re talking 50% off and free shipping! You’ll not only save a pretty penny by ordering early, but you can slowly chip away at preparing your cards ahead of the busy holiday season.
By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, all you’ll have to do is drop them in the mailbox.
Pre-order your stamps.
Sadly with less mail being sent annually, the USPS continues to raise cost of stamps. We recommend bulk buying earlier in the year as prices always go up around holiday season. We take stamp selection very seriously in our household, carefully accounting for color scheme, theme and tone of our card.
Order directly through USPS.com to get the widest range of holiday stamp options. Not all USPS locations have all stamps in-stock. Place your stamp order at the same time you place your card order… and your stamps will likely still arrive earlier!
Invest in heirloom pieces that you can use each year, like wax seals and rubber stamps!
These are timeless details that are always appreciated and add a bit of holiday magic to every card. If you have one from your wedding invitations, even better — use it! Get more use out of your stamp and continue to seal your cards with a token of your love.
Wax seals are a fan-favorite over here, and we have acquired quite a collection, including a stamp of our wedding logo, some Santa / holiday options, and a classic H initial (gifted by Victoria’s dad, it was the first in her collection).

The Set-Up

Keep an updated address book.
Now you might think, “What is this?! The 90s?” But it’s seriously so helpful.
Update the list you’ve collected from your wedding invitations, and keep notes alongside each address including children / pet names, date of last update (and note throughout the year if they’ve moved), relevant life events you may want to acknowledge in your greetings or send a card for, like an anniversary. We prefer to keep a digital version in the form of an excel sheet because it’s searchable and easy to filter and format.
Note: The cost of cards and postage can quickly ramp up, so don’t hesitate to scrutinize this list. Prioritize and cull your address book as needed.
Pick a website and stick with it!
Realistically, this will be determined by two things: budget and design. Sites often provide bulk pricing (e.g., $50 for 25 cards) and the more you purchase, the lower the cost per card. Are you looking for a specific card size, photo layout, theme, paper type? All of these design options can narrow in your ideal stationery site.
In our Haus, we love using Paper Culture (Note: use this link for a $10 voucher off $50+). They’re eco-friendly and have an easy to use (and maintain) address book! Additionally, they offer free design services and have plenty of customizable cards featuring photos and graphics.

The Execution

Stock Up on Snacks. Put on some hot cocoa, grab your candy canes and slide some holiday cookies in the oven — they’ll be your post-activity reward!
Wrangle Friends. Do you have loved ones visiting for the holidays? Bribe them with some hot chocolate, a fun brunch in town and enlist them into helping you slide, seal and stamp those envelopes!
Set the Mood. Light the candles. Play the music. Do what feels right. Then get your mailing party on :)

Need help getting started? Here’s what we bought!

Are you ready to start planning your holiday cards? If you do, let us know how it goes!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.