I don’t know about you, but when I think about the holidays, the first thing that comes to mind is WINTER, it’s COLD! (Those that know me well they know that is a true statement). What I think about next are thousands of memories of me as a child waiting for Santa, making baked treats with my mom and traveling to see family.
Then again, maybe that’s just me… Well, whatever memories come to you when you think about the holiday season one thing’s for sure, you still have parties and new memories to create with your loved ones.
There are a lot of extra things to do during the holidays so it’s always best to start a little early. How early that is depends on what you have planned during the season. Do you have an annual family or company parties that you are hosting? If so it’s not just about shopping for your family and preparing for your traditional holiday dinner but you have extra parties to plan! You came to the right web page!
WELCOME TO THE ULTIMATE HOLIDAY INVITATION AND GREETING CARD GUIDE
With so much extra work during the holidays I decided to create a one-stop-spot to help with you in some of your holiday planning. I will cover the time needed for printing your holiday cards as well as provide you with some ideas and point you to some fantastic options for your invitations and greeting cards. (At the end I will have a couple of extra tips for those holiday party gifts!)
FIRST LET’S TALK ABOUT TIMING!
Timing is everything when it comes to printing your cards and invitations, the more time the better, especially when it comes to the holidays. It is not only the busiest mail season but it’s also WINTER! Winter causes delays with shipping as well as problems with packages. Always give yourself a little bit of extra time just in case you have to wait longer than you expected.
First check with the printer you are going to use for printing you holiday cards and invitations to see how long their production time is. Printers vary in timing, some are same day some are a week. Most of your higher quality printed invitations are going to be about a week unless you pay extra for rush fees. The print time for my prints is 2-4 business days upon artwork approval, I do have rush options available if needed.
Next find out about your shipping time for your printed holiday cards. Most of the time when you go to check-out with somewhere online it will tell you your shipping time, if it doesn't go to the contact page and look to see where the company is located. UPS, USPS and Fedex have transit maps available for you to check the shipping time. If you are printing with Metro-events most of my shipping is within 2 business days within the US.
Will have a designer create a custom party or greeting card for you? If you are planning on having a custom card made I recommend giving the designer and the process at least 2 weeks. Revisions are always the biggest delays when it comes to creating custom work so you will want that extra time for all those little changes.
If you plan on sending out a holiday or Christmas greeting cards with photos, give yourself time to get the photos together that you might want on it. I recommend picking out 5-6 photos before you even start looking for your greeting card. You may end up choosing a design that only has one picture but it’s always good to have a nice selection ready just in case.
CHRISTMAS AND HOLIDAY GREETING CARDS
Do you like to send out holiday greeting cards with photos of you and your family? Or do you prefer a greeting with text or images? Honestly, it doesn’t matter as much as the giving. I have to admit I am not always consistent about sending out my greeting cards. I do my best but I have found cards that I swore I sent out and it was the middle of July when I found them. That being said I love receiving greeting cards, sad I don’t receive them as much anymore, (maybe because I don’t always send them). I love seeing my friends children growing up and getting the well wishes from family. So send out some greeting cards, it really doesn’t take much and the little things like that can really mean everything when the pressures of the holidays are at their peak!
When should your holiday greeting cards be ordered? The short answer, 1-3 weeks before Thanksgiving. This gives you enough time to get them back to you so you can send them out in time. So when do you need to send your greeting cards? Within the first week of December, you don’t want to send them too early or too late!
So what do you choose? Choose something that fits your style, it’s Christmas! There are so many options available for you that you may get overwhelmed so before you start looking for that perfect greeting card think about what you are wanting first then look for that. It’s easy to get distracted by all of the options so if you keep in mind what you want it will help the process simplify for you. That being said I am going to shamelessly show you some of my awesome holiday cards, hopefully these will help you choose! (wink, wink)
Wonderful Holiday Greeting, Photo Card. Festive photo card with a clean and simple design accented with holiday berries and a bow on the back. This design is created with 2 custom photos so you can send your best family photos out to those you love during for the holidays.
Rustic, woodland Christmas holiday card if you’re an outdoorsy person it might be a great way to do a recap of your marvelous year to your loved ones. Rustic yet delicate and very elegant with 3 photo spots so you can add your family pictures.
Holiday Joy, Typography Photo card. Vintage style typography that reads "Joy" with festive red and white color-blocking with a red and white candy swirl on the back. Add your own custom text and photo for a special touch to all of your holiday greetings.
HOLIDAY AND CHRISTMAS INVITATIONS
Holiday parties are so fun! What kind of holiday party are you having? We tend to do different things for different types of parties. When you are with your friends, fun things can happen like holiday theme parties and drinking games! If you have a company event you might have to be a little more tame (although I have known some pretty crazy party executives!). Either way I have created a number of different designs that will be suitable no matter what type of party you are having.
What about the timing? You should order your holiday invitations about 2 weeks before you want to send them out. Since it’s the holidays other people are having parties as well so make sure you send your invitations out in enough time for your guests to make time in their schedules to attend. If you are a little pressed for time you can always send out an invite digitally using an online invitations service or send your holiday party invitation using your email. I have designed a number of different holiday party invitations that you can use to send digitally. My Metro-events shop on Etsy has digital files that are editable for your convenience.
For company and corporate events these invitations are perfect! I created both red and blue both holiday colors although if this is for a company it’s good to be respectful to those that do not celebrate Christmas so blue is a fantastic choice.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention our designs for the ugly sweater party holiday invitation that is a must event for the season, right? Created with traditional Christmas red with white and green details. This invitation will give a fun touch to your party and a warm bidding to your loved ones to spend a jolly good time with you!
How about a holiday theme party? Naughty or nice parties are always fun for adults, you can tell your guests to dress accordingly! This naughty or nice invitation design that could be perfect if you’re thinking of a soireé of that kind! It is designed with white and black with accentuating details in red and yellow. It’s classy, fun and simple.
WHAT ABOUT THE HOLIDAY PARTY GIFT IDEAS?
I mentioned in the beginning that had an extra gift idea bonus for you, here it is. There are many ideas for holiday party gifts but there are things you also need to keep in mind. People have Secret Santa, gift exchanges and standard gift giving during this time of year. Sometimes you don’t know who the gift is going to so you have purchase something that is unisex. At Metro-events on zazzle I have created collections just for this.
First I have my cozy holiday gift collection. This collection contains customized holiday gift sets with coordinating designs. The sets include: Hot Chocolate mix, festive coffee mugs, fudge brownies or sugar cookies and customized coasters. All you need to do is get a little gift bag or basket to put the coordinating gifts in and you have an awesome, fun and unisex holiday gift to use for your gift exchange or Secret Santa gift!
The next option comes is perfect for those office holiday parties. This is the stationary kit collection, This collection features a customized notebook, pen, pencil case and Post-it notes. I have included some fun and festive holiday style designs as well as your everyday designs so you can choose what you prefer to give.
The Third option is a great option for men, this is the beer gift collection. This collection features a beautiful customized beer mug, a coordinating can cooler, beer labels and a bottle opener. I have some holiday and Christmas designs as well funny designs too for those with a good sense of humor! The beer labels can be fun! One year for Christmas I made beer labels for my brother-in-law and put them on the beer bottles of a 12 pack of beer, each label said something different so it was a lot of fun watching him pull each beer out to see what they said. He loved it and it also gave the rest of us something to talk and laugh about.
Finally I have my wine gift collection, this one is my personal favorite. It features
And of course, I have holiday designs as well as everyday designs available. The kits contain coordinating wine bags, wine bottle labels, wine stoppers and wine glass charms. This is an awesome gift for those wine lovers out there. I got this for my grandma one year and she loved the extra touch of customization that was on her gift.
So, don’t forget about me during your holiday season! I'm here to help when it comes to your stationery, gift and party supply needs through my Metro-events party shops on Zazzle and Etsy. I am year for you year round and especially around the holidays, my mission is to help you organize your special events so you can enjoy the time you have with the ones you love!
For more invitations, party ideas and party supplies join in and follow on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram
This post may contain affiliate links and sponsored content.