HELP! Baby Announcements!

[tnrnchick74]

I'm trying to figure out which baby announcement to order!

I've got it narrowed down to the top 6 picks! I had 10 I loved but got my family to help narrow it down!

All are about the same price, and we don't need a ton - 50 or so...so limiting by price isn't an option either!

I JUST CAN'T DECIDE!!!!

Option # 1: "Simple Blue Dots" from www.babyshere.com
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y290/rnchick74/simplebluedots-1.jpg

Option #2: "Blue and Green Band" from www.invitingsmiles.com
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y290/rnchick74/Blueandgreenbandwithbrownbig2.gif

Option #3: "Blue and Brown" from www.birthannouncementsgalore.com
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y290/rnchick74/blueandbrown-1.jpg

Option #4: "Chocolate Cradle" from www.tinyprints.com
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y290/rnchick74/chocolatecradle.jpg

Option #5: "Blue Monogram Ribbon" from www.tinyprints.com
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y290/rnchick74/bluemonogramribbon.jpg

Option #6: "Blue color Blocks" from www.tinyprints.com
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y290/rnchick74/bluecolorblocks.jpg

[cmonbaby]

Oh, I can see how you are having a hard time deciding.. they are all so sweet. My favorite is #4. Love how simple and classic it looks. Good luck deciding! I'm on a similar hunt for DD's announcements.

Are you willing to share where these come from?

[tnrnchick74]

Oh, I can see how you are having a hard time deciding.. they are all so sweet. My favorite is #4. Love how simple and classic it looks. Good luck deciding! I'm on a similar hunt for DD's announcements.

Are you willing to share where these come from?

they are from different places online - send me a PM or email & I will send you the links...

No, I'm not associated with any of the companies & get no compensation from sharing the links :ROTFLMAO:

[KBecks]

I like 1 and 4. I think those samples also have the nicest photos which may be swaying me. I'd also like to know where they are from.

[tnrnchick74]

ok, if the mods don't have any problems with the "advertising" I will go back and list the companies' websites that they are from...

[MontrealMum]

I like #4 the best, but they are all very nice and I think you'd do well with any one of them. I may be biased though, we went with a blue/brown scheme too when we did our announcements.

[caleymama]

I like #1 and #5 the best. They're all very nice, though.
IMHO, #2 seems too busy and #4 reminds me of a wedding invitation.

[KrisM]

I like #4. They are all nice, but I think some distract a bit from the photo and I want the photo to stand out.

[tnrnchick74]

IMHO, #2 seems too busy and #4 reminds me of a wedding invitation.
funny because I told my boyfriend that I thought #4 looked like a wedding invite as well! That's his fave!! :ROTFLMAO:

ETA - #5 is my fave...today. But that could change!

[caleymama]

funny because I told my boyfriend that I thought #4 looked like a wedding invite as well! That's his fave!! :ROTFLMAO:

ETA - #5 is my fave...today. But that could change!

LOL - my sister is getting married this fall so I have wedding stuff on the brain but that was my immediate thought about #4.
It was a tough choice between #1 and #5, but I ended up voting for #5. Also, I just asked DH as he was walking by and his pick was also for #5 (I didn't tell him which I liked before he chose!).

[tylersmama]

Looks like I'm the only one, but I like #6 the best. My second choice would probably be #1.

I agree that #4 looks like a wedding invitation.

[jerigirl]

All of them are very cute. I like either #1 or #6. I will say, if you go for #2 be sure the ribbons come already done for you. I chose a design similar to that one for ds's announcement from a DIY set from Target (we printed and assembled) and inserting the ribbon was a PITA!!! I could never get them to look right and had to have DH and my sister help with that. Also the ribbons made the envelopes lumpy and wrinkly before they even went thru the mail.

jeri

[ahrimie]

how soon after the birth are you supposed to send these out? 1-3 months??

[tnrnchick74]

All of them are very cute. I like either #1 or #6. I will say, if you go for #2 be sure the ribbons come already done for you. I chose a design similar to that one for ds's announcement from a DIY set from Target (we printed and assembled) and inserting the ribbon was a PITA!!! I could never get them to look right and had to have DH and my sister help with that. Also the ribbons made the envelopes lumpy and wrinkly before they even went thru the mail.

jeri

GOOD POINT!!!

[tnrnchick74]

how soon after the birth are you supposed to send these out? 1-3 months??

I'm not sure the complete etiquette. We've kept this pregnancy kinda quiet from long-distance friends/not close relatives for lots of reasons, so we plan on getting some good pics ASAP and having them all preordered.

Most places will send the envelopes ahead of time - I will have them addressed and ready to go (that's the PLAN anyways), then send the birth info to the company to finish my announcement order. Most turn around times are less than a week (supposedly) and as soon as I get them, put them in the envelop and have someone send them out..

So I'm hoping to have them in the mail less than 2 weeks after the birth. It might be a good project for certain friends/family to help with when I first come home from the hospital!

[tnrnchick74]

Anyone else have any comments? This morning I still like the blue monogrammed ribbon announcement - that's 2 days in a row...maybe we have a winner??

[August Mom]

My least favorite is #1 - I find myself looking at the dots instead of the pic. I like #2, but the ribbon seems extraordinarily large.

One thing to think about is the orientation of the photos. Can these designs work with a photo of either landscape or portrait orientation? If you are restricted by the photo orientation, you may not want to order until after you have the pic you want to use or else make sure you think about how to take the pics based upon your announcement.

FWIW, I found that most of my newborn pics were landscape. I didn't tend to do portrait orientation regularly until DD was sitting. Generally, the baby is laying down and I like side shots. The portrait oriented newborn shots tend to be over the top, while baby is on his/her back and aren't as becoming to the baby as the on the side landscape shots IME.

Good luck choosing.

[tnrnchick74]

Boyfriend is a semi-pro photographer and will make sure to get shots of both orientations. But yes, the companies that I am working with can alter the orientation and crop the photos to fit better. But good thought!

[dotgirl]

I was really really torn between #2 and #4. In the end I picked 2 just because I love brown and blue together. But #4 is also so very sweet.

Tough choice!

[tnrnchick74]

Well, I ended up ordering samples of my 3 favorite announcements AND I'M GLAD I DID!!! The colors that are in real life are sometimes a LOT different than the colors on the computer screen!!!

I ended up deciding on #5:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y290/rnchick74/bluemonogramribbon.jpg

It looked clean, fresh, and very boy! The 2nd favorite of the "chocolate cradle" looked muddy and the brown wasn't a deep chocolate - it had a lot of green undertones. It also didn't just scream BOY!

So we have a winner!!! Thanks for all the help! I will write a review of the company I chose (www.tinyprints.com) after we do the ordering process and receive the announcements. We are planning on pre-ordering & receiving envelopes ahead of time. Their prices are reasonable, and they even sent me a 10% off coupon with my sample order!

[beansprout13]

We have ordered all of our holiday cards from tinyprints.com and I've been really happy with them.

[tnrnchick74]

We have ordered all of our holiday cards from tinyprints.com and I've been really happy with them.

That's great to hear! So far their customer service has been great. I'm not ordering tons of announcements, but I still want good customer service and nice looking printing for reasonable $$!!

[caleymama]

Great choice :)
I love it!