When to send Christmas cards?

[billysmommy]

Our Christmas cards are arriving tomorrow and I'm going to get all the envelopes addressed. I was thinking about sticking them in the mail the weekend after Thanksgiving ~ would that be too early?

[WatchingThemGrow]

People were shocked when we did it then, and they thought we had our act together. It was unfortunate because they continued to think that until they saw us IRL and realized that wasn't the case. My MIL had led me to believe that ALL Christmas cards should be in the mail "over" T'giving.

I say send them. Make people happy first :)

[kijip]

My goal is to mail them the Friday after Thanksgiving this year. If I wait, history reveals that they end up being New Year's cards. Or Valentines. Or just unsent.

[BelleoftheBallFlagstaff]

That is when people start shopping and getting trees, so why not?;)

[MommyAllison]

That's my goal this year. We moved and need people to get our new address before they mail their cards!

[caheinz]

Our first card typically arrives the day after Thanksgiving. It's local, but still....

Ours usually go out later than that, but before Christmas, somehow.

[g-mama]

Even if I have them ready that early, I hold off and mail them around the second week in December. I don't know what it is, but I just don't want to be the early bird and I want the cards to go out when the season is in full swing.

[teedeedee]

I feel like such a slacker...I haven't even started thinking about a photo for the cards...much less gotten the cards ordered....:bowdown:

[citymama]

I feel like such a slacker...I haven't even started thinking about a photo for the cards...much less gotten the cards ordered....:bowdown:

Me too! I will probably start on our cards during TG week when I have a breather! We are the people whose cards arrive Dec 26...

[Corie]

My aunt always does that. She mails them out right after Thanksgiving. She
wants her card to be the first card received. :)

[klwa]

I USED to hold off to mail them until December 1, and they were still usually one of the first to arrive anywhere. Now, with the wild ones, I don't get our picture done until Thanksgiving weekend, so there's no way I can get them ready & shipped by early Dec anymore. *sigh*

[MoJo]

I think any time after Thanksgiving is great.

IME if you send them right after Thanksgiving or the 1st week in December, you get more in return. . . because there are disorganized people, like me, who want to send you a card but managed to lose your address.

Way to go for being ready! I actually have cards, but I haven't even scheduled my photo appointment, and I really am going to have a hard time tracking down addresses since all "desk" stuff has been moved a couple of times during the last year.

[ourbabygirl]

We got ours back from Target yesterday, and I put all the stamps and return address stickers on last night while watching t.v. Now I need to address them all and decide whether I'm going to just stick in each photo card as is, or write a little message. I forgot to put DD's age on the card- do you think I should?

I figured I'd send them out the first week in December, but if you think that right after Tgiving isn't too early, maybe I'll do that. I don't want to look like an eager beaver, though ;)!

[billysmommy]

I feel like such a slacker...I haven't even started thinking about a photo for the cards...much less gotten the cards ordered....:bowdown:

This is usually us. I'm always rushing to figure out which picture to use, then ordering them the first week or two of December and hoping they come in time. We had some great pics to use for the cards and then I got the email with a great deal. Ordered them last Wed evening, approved the proof Thursday evening and they shipped on Friday....guess they're not too busy yet...lol

We have a crazy busy December so I figure if I get them done and out, it's one less thing that I have to do later that month :)

[infomama]

Ours are going out right after Thanksgiving this year.

[Mikey0709]

Last year I was SO disorganized - waited for a picture - then rushed to Sams club to get them printed - and SAMS ran out of envelopes! It was a disaster - i called and went back 3 times and finally they refunded my money when they NEVER got them in time....

this year i'm doing them early - Costco has a $5 off coupon that starts today!

[karenj2]

I have mine ready to go at VistaPrint - I'm just waiting on DH's approval. He doesn't care about Christmas cards (his parents never sent them), so it's always a struggle to get his "thumbs up".

This year, with news of the baby, and our dog dying, he's torn about what picture to use.

[WitMom]

I'm impressed! You are all so on top of things. Mine won't be going out until mid-December (if then). I can't even claim to have organized chaos...it's all a disaster here, lol. I'm trying to figure out clothes, where we are having them done (or if we do-it-ourself) and on and on.

[doberbrat]

I sent mine just in time for Valentines day last year *blush*

Honestly, I'd be annoyed if I got them before Thanksgiving. I'm big on celebrating ONE holiday at a time. and Id' take it as a bit of a slap in the face at how unorganized I am.

[mominmarch]

We try to send them the week after Thanksgiving. We (and most of our friends also) tape them up on a door to look at them the whole season. First to arrive means guaranteed taping up. But those that arrive after Dec. 20th always get lost in the shuffle of the other stuff going on. I would never be offended to get ones earlier rather than later!

[lchang25000]

We won't get pics taken until Thanksgiving weekend, then we have to order the cards so I'll most likely send them out the 2nd week of Dec. That's when I usually send them out anyways.

[hellokitty]

Typically, mine go out sometime at the beginning of Dec. Well, last yr, I was newly pregnant and sooo sick. My hyperemesis was the worst with my last pregnancy, so instead of sending out Christmas photocards, I just sent an e-card I made on scrapblog. Of course, that meant that ppl who I don't have email addresses for didn't hear from me.

Well, this yr it's a different situation. Poor DS3. We never sent out his birth announcement. He was born in July and when it was Sept and we still hadn't sent out a birth announcement, DH said, "screw it, they'll be getting a Christmas card from us in a few months and they'll figure it out that we had another baby." So, I'm going to get ours printed, stuffed, labeled and stamped BEFORE Thanksgiving and be one of those annoying ppl whose card is the first to show up. I know that if I don't do it this way, it'll mean we don't get cards sent out again.

Oh and it was very interested last yr. That was the first yr I did not send out Christmas cards and I received significantly less cards from other ppl. It makes me wonder how many ppl just send cards, b/c they get a card, kwim? So, b/c we did not send out cards, there were some ppl who didn't bother to send us cards either, which I do admit, kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

[Ceepa]

I send ours the week after Thanksgiving. I like having it out of the way.

[traciann]

I always aim for the first of December. I just scheduled our picture session for cards for next friday, and then it takes 10 days to get them back so it should be right around then. Last year it was more towards the middle of december because I had a baby and had a christmas/birth announcement made.

[AnnieW625]

I try to get mine out by mid December at the latest. We are going to do something photo related I just haven't decided if I am going to make the cards and attach a photo to the front and or just have the photos printed using a service.

[MoJo]

Thanks to this thread, I just set my photo appointment for next week. I know where the cards are. . . . so if I can find the addresses, maybe I'll even be ahead of schedule myself! Thanks, everyone!

Addressing cards sounds much more pleasant than most of the other stuff I need to be doing. Unfortunately, that looking for addresses realistically means digging through boxes (because we boxed the desk stuff up to get it out of the nursery), and I'm not up for that right now. It might be easier to start google and anywho searching all my friends and creating a new list!

[hellokitty]

Thanks to this thread, I just set my photo appointment for next week. I know where the cards are. . . . so if I can find the addresses, maybe I'll even be ahead of schedule myself! Thanks, everyone!

Addressing cards sounds much more pleasant than most of the other stuff I need to be doing. Unfortunately, that looking for addresses realistically means digging through boxes (because we boxed the desk stuff up to get it out of the nursery), and I'm not up for that right now. It might be easier to start google and anywho searching all my friends and creating a new list!

Take the time to put all of the addresses on labels, it will make things so much easier in the yrs to come. We did it from the very beginning when we got married (I don't care if it's poor etiqutte to use labels instead of handwriting each invite), and all we need to do is alter the list a little bit each yr (delete or add ppl) and print and then you can mindlessly just stick labels and stamps on as you watch tv at night.

[MoJo]

Thanks, HelloKitty! I guess I'm trained because at work (where everyone IS already on a label) I still hand-address each of the hundreds of cards, and I've been doing that for eleven years.

Even if I just put the addresses on the computer, it would be a help! Then I could decide depending on the year whether it was a hand-addressing year or a label year. And I'd never have to look through boxes to find the addresses I only use once a year - nearly all my other contact with everyone is either in person or online.

Great idea!

[oneplustwo]

Go ahead and send them as planned! I always aim to do the same, but they almost inevitably go out later than I hope. I'm having the kids' pictures done this Saturday, so this year there's a good chance I might get the photocards out the weekend after Thanksgiving.

[Mirthful]

I always remember the first few cards we get the best! It might have something to do with the fact that they get pride of place on the fireplace mantle.

Despite this, though, I never get ours mailed out until a day or two of Xmas. It's only the fact I want the postmark to be before December 24th that finally gets me motivated to do them.

Besides, that's when I finally have time to do them because I can't order any more gifts if I want them to arrive before Xmas....