As January nears its end, the holidays are becoming a distant memory. However, I want to share with one of our family’s January traditions: our New Year’s card!

I love sending and receiving holiday cards! They are like a cheerful little holiday gift that doubles as decór. It’s a treat to hear from and reach out to loved ones, some of whom I might not have a chance to see over the holidays. I’m also touched when my wedding and portrait clients from the year include me on their holiday card list, so I can see how they are using their photographs in print. Each year, many of my clients are newlyweds or new parents, so they are sending their first official holiday card ever.

James and I sent our own first holiday card the year we became parents. However, from the get-go, I knew it would be a challenge to get our cards in the mail in time for delivery by Christmas. There is so much to get done in December, and I strive to give myself grace to enjoy the season instead of feeling like I have to do it all. Plus, fall is the busiest season for wedding and portrait photographers, and we have deadlines (sometimes self-imposed) throughout December to make sure our clients have their photographs in time for the holidays. It’s enough of a “thing” that this mid-December meme made me laugh-cry this year…

So, how do I send holiday cards without piling on the December stress? I send a New Year’s card! We take our family portraits sometime during the year, and then I design and order the cards when I have some down-time over the holiday. We include an update on our family and an optimistic message about the year ahead. I mail the cards in early January, and I find that our loved one’s enjoy our refreshing spin on the holiday card tradition.

This year, we ordered our cards from Basic Invite. They have sturdy matte cardstock, cute designs, the option to customize designs with unlimited colors (I chose festive gold foil!), and I especially loved the back printing layout for our family update. Here are the proofs that I created in their easy-to-use online editing software:

And here is the finished product:

Basic Invite has an address-capturing service, so after I uploaded my spreadsheet of contacts, they addressed, stamped, and mailed most of the cards for me. However, I like the option to still address or hand deliver some of the cards myself, and I also ordered a custom notecard to include a personalized note to my wedding clients for the year ahead!

Basic Invite is also a great option for wedding invitations, printed place cards names, and programs for weddings. They are one of the few websites that allows couples to order a printed sample of their actual invitation before they place their final order, so couples can ensure the invitation quality and design will meet their exact preferences.

By the way, thanks to Photos by Sarah Beth for creating our 2022 family portraits!:

Happy 2023! May this be your best year yet!