How to Get Fabulous Christmas Cards Without Going Crazy

I love everything about sending Christmas cards. It’s something I’ve enjoyed since my husband and I were first married. Every year, we’d plan a custom photo card and up until recently, our dog Brownie has graced the front of our cards (he was overlooked last year with the birth of our son, and this year, you can find him on the back of our cards…poor guy, but that’s how it goes). Anyway, I love coming up with the idea for the design and photos, all the way down to the details of the envelopes and stamps.

Mind you, I skimp on other holiday joys like baking cookies, but Christmas cards are kind of my thing. And there is a lot of work involved from beginning to end. And if you’ve ever created your own cards, I think you know what I’m talking about. I’ve seen the wearied faces of parents at the photo kiosk in Target trying to select images off of their thumb drive with those painfully slow Kodak machines. And even though there are lots of options with custom cards available online these days, it’s tough to beat having fun family portraits by a pro! So this year, I offered a set of 25 custom cards with my holiday mini sessions to make it easier for everyone to have fabulous Christmas cards with stunning photos! And I’d love to share Amanda and Chris’ card because I really love how they styled their wardrobe for this holiday mini session.

Aren’t they cute with their fun winter wear (and Chris’ hunting cap and jacket)? It’s the details like this that personalize a session. And what better attire for a photo session amidst fresh cut Christmas trees at Reilly’s Summer Seat Farm? We also used the greenhouse there for part of the session because it was a great place to warm up and it was brimming with poinsettias.

So just by booking a mini session, planning their attire, and coming out for a 30-minute photo shoot, Amanda and Chris made their Christmas cards to do list a breeze. After their session, they selected their three favorite images and the card design was emailed for their approval the next day and delivered the following week. And they had an online gallery of images to order prints from as Christmas gifts for their family! Check and check!

And I guess I’ll share our cards too for some variety since we didn’t want to take our son out in the cold with a cold. I set up a backdrop and some lights in our family room and lowered my expectations because it’s always tricky photographing your own family. But I was thrilled to find that Brennan actually enjoyed it (for the most part)! We spent maybe 10 minutes in front of the camera. Sweet!

And I think I’ll also offer on-location sessions like this next year so clients with young kids have the option of checking the session off of their list without having to leave the comfort of their home. If you’d like to be kept in the loop about opportunities like this holiday mini session and custom cards, please let me know so I can add you to our email list.