How to Simplify Personalized Christmas Cards This Year

I’ve learned how to simplify buying personalized Christmas cards and business holiday cards and I’m sharing all the tips how to do it and how to make your cards stand out and be meaningful.

One of the things that always feels a little stressful during the holidays is sending out personalized Christmas cards. This is a source of stress during the holiday season whether I’m sending out business holiday cards or personalized holiday cards to my family. 

Now I know the thought process. If it’s stressful, just don’t do it. But here’s the thing, if you have extended friends and family, they want to see your Christmas cards. If you have a business you want your customers to see your business holiday cards. 

The holidays are always a time of rushing around with little slowing down to enjoy the season. But every time I get a card, it brings joy. 

This post is sponsored by Basic Invite. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make it possible for Wellness Trickle to provide free content.

How to simplify buying Christmas cards

If you’ve ever played in Photoshop (or tried), and you’re not a design expert, you know what I mean, when I say designing your own Christmas cards is not easy. 

You can simplify the whole process by by ordering custom Christmas cards from Basic Invite. 

Check out their personalized Christmas cards of 2023 to see how beautiful they are.

I used to really dislike the whole personalized Christmas card process. Needing to pick outfits for my whole family, find a spot to take photos, find a professional photographer I can afford and so on.

BUT, you don’t have to do any of that. Even sending a Christmas card with cell phone picture collage, or no pictures at all does the trick. 

Finding a company to simplify the process is the key. Basic invite has the process down. Their cards are really high quality, super simple to design and they offer so many customization options. 

Why should you send personalized Christmas cards?

In a world filled with digital communication, receiving a personalized Christmas card in the mail is a special experience. Especially for those of us with older relatives, who may not be 100% in the digital age yet. I’m technically a millennial, and I still LOVE getting cards every year. 

Personalized Christmas cards have a way of capturing Christmas season and making the recipient feel special.

It’s also a wonderful way to strengthen and nurture relationships. It’s an opportunity to reconnect with old friends, distant relatives, or past clients, reminding them that they hold a special place in your heart. By taking the time to send a personalized card, you’re offering a connection and showing that you care, even from a distance.

The benefits of ordering from Basic Invite

I can’t believe I only discovered Basic Invite this year. It’s made my holiday card purchasing so simple. Here’s why you’ll love them. 

1. They include peel and seal envelopes for easy stuffing and no licking! 
2. They’ll even print addresses and your return address on the card envelopes so you aren’t fighting with your printer and lining up where everything is going to print.
3. They ship fast! You will receive your order within five business days. 
4. They can mail your cards for you! If you don’t want to even deal with stamps, they offer a Mailing Service as an add on. 
5. You can make most fonts have gold foil accents – you know that shiny metallic font? That’s the gold foil and it’s so fun!
6. You can order samples with free shipping.

How I used the samples

I ordered samples for a few different things this holiday season.

It was hard to decide between two of the photo card options, so I wanted to see them both in real life to determine which one I want to send. I have to say it really helps. I knew right away I liked the “Merry and Bright” card just a little bit more. 

Because I like to be a little extra, I’m ordering nice paper invites for Thanksgiving dinner. It’s the first year since my dad died that I’ll be hosting Thanksgiving at my house. So I ordered Thanksgiving invites. They have a whole page of Thanksgiving invites to choose from.  

I also decided I would like to send business holiday cards this year. I ordered samples beforehand to get a feel for the ones I loved most. 

How to choose the perfect personalized Christmas card design

First, decide if you want to send photo Christmas cards or no photo personalized Christmas cards. If you want to send a photo, decide what you’re going to send.

Next, choose a design that resonates with you. Basic Invite has so many designs to choose from.

Did you miss Christmas but still want to send out custom holiday cards? Send out New Year’s cards! I’ve done this a couple years in the past. It’s still part of the festive season and a great way to wish your recipients well. 

Photo Christmas card ideas for easy pictures

Holiday photo cards are my favorite because they leave a lasting impression. My family is huge and I never post to social media, so I like to share what my family’s been up to in my holiday cards. 

Here are my favorite ways to incorporate pictures into those Christmas photo cards. 

1. Take a simple photo in front of your Christmas tree – You can place the whole family there, just you and/or your pets. Smart cell phones take great photos and most have a timer. 
2. Choose your favorite photos from the last year – Honestly, this is what I do most years. Since it’s also rare all my family members are in one photo together (or looking at the camera at the same time-note my holiday card pictures), I just gather my favorite photos of all of us and add them into a multi photo design. 
3. Use your family photo – If you take family photos regularly, use them in your Christmas card designs! It doesn’t matter if you took it 6 months ago. If you had a newborn 6 months ago and they’re now 6 months old, you can select a design with multi photos and add an update. This past year was extremely difficult for my family, so I used a family photo this year that we took the year before since we hadn’t shared it yet. My kids are a little small, but it works. 

No photo personalized Christmas Card ideas

You don’t have to include a photo on your custom cards. Including a personalized message with your holiday greetings, will help your card still feel like a personalized card.

Don’t dwell on the personalized messages so much. As long as you don’t only say something like “warm regards,” you’re okay. My go to message used to be “Merry Everything and Happy Always.” And I would include that on my card saying Merry Christmas. It just embodied everything I stand for. Even saying something like “Merry Christmas from the Smith Family” is great. 

If you want to take an extra special step, Take a few minutes to write out a little bit of what you and your family have been up to in the past year. I love receiving cards with stories on the back! 

Basic Invite makes this really easy. During the checkout process, once you have designed the front of your card, you just select the option to add text to the back. 

Custom business holiday greeting cards

Since I’ve built many relationships this year, something new I’m doing is sending out business holiday cards. I’ve done this in the past for various employers and wish I had Basic Invite’s services then. 

Sending business Christmas cards is the perfect way to send a little holiday cheer, showing your clients you care for them and reminding them of you and your services. 

When you send a business holiday card, you want to send something professional. A charming personalized greeting card from Basic Invite will be professional and personalized and it’s an affordable way to send bulk holiday cards. 

You can add a little bit of your marketing messages to the card to remind your clients who you are. But I love that you can add a custom message to the back of the card. It’s a great time to tell them about the great things you’re doing and what you have planned in the next year.

You can choose classic or modern designs and each one will be unique so you can send the perfect card. 

What to include on your corporate holiday cards

To send the perfect holiday greeting card that’s going to actually spread good cheer, you want to include your personal touch. Of course you should include your company name, warm wishes and maybe even your company logo. 

But what will really elevate your company holiday cards will be a personal message to let your current customers and business associates know what you’ve got going on.

If you can take a few minutes to write something meaningful, it will not only foster those business relationships, it can really help spread joy. Especially if you tell them about the impact you’re making. 

Corporate Christmas cards don’t have to be boring and lifeless.

This time of year, we receive a ton of holiday cards. Make yours special by adding fun company photos to the front of the card and a nice message on the back. Or try sending out Thanksgiving cards.

If you plan early enough, you can get your holiday cards out in time for Thanksgiving and be one of the first Christmas cards they receive. 

Using Basic Invite’s Customizing features

I love Basic Invite’s customizing features! When you select a card, if you don’t want to change anything, the cards are all already beautiful the way they are.

They have a great design team. But if you want to add a little more of your own touch, there are some cool additions and changes you can make. The personalization is really intuitive and easy to use. 

As you make the changes in the store, you see a virtual representation of the card with every change. So when you write your message, or change the shape, each change shows up in a live view of the card so you can easily see what it looks like. 

Here are some changes I took advantage of:

• Change the shape of the card – You can have a fun curvy design on your card instead of the square or rectangular shape. I did this on my Thanksgiving invitations and I loved it. It added a nice fancier touch. 
• Change the design colors colors – For example, if you are looking at a holiday card with a green Christmas tree that you want to change to a different color, you can easily click and change. I played with this for awhile. I was a little skeptical that I would be led astray with all the various color options. But every color I chose worked really well. 
• Move the location of the design text – If you’d prefer the location of text to be somewhere else on the card, you can move it! The design feature has lines that appear to show your text is centered. 
• Change the text wording – This is where adding a personal message is super easy to do. You can change the words and colors of the fonts. 
• Change the paper types – You can chose the standard matte paper or upgrade to a double thick matte paper, a lux velvet, a smooth coat or even a shimmer paper. 
• Add raised foil – Most cards have the option to add raised foil. This really enhances the card and makes it feel extra special. The foil comes in Gold, Rose Gold, or Silver foil. 
• Have an expert review your design for you – Basic Invite offers an add on service to have a team member review your card for you to make sure everything is correct before sending your cards. If you make a lot of changes, this is a great option to ensure you don’t end up with something off center. 
• Customize the back of your card – You can add a color, a design or personal story to the back of your card, which I think is the best part. I have an aunt and uncle who send out a little update every year on their card that just tells a little bit about what they’ve been up to. It’s always the best Christmas card I get because of that message. 

As I previously noted, you can order a sample of your card so you know you love it before ordering the whole set. 

Final thoughts

Whether you’re looking for custom business holiday cards, personalized photo holiday cards, or just looking to find well designed personalized Christmas cards to send to friends and family, I highly recommend checking out Basic Invite. 

Their cards are beautiful, easy to customize and will arrive in five business days or less. Take the stress out of personalized Christmas cards and let a professional help. 

Take Action

Since we’re all busy buying gifts, cooking and planning the holidays, instead of skipping meaningful holiday cards, simplify the process.

So now there’s time to make some delicious vegan chocolate chip cookies, play some Christmas music and order your Christmas cards.

You can find personalized Christmas cards for 2023 and business holiday cards at Basic Invite. They also sell beautiful invites and cards for so many occasions.