In this day and age of texting and e-mail, the art of correspondence has been almost altogether lost. This makes me oh so very sad. I love love love correspondence. We have 3 storage drawers dedicated to cards - personalized for EWP, personalized for BabyWP, personalized for Mr. and Mrs. EWP, birthday, engagement, just because. You name it, we have it.
So it is with great anticipation that I await the holiday season, as the last vestige of correspondence left to the modern world. This is the time of year people forego the electronic and sit down and get the paper cards out and actually stamp and address an envelope. It's so practically vintage. And oh so divine.
And because it's now the only time of year people send cards to anyone, I have become a bit of a holiday card tyrant snob aficianado.
Which brings me to EWP's two golden rules of holiday card sending:
1) Always card stock, never photo paper. And by "always" card stock, I mean when picking papers. If you are a do it yourselfer who is sewing your cards with pieces of felt and organza or something, then more power to you. What I'm talking about are the photo cards I receive every year which look hot off the presses from Walmart. They are, in a word, depressing. Do your family picture justice and print it on card stock.
2) HAND ADDRESS, HAND ADDRESS, HAND ADDRESS. I swear the next mailing labeled envelope I receive will get the sender an express ticket off the EWP mailing list. You are not a business, your friends and family are not a mass mailing - don't treat them as such with a sad label mail merge. Take the time to add a personal touch and write your loved ones' addresses by hand. You can't possibly send out so many cards that you have to do a mail merge. I send out over 100 every year and each one is hand addressed. So remember, when it comes to holiday cards, thank you cards, and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, wedding invitations, please hand address. [Not hand addressing wedding invitations is the biggest faux pas in the book!]
And, as always, here are a few card options just for you.
Tiny Prints, $1.10-$2.59/card
Minted, $1.28-$2.88/card
Tiny Prints, $.99-$2.49/card
And, hey, I get that photo cards can be pricey - I'm not asking that you do a photo, just that the card be on card stock. There are plenty of cute bulk holiday cards available out there, with their own picture so you need not fret about adding one. [Added bonus for buying glittery ones, those are my favorites]
Paper Source, $12.50/10
Paper Source, $11.50/10
