So how do you know when to mail your cards in order to receive them on time? let’s break it down into some holidays.
when to send christmas cards?
December 1 – December 10 (more or less)*
be careful not to mail them too soon. If you haven’t already feasted on Thanksgiving in 2022, we suggest you don’t send your Christmas cards through the mail.
again, remember to allow approximately 2 weeks for shipping time. Also consider that the post office doesn’t deliver on December 24 or 25 (postal workers have families too!). count the days from December 23; this gives you December 9 as your 2 week reservation.
It is not an exact science.
But if you want to make sure your cards arrive before Christmas, mail them around December 10th (the closer to the 1st, the better). they may be a few days early, but by the time December rolls around, we’re all in a permanent vacation state of mind anyway!
And if by any chance your Christmas cards arrive a few days after Christmas, know that your recipients will still feel the love and joy of your greeting. Many people enjoy receiving Christmas cards after the 25th because it keeps them in a merry mood (after all, the Christmas tree is still standing).
when to order christmas cards?
if you plan to write and address your holiday cards yourself, you’ll want to order your holiday cards* well in advance. Not only will you want to allow time to put them in the mail, but don’t forget to allow enough time to write your personal message, address, and seal all the envelopes. speaking of which, don’t forget to buy your usps stamps in advance too!
In short, if you write and send your Christmas cards yourself, make sure you do the following *before* December rolls around:
- order christmas cards and envelopes
- order usps stamps
- write your personal christmas message
- address and seal your envelopes
If you have all of this ready by December, you’ll be ready to mail your cards in time!
Whether your to-do list is quickly taking over your life or you just want to spend your free time on other holiday-style activities like baking cookies and proceeding to eat them all, postable (hey, that’s us!) address and mail them all to you. all you do is the fun part – choose and customize from a selection of beautiful cards designed by world-class artists! yes, you can also order a box of cards!
Who should you send Christmas cards to?
The question should really be which card to send to whom because, at the end of the day, most of the people in your life would be thrilled to receive a Christmas card from you. On the other hand, maybe you skip sending a Christmas message to your long-lost friend from high school.
The key to remember is that not everyone on your list should get *the same Christmas card. Your friends will love to see your children’s smiling faces, but they may well confuse your customers.
Pro Tip: You can choose and customize different card designs when you use Postable Holiday Cards and select recipients with ease.
some suggestions on people you should send a Christmas card to (certainly not a limited list):
- family
- friends (both those immediately close to you and those you see from time to time, but are still a part of your life)
- customers (see cards commercial Christmas postcards )
- employees
- co-workers
- neighbors
when to send christmas cards?
December 1 – December 15 (more or less)
Holiday cards, like holiday cards, have a similar dilemma: the post office has a seasonal problem. If you only want to receive your holiday cards before the end of December, try to get your cards in the mail before December 15th. this will give the post office about 2 weeks to get the cards out and delivered. The sooner you get them out, the less chance your cards will get lost at the post office.
Just like with Christmas cards, if they’re a little late, it’s okay. Most people will continue to receive a stream of Christmas cards in early January along with their New Year’s cards. At the very least, it’ll give them that little boost of holiday cheer they’ll already be craving.
when to send holiday business cards?
December 1 – December 15 (or later)
here’s the simple answer: just like your other holiday cards. Business Christmas cards tend to be mailed in large numbers and therefore represent a decent investment, so we recommend sending them as close to December 1 as possible to avoid losing them at the post office.
If you end up mailing them later, that’s fine. they may arrive later in December or early January, but your customers and employees will appreciate receiving them anyway.
Pro tip: Sending business holiday cards to clients vs. employees.
Given the differences in relationships between the one you have with your customers and the one you have with your employees, it makes sense that you treat cards a little differently. When sending business Christmas cards to your clients, you’ll want to use your professional office address. On the other hand, you’ll want to mail your company’s Christmas cards to your employees’ homes.
You can also consider mailing different designs to your customers instead of your employees to make the cards feel more personalized.
when to send new year cards?
December 1 – January 7
New Year’s cards are a bit unique in that the holiday they celebrate will last much longer than a single day. because of this, you have a much wider acceptable window. You can send your Happy New Year cards early during the holiday season or if you wait until the last minute, getting New Year cards during January still makes a lot of sense. As long as your recipients receive your New Year’s wishes before the end of January, it’s fair game!
This means you can mail your cards from the beginning of December until about the first week of January.
when to send thanksgiving cards?
November 7 – November 14
Thank you cards, while amazing and much loved by everyone, don’t usually cause the same flood of emails as the rest of the holidays. Which of course means good news for those who can wait until the last minute! the typical delivery time of 3-7 days still applies, so if you get wrapped up in life, it’s not the end of the world.
Remember — the post office will not be delivering the cards on Thanksgiving. This means when you’re calculating how far in advance (using the 3-7 days) use the Wednesday before Thanksgiving as your day 1. That means if you want to get your cards delivered by Thanksgiving — put them in the mail by November 16th. Also something to keep in mind — late Thanksgiving cards don’t have quite the same effect as late Christmas cards. People will still love getting a late Christmas card. However, once Thanksgiving has come and gone, people have moved on to more exciting things. So try to get those Thanksgiving cards in the mail on time. Earlier is definitely better in this case.
out-of-state or overseas card shipping time:
If you’re sending Christmas cards out of state, the timing recommendations above generally apply the same in all continental states.
However, if you’re mailing overseas, you’ll want special consideration. the time will vary and will largely depend on the postal service of the receiving country. As a general rule, international mail usually takes at least 14 days during non-holiday months.
how to send christmas cards on time?
Okay, we’ve told you when to send your Christmas cards in the mail, but now you’re wondering how to make it happen with everything else on your hands. we understand. to-do lists never end. so here are the steps to make this happen in 2022!
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put each step here on your calendar!
organize your Christmas card list.
write your holiday message.
address & seal the envelopes.
put them in the mail!
pro tip: you can skip steps 3, 4 & amp; 5 with postable.
put it on your calendar.
If you’re an avid calendar user, then you know the value of adding tasks. if it’s not on your schedule, it’s very possible it won’t happen… at least not on time.
organize your Christmas card list.
The first step is to get organized. whether you have a list from previous years or you are starting from scratch. Make a list of the people you’d like to send a card to (see the list we mentioned above for tips) and then fill in their actual mailing addresses.
You can use a spreadsheet to keep track of everything and send emails and text messages to collect the information. remember to check if someone has moved.
The easiest way to do this, without having to use Excel or send a million emails, is to use Postable’s free (yes, free) Holiday Address Book. This handy tool allows you to quickly collect postal addresses and keep them organized. If you’re already a proud owner of this handy and elegant tool, you can even use it to quickly update your recipients’ information.
write your holiday messages.
This should be the easiest step. write from the heart, but keep it short and sweet (this is not a novel). Writing heartfelt Christmas messages can be tough after the rough year we’ve all had, but try not to focus too much on the negative.
We’ve gone into more detail in another post about what to write on your Christmas card.
address & seal the envelopes.
have your usps stamps ready and your list organized nearby. we suggest eliminating this step all at once based on the number of cards you send or splitting it up over a few days. just remember to add this to your calendar!
postable can do this step for you.
once you add your personal touches to your chosen design, postable will address, stamp and mail your holiday cards for you.
put them in the mail!
that’s it. By planning these steps on your calendar ahead of time, you’ll be able to get your cards in the mail on time.
or use postable to easily do all of these steps in minutes.
Phew. That’s a lot of information to digest all at once. Here’s a quick summary of *general rules:
when to send summary:
- Christmas cards — December 1 – December 10
- Christmas cards — December 1 – December 15
- Christmas business cards — December 1 – 15 December
- New Years Cards — December 1 – January 7 *more flexible*
- Thanksgiving Cards — November 7 – November 14