Why Custom Christmas Cards are More Personal than a Holiday Newsletter

Which would you prefer to receive…a custom Christmas card or the increasingly-popular holiday newsletter? Some say custom Christmas cards, with an imprinted holiday message and the name of the sender on the inside, are impersonal. I disagree. I think a customized imprint actually reflects the care and thought that you put into choosing your holiday card. When I have ordered such holiday cards, I always take the time to address them to each recipient and sign each individually…this is a simple way of making your holiday correspondence more personal.

Personalized holiday cards are distinctive and beautiful, often with embossed designs with shiny foil details. In the past, I have been told by friends and family that my cards are the prettiest…so pretty that they kept and stored my card with their other holiday décor instead of just discarding it like the other holiday cards they received.

I find the holiday newsletter (or the “dreaded holiday newsletter,” as I often refer to it) to be quite impersonal. What is so thoughtful about writing down all the events that have occurred in your life in the past year, printing it on some cheap paper (often with faded holiday designs), and photocopying it 50 or 60 times to send it to your nearest and dearest? If they were truly “near and dear,” they most likely already know about all the things you wrote about, especially in the age of email communication. If they do not know any of it, then perhaps they are not so near and dear after all and sending them such a newsletter will just reinforce that fact.

6 thoughts on “Why Custom Christmas Cards are More Personal than a Holiday Newsletter”

  1. This is so funny. I have often thought the same thing when reading holiday newsletters, though thankfully, not too many people in my family or circle of friends send them…thank God! I’m sure some family newsletters are very nice and I actually have seen some that are quite funny, but usually I just feel like it is that person’s way of saying “look at us, aren’t we great?” And you are so right…there is no reason to send a newsletter to your close family and friends…they already know everything about you! And the person who doesn’t know everything that happened to your family over the year…there is a reason! I say just send them a Christmas card, I’m sure they would prefer it.

  2. Right on Carmella. The holiday newsletter is dreaded. I love receiving Christmas cards, especially those with up-to-date pictures of friends near and far but I also dislike the holiday newsletter. I agree a photocopy of the events of a person’s year is just not personal.

  3. Yes, I would prefer a custom card over a newsletter mainly because of the reputation of the newsletter. But to be honest with you I have never, ever in my 45 years received a newsletter. I know people who have received them (and complained about them), I am aware that newletters are laughed at, joked about – there was a great Everyone loves Raymond episode about a newsletter – and have even been the victim of bonfires and the likes but what I wouldn’t give to just once receive a newsletter. But perhaps I am better off with the custom cards. Who really wants to hear someone gloat about their perfect family and their daily activities.

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