Design #683CX, Fireside Greetings Merry Christmas Card, is an understated Merry Christmas cards design. It is done on cream colored stock with the appearance of water colors. The fireplace mantle is topped with lit candles and a pine garland with small holly berries. The front of the fireplace is donned with well placed red and green stockings waiting to be filled with goodies and a pine wreath with a large red bow. The fire is glowing inside the fireplace giving off a feeling of holiday warmth. Each design element is further outlined in gold foil, which makes them stand out nicely. Fireplaces are the center of the living room, or any room for that matter, and as such they draw families around. Can’t you just picture a lit fireplace with the family all around opening their presents on Christmas morning? Now there is a perfect holiday picture.

Design #683CX - Fireside Greetings
Merry Christmas Card

Design #517CW, Frosted Pinecones Merry Christmas Card, is a very bold design done on white shiny paper stock. The image looks so real that it appears more like a photograph than a painting. The design features a close up shot of a pine tree accompanied by a red ball ornament and tufts of snow.

Design #517CW - Frosted Pinecones
Merry Christmas Card

I really love this Christmas card. You can’t look at it without thinking of the holidays. When looking at this design, it reminds me of holiday trips my family use to take to pick out our Christmas tree. My brother and I would run through the pine tree farm looking for just the right one. When we found it my father would take a shovel and dig out the tree. It was usually covered in snow and was still bearing its beautiful pine cones. The scent of pine would waft through the rooms making the house smell wonderful. After the holidays, we would plant our tree somewhere in the yard.

Over the last few years, I have noticed a growing trend amongst Christmas cards companies. For quite a long time, everything seemed to be very neutral. Nothing was used that would imply a specific holiday. It was all very PC…but that seems to be changing.

Design #147CX - A Peppermint Christmas Card

I recently went through The Gallery Collection catalog looking for Merry Christmas cards and found quite a large selection of cards that actually wish people a “Merry Christmas.” One of the designs I particularly liked is design #147CX, A Peppermint Christmas Card. Not only does it have a very beautiful Christmas tree, but it’s all decorated with striped peppermint candies and topped off with two candy canes crisscrossed with a bow. Another design that really appealed to me is design #131CX, Glistening Evergreen Branches Christmas Card. This is a very classic design with its sparkly pine tree branches accompanied by the sentiment “Merry Christmas” scrolled beneath.

Design #131CX - Glistening Evergreen Branches Christmas Card

I was very impressed by all the designs that were featured in this catalog, but was really happy about the increase in designs featuring “Merry Christmas” sentiments. Not only were the designs beautiful, but the greeting selection was great. I know that companies try to be very sensitive about not offending anyone by mentioning a specific holiday, but it’s quite nice for those of us who do celebrate Christmas to have such a great selection to choose from. Keep up the good work, Gallery Collection!

A well-meaning office faces a quandary: send clients best wishes for the holidays and appreciation for their business all year with good old-fashioned Christmas cards. Or expand the warmth and gratitude in greeting cards that say “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” instead, to show respect for the culture of each of its customers.

It’s tempting either way. Christmas evokes tradition, comfort, and the times when we lived so similarly to our neighbors and the folks at the office.  The Christian faith, the feasts, the gift-giving, and the colorful decorations – these make Christmas a special and irreplaceable time of year for everyone who celebrates it.  Christmas cards have been part and parcel of the season for over 150 years. Can you imagine a year where you saw not a single Christmas card all December?  Christmas cards for the Christmas holiday…of course!

When all or most of your clients celebrate Christmas, the choice to send business Christmas cards is easy.  However, a growing percentage of today’s workforce and clientele observe something other than Christmas in the fall and winter:  Diwali, Hanukkah, the New Year, Ramadan, Kwanzaa, and Eid al-Fitr, to name but a few.  The globalization of our world can be reflected in holiday cards.  While it would be difficult to identify every holiday in a single greeting card, it’s easy and thoughtful to leave the holiday open with a seasonal, non-religious sentiment inside of your greeting cards that lets your recipients know you wish them well, regardless of their religious or non-religious affiliations.

Holiday cards that refer to the “Holidays” or the “Season” give you greater latitude when winter greetings are appropriate and the holidays being celebrated by your recipients vary.  Nevertheless, whether you send Merry Christmas cards or greeting cards that wish Peace on Earth, Happy Holidays or Season’s Greetings, any holiday cards you send will surely be appreciated.