An All Occasion Assortment Box is a Lifesaver!

While entertaining one evening with close friends from out of state, in conversation my friend Mary announced, “Well, we’ve all made it, 25 years of marriage.” I suddenly realized it was their wedding anniversary. We were married in the same year, a few months apart and were each others maids of honor at our weddings.

Then it hit me…I had an all occasion greeting cards assortment box in the bedroom. With that, I exclaimed, “Oh! I’ll be right back,” and left the room. I went into the bedroom, retrieved the box of greeting cards from the closet knowing that there were anniversary cards in the box. Miraculously I found a pen, signed the anniversary card, and returned to our guests. I then handed Mary the card. She opened it and remarked how beautiful the card was.

It was beautiful! It had shiny embossed gold and orange balloons with gold confetti streamers and shiny gold letters that said “Happy Anniversary.” I’ve also used the Sympathy cards in the all occasion box of cards when hearing of someone passing or someone’s birthday. It certainly comes in handy, allowing me to immediately send a card. With all our busy lives you would have to work into your schedule a stop at the card store and select a greeting card, but instead I just stop in my bedroom. This box is so convenient!

The Great Anniversary Cards Caper

How can I incorporate my love of reality television with my love of cards? This question has been on my mind as of late. I’ve decided to come up with a pitch for a new show called The Great Anniversary Cards Caper. The premise will have a group of contestants who will give out business anniversary cards to employees of a chosen company.

We will keep the number of contestants to ten. The contestants will be given an assignment at a different company every week where they will have to discover who is having an anniversary with the company that week. They cannot say who they are or what they are looking for. They will need the gift of gab to get people talking about their time with the company and incorporate that into the business anniversary cards they will design. The cards will be in the form of a sandwich board and used to celebrate the anniversaries of employees for that week.

The companies will also be happy to participate as they will get an employee to help out for a week, they will get free anniversary cards for their employees, and they will be on television. Can we say free advertising?

The contestants will be judged on their ability to get along with others, the amount of information they acquire, and their imaginative anniversary cards presentation. I love this idea. The second season can be birthday cards for employees. I am sending this idea to Mark Burnett as we speak. Wish me luck.

Wedding Anniversary Cards – Not Just Counting Time

Merriam Webster tells us that the word anniversary is made up of two parts. The first part is the Latin, “anniversarius,” meaning returning annually. It is the second half of the word, “versus,” that gives the word its depth.

Versus adds dimension because it means, “to turn.” Whichever wedding anniversary one is celebrating, it is the turning to look back at what has happened during the year or years that makes the anniversary important and special.

It is always wise to consider the recipients of the anniversary cards you are sending. For instance, if you are unsure about the “state of the union” yet you want to acknowledge it, keep your selection on the light side. Perhaps a little humor will remind the couple of what made them laugh and enjoy each other’s company.

Of course, if the anniversary couple is obviously blissful, you can feel free to send an anniversary card that extols the virtues of love and marriage. There again, you will find a range. You know how much schmaltz the traffic will bear. Symbols such as flowers, wedding bells, and doves will epitomize the serenity and beauty that long lives together make possible. The greeting you choose can take these themes further or just cut to the chase by saying Happy Anniversary.

Even if the couple celebrating their 50th anniversary is known to be slightly quarrelsome, they will hopefully think, “All in all we have had a good life together.” What is important is that you don’t just count the years, but you acknowledge the years with wedding anniversary cards.

The True Meaning of Employee Anniversary Cards

I send a lot of greeting cards to a lot of people. But I have just realized that I rarely send anniversary cards. I don’t know why…

There are certainly enough reasons to send anniversary cards. Everyone celebrates an anniversary of one form or another. Think of all the different reasons you can send an anniversary card: wedding anniversaries, anniversaries of moving into the perfect home, anniversaries of finishing paying for the perfect home, the anniversary of the day your pet joined your family, or even the anniversary of the day you passed the BAR exam (or insert your professional exam in place of BAR).

But do you ever give much thought to sending employee anniversary cards to someone in order to commemorate how long they have been working in a particular company? Admittedly, I probably would never have given this topic much thought if I didn’t work for The Gallery Collection…a company that manufactures corporate greeting cards (including anniversary cards).

When I received my first anniversary card from The Gallery Collection (hand signed by our company’s President and the Chairman of the Board), I was truly delighted…and shocked. This occurred just a week after receiving a birthday card from The Gallery Collection (again, signed by both the President and Chairman), which had shocked me as well. I had never worked anywhere before where the company (as opposed to just the people who worked around you) would acknowledge a birthday, and certainly not an anniversary. Since we manufacture business greeting cards, I suppose you could say that commemorating how long we have worked here is part of our corporate culture. But I think it might be more than that.

Receiving a card that acknowledges an anniversary shows that you are considered an important member of the team and that your contributions are valued. When I received the first of many employee anniversary cards here at the Gallery Collection, especially since at the time I didn’t work in the office but at various vendor locations, it gave me a sense of belonging and made me feel that I was appreciated. I couldn’t believe how good it made me feel. And I returned to work the next day looking forward to my second anniversary at The Gallery Collection.

Why Business Anniversary Cards are the Best

I love anniversary cards! And, business anniversary cards are the best! I’ll tell you why. If you’re someone who’s blessed with loving family, caring friends, and congenial co-workers, you may find yourself just a bit jaded about receiving lots of birthday cards and Christmas cards, and even get well cards when you’re ailing.

If you’re married, you pretty much expect to exchange anniversary cards with your mate. But, how many wedding anniversary cards are sent to you every year? Odds are, if you’ve been married for over a year, unless you’re celebrating a special anniversary such as your 25th or 50th, you are receiving few or none outside of your own household. However, that’s not the only type of anniversary you might be celebrating!

For instance, a wonderful realtor helped me to find my current home. I hope to live in this house for the rest of my life. I remember the realtor’s name but don’t know which agency she may now be working with. I’d be pleased to recommend her to others. If she had thought to send me business anniversary cards each October to note my happy purchase, not only would it make me feel great, it would also let me know where to send my house-hunting friends.

Employment anniversaries are something of a big deal where I work. That’s probably because it’s such a great place to come to every day that it’s common for employees to stay for decades, and for them to work so conscientiously that they are encouraged to stay. One means of encouragement is the business anniversary card each employee receives annually to mark their date of hire. These cards are proudly displayed by each recipient. Not only is there a hand-written note in each to denote which anniversary is being acknowledged and to whom, but all of the company’s executive officers along with the recipient’s department managers writes his or her own personal note and signature. This seemingly small gesture means a great, great deal.

Business Anniversary Cards Create a Puzzled Response

I had just celebrated my ninth anniversary with my company. I was so happy to receive business anniversary cards acknowledging my years of service that I proudly displayed them on my shelf at work. A few days later, I was nice enough to allow a friend of mine to borrow my car to run a few errands while her car was in the shop. Meaghan was dropped off at my office to pick up my keys and was going to pick me up after my work day had ended. I was busy assisting a customer with an order when she arrived so she quickly busied herself by looking at all the knick knacks, decorations, and photos I had displayed around my desk. She picked up one of the anniversary cards on my shelf and began to open it with a puzzled look on her face. She caught my eye and mouthed “who sent you an anniversary card at work?”

I had completed the call at that point and explained to her who the card was from. The card has been signed by both of my managers and the president and owner of the company. The brief but thoughtful comments made by the people I work with even brought a smile to my friends face. She couldn’t believe that the company took the time to send personally signed anniversary cards to all their staff members. “What a morale booster!” Meaghan stated. She quickly asked for a catalog she could bring into her office the next day. She wanted to show her human resources department the cards. Meaghan couldn’t think of a better way to recognize an anniversary with the company and come to think of it, neither could I.

Business Anniversary Cards Used for Personal Gain

It seems that each year my wife and I keep buying more anniversary cards to send out to friends, family and clients. I think we sent out around 15 anniversary cards last year and this will only increase over the next couple of years.

So to alleviate the stress of having to find the perfect greeting cards each time we need to send them, we decided to place a bulk order for 25 business anniversary cards. While these business anniversary cards are normally used in a corporate environment, we liked them because the greeting cards were elegant yet simple. When placing the order, we purposely did not include a personalized imprint on the inside of the anniversary cards. By doing so, we are now able to personalize each greeting card by writing our own little note to the individuals it was being sent to.

Buying business anniversary cards is very convenient for us, as it has saved us on time and stress. In fact, I have a funny story on how the convenience of the anniversary cards affected my own personal life. A few weeks ago, my wife and I celebrated our anniversary. I was so focused on finding the right gift that I totally forgot about buying greeting cards. I remembered this at the last second and reached for one of the anniversary cards we recently purchased. I figured this greeting card (along with a personal note) would be better than no greeting card at all.

About an hour later I gave my wife the anniversary card and was eager to see her reaction. When she opened it, she started to laugh hysterically. When she finally gained her breath, I asked her why she was laughing. She then reached behind her back and gave me her greeting card…it was the exact same one!

Congratulations Cards for Ecstatic Sports Fans

Certainly, it makes one feel terrific to send congratulations cards to friends or acquaintances who have special, personal events that are causes for joy; for instance, the birth of a child, a graduation, the purchase of a new house, a promotion or new job. To be the recipient of such greeting cards at happy times in life can provide memories that are hard to forget.

A few friends actually sent me congratulations cards for a non-traditional kind of event –when the New York Giants won the 2008 Super Bowl. For me, the Giants’ victory over an obviously superior New England Patriots team was one of the high points of my life, since I have been a die-hard Giants fan as far back as I remember. So it was pretty cool to receive greeting cards for this occasion.

In my office, there are two coworkers whom I consider good friends, and who both happen to be devout Patriots fans. None of the three of us actually believed that the Giants really could win but, when it happened, my two buddies were distraught. I, on the other hand, was overjoyed.

Now I consider myself to be a pretty upstanding, honorable guy. In a competition of any type, if I do not have the good fortune of coming out as the winner, I make it my business to make sure I shake my adversary’s hand and give the proper verbal kudos to their victory. Back at work the next morning, one of these coworkers was kind enough to murmur a half-hearted congratulations while the other not only was MAD AT ME (like I had thrown the winning touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress), but he refused to even acknowledge that the Giants were even good enough to be on the same field as the Patriots. Had I received congratulations cards from one or both, I would have made sure to frame them and put them on the wall of my newly-refurbished basement as a fond remembrance of an unlikely victory for my favorite team. But it was not to be. Maybe for the fun of it, next year I’ll send these two friends anniversary cards commemorating the day the Giants won the big game!