One of my favorite things about the holiday season is sending and receiving Christmas cards. It’s truly something I look forward to each year and I treasure our own collection. “Snail Mail” is one of my favorite things. Like most people, I’m sure, I have each of our holiday cards dating back to the first one we did as a married couple in 2013. It’s so fun to look back and see the changes, big and small, and how our little family has grown over the years. Not only do I keep our cards (in a special book), but I keep the cards I receive from our family and friends and clip them onto a ring sorted by year. Holiday Christmas cards are such a fun tradition and I know I’m not alone in my love for them. Today, I’m sharing our Christmas Cards with Basic Invite. This was my first time creating cards/paper goods with Basic Invite and I honestly don’t think I can ever go back to another company now (cue the birth announcements in 2021).

This year, I did something I haven’t done in the past. I ordered custom samples before placing my final order because I was torn on several different designs. Legitimately, the design options were absolutely beautiful and some of the prettiest I’ve ever seen. Basic Invite allows you to customize card(s) with different colors, layouts, etc. and then order printed samples so you can be sure you like your choices and the quality before placing your final order. As you can see in these pictures, while I clearly have a “type,” there were some small differences in my choices so I wanted to see a few options in person before making up my mind completely. Ordering samples allowed Luke and I to decide which design was our favorite (front and back), and double check that the colors and photo choices I made translated the way I had hoped.

Speaking of customization, it feels like there were unlimited color options (seriously, there’s like well over 150) when personalizing a card. Each wording element and background space of the card can be changed to the color of your choice with an instant preview. Photo Xmas cards not your thing? There are plenty of non-photo options for you to choose from. Don’t care for white envelopes? You have color options there too. I went with the olive green and love it for the holiday season.

Quickly, I have to talk a bit more about envelopes. Despite how much I love sending holiday cards, I absolutely dread sealing envelopes. DREAD IT. This year, I actually didn’t have to worry with that at all because Basic Invite has “peel and seal” envelopes. Let me say it louder for the people in the back, PEEL AND SEAL ENVELOPES, y’all. No more licking the nasty glue that you taste for hours after. PS: You can also have your return address printed on the back of the envelope or made into stickers (see mine below… I just covered our address for privacy purposes). If you’re on top of things when you order, go ahead and have your recipient addresses printed on the front and save yourself even more time!

If you don’t send holiday cards, but have other “pretty paper needs,” Basic Invite also offers traditional invitations for weddings, parties, etc. (talk about some gorgeous dinner party invitation templates), birth announcements, business cards, stationery, and websites. Not to beat a dead horse here, but this company just does things differently and it is well worth a trip to their site to check out all they have to offer. Currently, the entire site is 15% off with code 15FF51 and holiday cards are 30% off with code HOLI30.

Creating Christmas Cards with Basic Invite was such a breeze this year. Do you send holiday cards? xoxo.

PS: Sharing another look and talking about these cards a bit more on my Instagram stories today, so make sure to check that out here.

This post was written in collaboration with Basic Invite, all words and opinions are my own.

The family photos used for these cards were all shot by Gabrielle McQueen Photography.