The Joy of Sending

(&

Receiving) Holiday Cards, Printed Wedding Invitations & Stationery

There is something about physically holding paper that makes stories memorable. Living in small apartments in NYC, I recognize that hoarding books over the years is not a particularly practical choice, and I prefer minimalist design, yet I insist on reading physical copies of books and staying surrounded by them. I love stories, fancy pens, textured paper, calligraphy, typography, and stationery. I keep nearly every card my mom sends me, and I treasure my grandparent’s love letters from World War II (I often include these in my lifestyle work . Naturally, I look forward to sending (and receiving) holiday cards to my friends and family every December.

As a family and wedding photographer, there is no greater joy than receiving photo holiday cards, baby announcements, and other correspondences from my clients featuring my photos. It truly makes my soul warm and fuzzy (cliché, I know, but true)! Seeing how my clients treasure and share their photographs is extremely rewarding and meaningful—it’s one of the many reasons I love doing what I do. When asked for recommendations about where clients and friends should make photo holiday cards, order personalized stationery, or create budget-friendly wedding invitations, baby announcements, etc. I send them to Basic Invite. They offer custom samples, unlimited colors (they have over 180 to choose from!), GORGEOUS foil details, a free address capturing service, and over 40 different colors of envelopes. After throwing my sister a baby shower last October, I can attest to how useful the address capturing service is—it saves a LOT of time! They also offer recipient address printing at no additional cost.

After planning events in NYC for ten years, I enjoy sharing recommendations and event/wedding planning tips with my clients. Basic Invite is a great resource for busy parents looking to print Merry Christmas photo cards, Hanukkah photo cards, New Year’s cards, and is also great for wedding invitations (as styled and photographed here). Their website is easy to use, and customizing designs is simple and quick. It can be hard to know for sure what you will like for wedding invitations, so the fact that you can order custom samples before committing to a full print order is wonderful. Their luxe velvet paper feels incredibly rich and can easily pass for a more expensive supplier. The texture gives invitations a little something extra, and from a photo perspective, the matte finish photographs beautifully. They also have foil detailing available in gold, silver, and rose gold. Another feature for engaged couples is their free wedding websites, which are quick to set up and look great.

Spending so much time at home these days, I find receiving mail (that’s not a bill) VERY exciting—the more baby announcements, New Year’s cards, holiday photo cards, etc. I receive the better, and I’m sure others feel the same! I highly recommend Basic Invite to send some love to the friends and family you haven’t been able to see in-person this year. They also have virtual holiday celebrations available for download to spruce up Zoom celebrations.

As a special perk to my readers, you can save 15% off your order with code “15FF51”.

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