Does anyone else find the holiday card process to be the most exhausting and stressful part of the holidays? First, you have to look through all of your pictures from the past six months, hoping that you already have an attractive picture of your family that you can use. Then you inevitably find that nothing you have is good enough and realize you’ll have to find or order coordinating outfits, force your children and/or spouse to put those outfits on, and then corral them all into a picture where everyone is looking at the camera and no one is actively crying. Then you have to wade through the one million options for cards and try to find one that’s perfect, only to realize that you only like cards that are laid out vertically, when the only good picture you got is horizontal. It makes me tired just thinking about it!

But then I remember I do it every year because I love sending and receiving the finished cards so much, and it makes me so happy to share photos and memories with friends and family that we haven’t been able to see in person. My kids love to go through the pile of cards and talk about their memories of each family or hear stories about my memories of them, and I feel like it really helps us to connect and to keep those relationships close to our hearts.

This year, I had some amazing luck and foresight and was able to schedule a time with my very talented friend Jenn Bergman to take photos of our family at the end of October. Having the photos done ahead of time (and without tears thanks to Jenn!) was half the battle and then I was on to picking out the card. In the process, I found some fun options and new companies and thought that I would share them with you guys, in case anyone else out there was finding the process as daunting as I am.

This year, we’re seeing a lot of 2020/quarantine humor cards, which could be a fun way of acknowledging that this year the holidays are going to be very different. I also found that several companies have started carrying more letterpress options or options for photo mount cards, which is something that we’d moved away from in the past few years with the ease of digital cards, so now it feels like something fresh and traditional at the same time. There are also some smaller companies that offer a ton of customizable cards if you want something really unique.

Cheree Berry Paper

This company makes the most unique cards and has so many customizable options. They have several 2020 cards, acknowledging what a different kind of year this has been, from customizable graphics from Vote buttons to hand sanitizer to pajama pants and toilet paper. They also have cards that include customized paper ornaments to enclose with the cards, a very cool one that looks like Polaroid Camera with your photo coming out the front. I’m particularly into the one with skaters that you can customize to look like your family.

Minted

Minted is has definitely been my go to place to order digital photo cards from. They even offer a discount code that gives money back to schools! They make it quick and easy, you can preview all of your cards on your own without waiting for a proof, and they carry so many different styles, including recycled paper. This year, I noticed that they have letterpress options as well, if you want something with more texture. For 2020, they also have a section of quarantine humor cards and cards that feature different locations-I loved the winter mountain/skiing cards, but there are great ones for everywhere from Texas to Hawaii.

Dogwood Hill

This company has a southern bent to its cards and features designs by many different tastemakers like Steel Marcoux and Grace Mitchell. If you want boxwoods, foo dogs or bright colors on your cards, you can find those here! They also have all of the coordinating gift tags, invitations and accessories to go with the cards if you want to create a cohesive theme for your celebrations. I love the modern twist on the traditional southern aesthetic. It’s making me really miss our trip to the Greenbrier this year!

More Than Paper

I haven’t used this company before, but I was on a quest to find photo mount cards this year-the idea of the texture and the throwback photos just feels right-and More Than Paper had many good options. They have a large selection of Boatman Geller cards, and a range of looks from traditional to modern. They also have some nice letterpress options and let you do a lot of customizing with colors and fonts, which I love.