holiday season

CHRISTMAS CARD TRADITION

January 10, 2022 /

This is my first holiday season with a fiancé and that label has come with some changes. In our Thanksgiving day post I mentioned that it has been hard for me to split my time between Michael’s family and mine. Traditions are changing, and at times that has left me feeling pretty nostalgic and even a little bit sad. However, this year we have also decided to start creating our own traditions totally separate from anything we have done with our families in the past. This has been so exciting for me! It makes me feel like we have really become our own little family of two.

Ordering Our First Christmas Cards

Michael and I ordered our first Christmas card together in the beginning of October. We were very excited to say the least. We have so many beautiful photos from our engagement, but I’ve always had a favorite shot. Michael agreed it would be perfect for the card. Our engagement happened over the summer, and some people think that Christmas cards should have wintery photos. What do you guys think?

Anyway, me and Michael weren’t worried about getting a Christmas-y pic. We felt like our first card together should include the best day of not only the year, but also the best day ever. Also, the card felt like it was also acting as an engagement announcement for anyone who didn’t know.

So we picked out a rectangular card and picked a cute little phrase to put under our picture. We debated between the gold foil lettering and the sparkly multicolored. The gold felt more Christmas-y, but the multicolored looked better with out photo. We both agreed that we couldn’t decide on our own and that my cousin Katie would be the best person to act as our tie breaker. So, we sent her screenshots of both and waited for her reply.

Katie quickly got back to us agreeing with Michael that the gold lettering was more Christmas-y and the better option. If you look at our card you might notice that the lettering is not gold. (I won). We finished designing them and ordered!

We ordered our cards from SimplyToImpress, and we would definitely recommend them! Our cards came in earlier than expected. They were great quality, and they came in the cutest little box that ended up being very helpful.

A New Christmas Card Tradition

Michael and I decided we were going to write individualized letters on all of our Christmas cards (we ordered 100), so it was good that we ordered them so early! We made a list of about 85 family members, friends, old teachers and coaches, and anyone else we thought might appreciate a card. Then we got to work. I ended up writing most of the letters because Michael’s a lefty and his handwriting can be a bit… tricky to read. We spent many nights on FaceTime thinking of memories and things we were grateful for to mention in our letters. Although this was time consuming, it was fun, and it felt really nice and personal. We finished up our last cards by the week of Thanksgiving. 

We made plans to drive across Long Island and make visits to our family and friends to say hi and drop off our card. One of our best friends visited for Thanksgiving so he came along with us. We had made coquito (a traditional Puerto Rican coconut based alcoholic drink) for Thanksgiving, so we made some extra to bring around with us.

Friday morning we woke up early and took a train from Michael’s house to mine. We made cookies when we got there to bring with us for people to snack on with their little Christmas shot. Michael’s favorite cookies are the Pillsbury sugar cookie ones with the little pictures. We got the ones with the Christmas trees and the reindeer which came out looking a little funny. With our box of cards, our cookies and drink, my new address book, and our Santa hats on our heads, we were on our way!

Spreading Christmas Cheer

The three of us got in the car with the plan to visit over 20 houses that day. We would end with leftover thanksgiving dinner at my grandparent’s house by 4:30. It went great! We spent a lot of time driving that day but we had plenty to talk about. We also went to a fair amount of empty homes, but we also saw so many of our loved ones that it was totally worth it. Plus, now that everyone has the ring doorbell they know that we stopped by to say hi and might have even been watching us as we waited for the door to open.

People said they really felt like we were spreading a lot of Christmas cheer and that felt really nice to hear. If you’re thinking about paying someone a visit, do it! And maybe bring a card or some cookies or an adult drink with you.

Couple wearing santa hats

Around lunch time we stopped by our friend’s family Chinese restaurant, and it was exactly what we needed. Yum!

By around 3:45 we still had a few homes to visit and we knew we couldn’t squeeze all of them in and be at grandma’s house on time. We made two more stops and decided we could finish the rest after dinner.

Dinner was great, and my grandparents were so happy to have us. By the time we were done, it was about 8 o’clock, and I wasn’t sure if it was too late to drive around knocking on front doors, so we decided to send out some texts. We had four cards left to send out, and three of the families were out for the evening. Luckily, one of my cousins was home, and she had some friends over who were hanging out playing games. We’d drive over and hang out for a little; it would be the perfect last stop if the night. Plus, she recently had a baby, so we might even get to meet her!

We drove over and it was great. We caught up, played some games, and I even got to hold my new niece. She is five months old and the cutest baby in the world! Also, my cousin got married at the same venue that me and Michael are getting married, so we got to ask her and her husband all about it.

Me and Michael are so excited that it has truly started to feel like our perfect little life together has begun. After spending almost seven years in a long distance relationship everything has started to feel so real. What a perfect day this was. It could not be a better memory to share of our first tradition we have together as our own little family.

Friends spreading Christmas cheer

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