Holiday cards are one of my favorite traditions during Christmas time. I love getting happy mail every day and seeing updates on all of our friends and family! Since we’ve had kids, we’ve sent out holiday cards every year, and although I’ve tried a bunch of different companies, we always go back to Minted because of their amazing quality and service. They have such a huge variety of cards, gorgeous designs, and the pictures come out crystal clear with rich, beautiful colors.

Oh, and I think my favorite part is that you can upload your photo and then it appears on all the cards as you browse so you can see how it will look on all the different designs. I uploaded our photo and had our cards chosen within five minutes because it made it so easy!

This year I wanted to do a newsletter type card, and a foil-pressed card, and it gave me the option to take one of the foil designs and customize it into a folding card with text and photos inside. I absolutely love how it turned out! We also were so busy with everything during the last few weeks that by the time we ordered our cards it was major crunch time, so we rush ordered them, and they were at our door within three days — with the addresses printed right on the envelopes (my favorite) and everything absolutely perfect.

I wanted to do something a little different for family photos this year, so we hired Amy Carlston while we were in San Francisco over Thanksgiving. Someone recommended her to me on instagram, and although I was nervous to do family photos with a photographer I’d never met, and at a location I was unfamiliar with, I absolutely adore them. She was so good with my family, had great ideas for locations, and even though it was cold and the boys were being a little crazy, she captured the most beautiful photos. If you’re traveling to San Francisco, or are local, I cannot recommend her enough! You can see her full portfolio here where she does families, weddings, etc.