Everyone loves receiving Christmas cards in the mail, but that experience can become about as cheery as a lump of coal if there’s a glaring grammatical error or misspelled name on your card. Save yourself the embarrassment by avoiding these six mistakes in your cards, and you’ll be sure to bring a smile to every face this holiday season!
- Typos
Always, always, always proofread your card before you hit “print” or “send,” because the very last thing you want is to pay $100 for 50 cards and realize you forgot the “i” in “Season’s Greetngs!” Nothing throws off the aesthetic of a perfectly designed card than a typo, so double check it yourself and if available, have a professional look over it before it’s finished. - Grammatical Errors
Even if you have pretty good grasp on grammar, it can be easy to make a mistake or two on your cards. Many people use “it’s” instead of “its,” or say, “We wish you a marry Christmas!” when “merry” is the correct spelling. Another common mistake that people make is adding an apostrophe to their last names, like “The Watson’s” when it should simply be, “The Watsons.” - Offensive Content
It’s fine to make jokes most of the time, especially if your friends and family know you’re that kind of person who’s always poking fun at things. However, your yearly Christmas cards shouldn’t contain any jokes or words that may be offensive to some people. When in doubt, don’t put it in the card. A joke isn’t worth putting strain on a relationship. - Forgetability
Especially with business Christmas cards, there are quite a few rules to follow when it comes to being politically correct. As a result, many people resort to sticking with a very generic, boring card that is easily forgotten. Just because you need to make your card inoffensive doesn’t mean you can’t make it memorable! Pick bold fonts and patterns, and you won’t find your card in anybody’s trash can. - Not Enough Cards
Refrain from guesstimating when purchasing Christmas cards, because once you realize you forgot about your aunts on your dad’s side, you don’t want to have to scramble to buy a few more at Walgreens. Most websites sell cards in packs of 50 for about $75-$100, plus extras for about $2.50 more, and it’s definitely worth it to calculate how many you are actually going to need. - Lateness
It’s perfectly acceptable to send Christmas cards anytime between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, but if you’re any later than that, you probably shouldn’t even bother. By then, everyone is already filing away or throwing away all their Christmas cards, so your card will go straight from the envelope to the trash can. This is one situation in which “better late than never” doesn’t really apply.
