Every year we get the same phone calls in the second week of December. “Can you get Christmas cards to us by Friday?” Sometimes we can, sometimes we really can’t. So here’s our guide to ordering your Christmas print in good time, and a few ideas for what’s worth printing this year.
How Long Does Christmas Print Take?
Every product on our site shows its standard delivery time in working days before you pay, and the clock starts once your artwork is approved. Weekends and bank holidays don’t count, which catches a lot of people out in December.
Most cards and paper products arrive in around a week. Some things take longer. Our round Christmas crackers, for example, are 7 to 12 working days. Add a few days for getting your artwork sorted and approved, and you can see how quickly it adds up.
Our Suggested Order Dates
- Christmas cards you’re posting to clients: order by mid November. You need time to write them, and the post gets slow at Christmas.
- Crackers, calendars and anything for a Christmas party: mid November too. These are the products that sell out of production slots first.
- Gift tags, wrapping paper and shop stock: early November if you’re selling them, end of November if they’re for your own presents and orders.
- Last minute bits: get in touch before you order. Same day dispatch is available on some products and we’ll always tell you honestly what’s possible.
We’ll share the exact cut off dates from our print partners on the blog as soon as they’re confirmed.
Christmas Print Worth Doing This Year
Christmas Cards
A card through the door from a business you’ve used still means something. Our greeting cards come in A5, A6, DL or square, with envelopes if you want them. Add gold or silver foil to the front and they look a lot more expensive than they are.
Gift Tags
If you sell handmade products, hampers or gifts, printed gift tags make every order feel finished. Choose a parcel tag with angled corners or a square swing tag, and they come with string ready to tie on.
Wrapping Paper
Branded wrapping paper is a nice touch for shops and online sellers, and it gets seen by everyone sat round the tree.
Calendars
A calendar is on someone’s wall or desk for a whole year, which makes it one of the best value bits of marketing you can send. Choose from wall calendars, desk calendars and drilled hole calendars, and order early so they land before January.
Christmas Crackers
Great for staff parties, restaurants and client gifts. We’ve written a separate guide on choosing between our cardboard and round crackers if you can’t decide.
Three Tips To Avoid A Christmas Panic
- Get your artwork ready first. Have a quick read of our artwork guidelines, it saves a lot of back and forth.
- Check your wording twice. Names, dates and opening hours over Christmas are the things that go wrong most.
- Order a few extra. Running out on the 20th December and having to reorder is never fun.
Everything is printed by trusted UK print partners and checked in house before it leaves. If you’d like us to design something for you, or you need a quote for something not on the site, just fill in our custom quote form.
