Anyone happy with what they did? CVS? Something online? I use Snapfish for cheap prints but not cards or postcards. My daughter has about 30 thank yous to send out.
We used Shutterfly, which can be a little pricey but I love the results. Our elder family members actually saved the cards, which of course featured photos of the grad.
I think relatives or adult family friends would LOVE a picture of the grad.
Not so sure that friends of the grad would want these…unless maybe you captured a picture of all of them! I would get plain note cards for those thank yours.
I have seen cute ones on Snapfish and Tinyprints. I have done my announcements/invitations with both and have liked the results. We just went with the plain thank you cards, but I have seen the Thank You cards and they are cute. We got one the other day and it was pre-printed something like thank you for the nice graduation gift. But the grad did not make any sort of personalized note indicating what we actually gave her, or even put our names on the card or sign it herself. I thought that was kind of tacky.
If you want to do something online there is paperlesspost.
You would just need everyone’s email addresses
Raclut…call me old fashioned…but if I take the time to give someone a gift, the very least they can do is write me a real live paper thank you note with pen and paper.
I know that a lot is done online these days…but this is one place where I would not cut corners.
@thumper1
I agree with you 100%. The only way I knew about paperless post is because I received one from a graduation party I attended. (the one with 300 people and no boxed gifts please written on the invite) I personally love sending cards with a handwritten personal note for any occasion. There are some people I know that never send thank you cards or even acknowledge a gift has been received. I remember one mom who had 100 kids for dd 18th birthday party. I told her I put the gift receipt in the box. She said I have no clue what daughter has gotten as gifts. I am trying to think what to give her for graduation now. Another big party.
I think a small order of grad thank you cards with the graduates photo would be nice for family. For everyone else plain cards with a personal note if cost is an issue. When I receive a photo card I personally hate to throw them away.
^These kids with 100-300+ people for a grad party, what the heck are they going to do for a wedding?
@doschicos The high school graduate actually wore a white gown. It was just like a wedding reception. The mom wore a gown too.
@raclut - Was it an ethnic “coming of age” custom, kind of like some version of a quinceanera?
@doschicos
It wasn’t any ethnic custom. But like I said I felt as if I was at a wedding. I was surprised by the white gown.
I always feel like a bad person – I am so discouraged by non-thank-you people, but tell myself I should give gifts freely, not with some condition of a thank you . My own kids were not allowed to play with gifts until the thank yous were written, and they still send thank yous (usually email, but sometimes written) now. I became so unhappy at family members who never acknowledged gifts that I’ve really downsized that gifting, trying to strike a balance between wanting to give them something and knowing I take it (too) personally when I never know if it arrived or was appreciated.
@greenbutton I have noticed at graduations most people bring gifts but then I see some that don’t gift anything. Last year for daughters grad we did a small sunday brunch with close school friends and dd didn’t get anything but when she attended one I made sure she gave a gift. This year we have a number of high school and college graduation parties to attend and I find myself budgeting how to spend for each. And they seem to be of larger scale where the graduate gets a lot of gifts. (mostly money) I guess I will have a nicer celebration when she graduates college. I am person who would rather invite a few close friends then a large number of acquaintences.
I like the idea of a picture card as long as the graduate includes a nice note of thanks. When my kids were in pre-school, they used preprinted ‘Thank you for the ______.’ cards. I often had them dictate a few sentences, too. Once they hit kindergarten, they were expected to write nice thank you notes for each gift received, in line with their age. Like greenbutton, they had to write the thank you note before they could spend the money or play with the gift. They are still quite good (but not perfect) at writing thank you notes.
we live in a small town. so many of us throw parties at our local rod and gun club. they have indoor and outdoor venues. we share parties meaning 3-5 grads chip in on a party. so with simultaneous parties inside and out, some day time, some night time we see everyone all the time all summer long, the kids go to more than the adults but wifey is still dragging me to several this year. one last weekend had a mechanical bull! many of us have kids graduating in consecutive years, so we see the same fams and kids last yr and this year. this yr wifey agreed w many fams that we would all give ea other $20.15 for the year 2015. we threw a party w 3 girls and wifey gave $20.15 to 1 girl and $50. to the other cuz they are closer friends. my girl was opening cards the other day, she got 31 checks, mostly small but then there was grandparents and a special aunt, she raked in $xx. $xx is going for her freshman computer, the rest she can use for expenses her 1st yr. she also has to send a thank you to the scholarship committee for selecting her for a one time $xx scholarship, completely unexpected, we almost fainted. we are truly blessed.
We bought the file download from a seller on Etsy, there are tons of sellers offering them there and we found just what we wanted. After they personalized it, they sent us the file, and we printed it out at our local Meijer store. Turned out great, and very affordable. I liked knowing that I was paying a person rather than a big business. I think it ended up around $15.00 altogether (we got just regular photo sized prints).
I didn’t order any for graduation from high school but I think I will consider it for college graduation.
Didn’t do graduation cards, but ordered some holiday photo cards from Staples. Put them together with photos online and went to the nearby store to pick them up a few hours later. They were great.
I wound up using Walgreens. Paid $.85 ea. & bought 40. They come w envelopes. I decided on the 1 sided vertical style. She can write on the back but I also wrote a message on the front including her name, the HS initials and the year. For the important thank yous, I suggested she use a small folded card and put that in the envelope with this photo thank you. I uploaded the photo online and picked up the order down the street a couple hrs later! Daughter liked them and so wifey! Now if I can only get her to write them!!! Argh!
Tiny prints is more expensive, but there’s a half-price sale on thank yous today.