Every year I hear the same sentence in late November: I did not realize I needed to book this early. So here is the honest timeline, working backward from the cards actually being in your friends' mailboxes.
Work Backward, Not Forward
Most families plan forward from whenever they happen to think of it. The calendar does not work that way. There are four steps between your session and a card in the mail, and each one takes real time: the session itself, your gallery, your card order, and shipping. Miss the timing on any one of them and the whole chain slips.
August and September
This is the quiet, comfortable window and almost nobody uses it. Book now and you get your pick of dates, unhurried scheduling, and zero anxiety about any of what follows. Florida light in September is still strong, so we shoot near sunset.
October
The busiest month of my year, and the month fall minis run. Dates that exist in early October are usually claimed by the end of September. If you are booking in October you are choosing from what is left, not from what you want.
Early November
Still workable, but this is the edge. From here on you are relying on nothing going wrong: no sick toddler on the session date, no rain, no changed minds about which image to use. Families who book here almost always end up paying for expedited card shipping.
Late November and December
At this point I am honest with people rather than optimistic. If you contact me in December wanting cards, what I will usually suggest is booking a session you will genuinely enjoy, using it for New Year cards or simply for your walls, and getting on the list early for next year. A rushed session in the middle of the holidays is rarely anyone's favorite gallery.
Two Things That Trip Families Up
The first is card printing itself. The cheapest shipping tier is the one everyone wants and it is also the slowest, so budget more time than the printer's website implies. The second is choosing an image. Couples routinely take longer deciding on the one photo than every other step combined. Narrow it to three favorites the day your gallery arrives, then decide.
The Short Version
If holiday cards matter to you, book by the end of September. If you are reading this in October, book the first date you can take rather than the perfect one. If you are reading it in December, let us plan something lovely for the new year instead.
The families who are relaxed in December are the ones who booked in September.