Christmas photo cards are a huge part of the holiday season. And for many individuals, couples and families they are the way your friends and acquaintances will remember you for the following year. They are an opportunity to reconnect and you want to do it in a way that is poignant, memorable, and represents the best that the past year has offered you. So why should you only start thinking about it in October or November? Starting as early as January, February or March, you should be considering what to put in and on your Christmas Photo Cards.

First, keep your Christmas cards in the back of your mind as you take candid snapshots, especially in colder months like January, February, and March. Despite being taken all most a year prior to when they will be sent out, the similar weather offers a great sense of continuity to Christmas cards. After all, what is more seasonally appropriate and festive than a picture of smiling faces on a snowy landscape? If no card worthy shots crop up during the winter, don’t despair; you still have months left to capture that one shot that perfectly summarizes the innate essence of your family, relationship, or personality. Remember that these cards not only serve as a warm season’s greeting, they also update your friends on your life; while candid shots are always appropriate, don’t forget that a photo of an accomplishment or major milestone can be just as celebratory and seasonal. It’s all about choosing the perfect photo (or several) that perfectly encapsulate you and your joy.

A huge trend in the past few years has not only been using a photo or a photo collage for Christmas photo cards, but also including a note of about five hundred words or less that summarizes the past year for yourself and your loved ones. It’s a great way to personalize your Christmas card with a little more context, especially for those people in your life that you haven’t seen recently. However, when the holiday season (and the lead up to it) comes around, it is sometimes difficult to remember all the important things that have happened over the past year without leaving things out. It is compounded by the hectic nature of the holiday season; it can be very difficult to remember what happened in the past year. Keeping a little list of major highlights as they occur can be great for a Christmas note, but it can also be fantastic to help you keep perspective on the year and remember how it started as it begins to dwindle down.

Also don’t forget that a picture is worth a thousand words and sometimes it’s appropriate to include pictures of important things that have come into our lives that aren’t necessarily human. For example, a hugely popular trend is people including their pets in pictures with the family, or replacing a family or personal photo with one of a dog or a cat. Additionally, if you’ve moved into a new home in the past year that few of your friends and relatives have had the chance to see, use the card as an opportunity to take them through a quick photo tour of your new home, or at least to see the front of it for the first time. Think of a holiday greeting card as something that represents a snapshot of your life.

Christmas photo cards aren’t always about season’s greetings. More often, they are a way to touch base with friends and family, let them know that you are doing well, and that they are and always will be in your heart and on your mind.