Tiny Prints to the Rescue

My daughter’s birthday party this past summer was supposed to be a family affair. A small family affair.

“Just the cousins, aunts, and uncles. It will be just darling!” Mike’s mom cooed over the phone. Then she asked what type of cupcakes I wanted and what color frosting.

I was so relieved that she had offered to host a party. We were spending the better part of a month in Texas visiting family and celebrating my sister’s wedding. With all of  the rush, excitement, and preparations leading up to that,  I didn’t know if I’d be up for planning a huge bash like I did for Scout’s first birthday.

At the same time, I also couldn’t NOT celebrate my daughter’s first birthday.

All I wanted was a photo and the sweet memory of the four us together as Lou blew out her candle. Maybe even a video of her demolishing the cake, opening her presents, or playing with the balloons. So any party, especially a little one, was perfectly fine with me.

Well, somewhere between that phone call and the three-hour drive from Fort Worth to Oklahoma City, our quiet little gathering metastasized into a monster blow-out… but not for my little girl.

The celebration was extended to include my brother- and sister-in-law’s birthdays as well. They were born in the same month, so that seemed perfectly reasonable until the two of them invited all of their friends… and their friends’ kids…

Since it was Fourth of July weekend, my in-laws made it a huge cook-out. So all the fuss became about getting ready for that– who’s bringing what, what time was everyone getting there, where are all of the kids going to sit… blah, blah, blah.

Then, my sister-in-law took the opportunity to announce that she’s pregnant and with that, those little pink cupcakes that my mother-in-law and I discussed in such great detail never even made it out of the fridge.

I probably should have spoken up, but I just felt awkward about it, since A. it wasn’t my house, B. not my party, and C. I didn’t know most of the people there.

We drove back to my parents’ house in Texas the next day and the following weekend, my sister got married. Within that week, I decided to throw a party myself upon our return to California.

Because even though there technically was a party and there were lots of people there, I still wanted that sweet family photo around Lou’s cake, the home movies, and the presents… I wanted there to be a day just for her.

After all, a first birthday is a very big deal!

We would be home in time for Lou’s actual birthday, but just barely, so  there wasn’t a whole lot of time to plan. Knowing where to order the invitations, however, was a “no brainer”.

I went directly to TinyPrints, just as I have for every birthday party and baby shower I’ve ever thrown. I found a simple, but adorable design and order it, opting for regular shipping.

Expecting the invitations to be delivered to me within only a few days of the  party, I emailed “Save the Dates” to all of the guests. Turns out that was hardly necessary.

A designer at Tiny Prints must have noticed the date on the invitations and rushed the order to me, without a word and at no additional charge. That level of customer service and attention to detail was such a small gesture, but it meant the world to me.

Not only were the invitations gorgeous and perfect, but they arrived with time to spare!

Of course, had I paid more attention, I would have realized that Tiny Prints actually offers a mailing service, wherein their staff addresses your envelopes, stamps them, and sends them directly to the recipients for you.

Umm, how fantastic is THAT?

I never did get a family photo of the four of us together on Lou’s birthday, but at least my daughter was surrounded by lots of smiling faces as she blew out her candle and demolished her cake.

So now that holiday card season is upon us, where do you think I will be getting  mine???

The only problem is figuring out which ONE to pick. Here are some of my favorites, although there were many, many, many more designs to choose from on their site.

These two I love because… umm, I also can’t choose just one photo.

This is something new that Tiny Prints introduced this year–the ornament card. One part pretty card. One part treasured holiday keepsake. All parts lovely.

I imagine  my grandmother  in the Philippines receiving this card in the mail, lovingly hanging it on her tree, and thinking of her great-grandchildren on the other side of the world who she’s only come to know through photos.

Finally, there this one. Talk about stand-out from the rest!

Who am I kidding?! I may just order twenty of each.

Disclosure: I received 75 complementary holiday cards in order to write an honest review of Tiny Prints. The opinions expressed in this post are my own. In fact, the instance of AWESOME customer service mentioned above occurred before I was contacted by Tiny Prints and requested to post a review of their holiday line.

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