When to send business holiday cards

We'd send business holiday cards between Thanksgiving and mid-December. For delivery before December 25, the Postal Service recommends mailing First-Class Mail in the lower 48 states by Thursday, December 17, 2026.

The usual window for holiday cards

The Emily Post Institute says holiday cards usually go out any time from Thanksgiving until a couple of weeks into the New Year. For business cards, we aim for the first two weeks of December, before offices close for the holidays.

USPS mail-by dates for 2026

These are recommendations, and the Postal Service says actual delivery dates vary with where the mail starts and ends and when it's dropped off. For Alaska, Hawaii and military addresses, check the USPS page. Stamped holiday cards go First-Class Mail, so December 17 is the date to plan around.

Plan backward from your mail date

Most of the time goes into the steps before the post office. Give each one its own week in November.

1. Update the mailing list. Our holiday card list template has the columns and the address checks.
2. Pick the card and write your note.
3. Sign and address the cards, which takes from about 2 to 8 hours for 100 cards by our estimates.
4. Mail them in the first two weeks of December.

If we print and mail your cards, the steps are shorter, but the mail still takes time. Mail takes about 10 days, which is an estimate rather than a promise, so we'd place your order by about December 7, which leaves about 10 days before the USPS mail-by date of December 17.

If you start late

A card that arrives after Christmas is still within the usual window until a couple of weeks into the New Year. Change the greeting to Happy New Year and mail it in the last week of December or the first week of January. For greetings and signatures, see how to sign business holiday cards.

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