inababycarriage Birth Announcements Review

The other day, I received some sample birth announcements from inababycarriage.com. Amber Gatej, the owner and designer, started creating these announcements back in 2002 after getting fed up with her dot com job. She searched for something that she could do out of her house, and decided to direct her considerable design talents towards the creation of these fantastic birth announcements. Typically, after you've placed your order you'll receive a digital proof within one to two business days. After your final approval, your entire order ships within five business days via priority mail.

inababycarriage.com offers a wide variety of products. On the low end there are Photo Cards. These are essentially 5x7" photos that are printed by the folks at Photo Affectations. The process seems pretty straight forward. You pick the design you like best at inababycarriage.com, and then head over to Photo Affectations. There you can specify the text you'd like on the announcement, as well as any customizations like black & white or sepia toned photos. Photo Affectations involves a human at every step of the process — from processing your uploaded pictures, to double checking the information you provided, to creating up to three digital proofs of your announcement. Photo Affectations also provides a very handy page that should help you plan on when you will receive your announcements. The sample we received was printed on 5x7" Fujifilm Crystal Archive paper with a slightly textured matte/luster finish. Since these announcements are real photographs, they will definitely last a long time in your photo album. All orders of Photo Cards include white envelopes made from 80lb paper.

inababycarriage.com also offers Panel Card announcements. The card itself feels amazing. It is press-printed on thick cardstock, so it is nice and sturdy. The color reproduction is absolutely fantastic; it looks even better than the Photo Card. The sample we received had the recommended U/V coating which adds a glossy finish, and apparently helps with the color reproduction. So if you don't get the finish, your colors may not be so vibrant. The best thing about these cards is they are double sided. Normally, the basic design is repeated on the back, but for $25 more, you can add custom printing to the back as well. As with the Photo Cards, all orders include white envelopes made from 80lb paper.

The Photo Mount style is a little more expensive than the Panel Card. These are essentially 4x6" matte finish photographs mounted on 5x7" white cardstock. The cardstock is slightly raised where the photo is mounted. The effect brings a nice white border around your photograph, as well as making the whole announcement nice and sturdy. The border sort of reminds me of older black & white photographs when photos weren't typically printed to the edges of the paper. Therefore, I think this effect looks best with a black & white announcement, although your tastes may vary.

On the high-end, inababycarriage.com offers Envelopments. These are almost twice as much as the Photo Mount style, but when you get one of these in your hand, you can definitely tell that it's worth every penny. The envelopment came sealed in cellophane wrapping, and once opened, I thought it was just a pink envelope. Instead, it was a thick cardstock envelope that opens up completely to reveal the announcement mounted inside. The announcement itself is the Photo Mount style, so again, I think a black & white announcement works well here. Of course, there is so much color in the envelope that I think you could probably reflect that in the announcement. Also included with Envelopments are matching return address labels!

To complete your set of announcements, inababycarriage.com offers sets coordinating thank you notes. Using the same motifs and pictures, these thank you notes will leave as much of an impression as your original announcement. The notes are 4x5.5" fold over cards made out of thick cardstock, and include envelopes. The cards really feel just like the cards you'd buy at your local stationary store, however the included envelopes seem just a tad too large for the card — perhaps they're really sized to accommodate a 4x6" card inside.

Additionally, inababycarriage.com offers a set of coordinating return address labels. These are included for free with the Envelopment announcements, but if you are interested in something a little less expensive, you can order them for as little as $0.24 per label. Just like the thank you notes, the return address labels carry the design you've chosen outside your envelope.

Finally, inababycarriage.com recently started selling mom cards. These are the business cards for today's busy mothers. Give them to the parents you meet at the park, day care providers, or your child's teachers. The cards are professionally printed on both sides and come in glossy or matte finishes. The sample we received in the mail was glossy, and it was very snazzy. And best of all, every design on inababycarriage.com can be turned into a mom card.

Perhaps the best thing about inababycarriage.com is the extensive choice of designs. At the time of this review there are over 140 designs for both girls and boys, and there are even designs for those of you lucky enough to have twins or are adopting.

If you're in the market for birth announcements, I would highly recommend checking out inababycarriage.com. I really like the quality of the products, and the designs are all fantastic. I'm even thinking about getting Laura some mom cards as a gift.

October 30, 2006

inababycarriage Birth Announcements Review