The Holidays Will Be Here Sooner Than You Think
As soon as Halloween is over (and in some stores, before Halloween is over), stores break out the Christmas decorations, from lights and tinsel to fake trees and wrapping paper. All of a sudden, my mailbox is stuffed with catalogs from companies I've never heard of, selling things I can't imagine possibly using (reindeer salt and pepper shakers? Really?!?).
I have mixed feelings about the whole Christmas-the-day-after-Halloween phenomenon. One the one hand, I sort of wonder what happened to Thanksgiving. However, I don't really do the big family thing for Thanksgiving; my husband's family is scattered around, and all my family is on the East Coast, so Thanksgiving in my house usually consists of making something I enjoy preparing but usually takes too long during the work week (I've been learning to make sushi rolls as of late, so we might have sushi for Thanksgiving), making a pumpkin pie, because I love the way it smells (and tastes) and Skype-ing with my family. For me, Thanksgiving is pretty much just a four-day weekend from my day job.
On the other hand, I love Christmas. We really don't do much more for Christmas than we do for Thanksgiving (traveling during the holidays is pretty much my personal idea of Hell), but I love Christmas lights, I love how people tend to be more cheerful and gracious towards one another, I love having an excuse to make fudge, and I like having an excuse to thank people for thankless jobs they do all year long. I love the family traditions that we have, even though my family is a couple of thousand miles apart. I love doing silly things with and for my dogs.
So, when I see the Christmas decorations in the stores, I will admit to feeling a bit of excitement.
Bert is excited for the holidays! He's a therapy dog, and he knows he's going to be spending a lot of time bringing holiday cheer to weary travelers and patients in hospitals.
I know some people think Christmas should wait until Thanksgiving is over, and I'm good with that - everyone has their own opinions about when Christmas decorations should appear, and I'm fine with that.
Except for one thing; if you want to give photo gifts (prints, calendars, photo books, whatever) as presents, or if you want a family photo for you holiday cards, or if you want a holiday ornament of your furry family member waiting until after Thanksgiving to start thinking about those things is a bit too late. Even if you find a photographer with sessions available, the photos from the session have to be processed, you have to pick the photos you want, and then the products you want need to be ordered a delivered. Not only are photographers busy, but photo labs are busy, and they start sending out notices to professional photographers along the lines of "you MUST order by this date if you want products delivered by Christmas". Prints you might be able to get fairly quickly, but as soon as you start looking at canvases or metals or photo books or other specialty items, the "must order by" date comes up a lot faster than you might think.
If you want a Christmas ornament of your pet, don't wait until after Thanksgiving to start to find a photographer, unless you want to take your chances as to whether the ornament will arrive in time for Christmas!
If you are interested in Christmas photos of all your family, or just your furry family members, the sooner you contact me, the better!
So put off the holiday decorating as long as you like (I grew up overseas and knew a Dutch family that didn't even put up a Christmas tree until Christmas Eve), but if you want to have family photos for Christmas cards, or if you want to give photo gifts as presents (to yourself as well as to others - there is nothing wrong with treating youself!), the holiday planning has to start early!
Besides, when you are able to cross "Christmas cards", and "photos for the grandparents" off your list, you'll be able to relax and enjoy the spirit of the holidays!
If you holiday photos of your pets, or your entire family (and your pets are family, right?!?), contact me at 801-712-3200 or [email protected]