A Vintage Christmas Card Tradition

It started with Christmas in Connecticut in 2015. Not only is the holiday classic my favorite Christmas film, it was also our first Christmas living together in Connecticut. I grew up here and my husband moved to Connecticut for me after living in New York and then Maryland together for several years. The idea was to recreate my favorite movie poster for our 2015 Christmas card as a fun way to celebrate our move and our first Christmas in Connecticut together. I set up a chair and a tripod to take the photo ourselves in our downstairs guest room at our Manchester factory apartment. We dressed as close as we could to the characters in the film. It wasn’t exactly Matthew’s idea of fun, but he he was good sport about it. The card was a big hit with our family and friends.

“Which movie are you doing next year?”

We hadn’t really given that any thought. It was never the plan. I figured that we would simply send a nice photo card like we had in previous years. Matthew wasn’t very fond of the idea of doing more of them. Our family told us we absolutely had to do another. So Matthew posed for it again, this time with less enthusiasm, until he saw how it came out.

“It’s A Wonderful Life” took me about forty hours to recreate. It was the year we became engaged so the title of the film was fitting. The photo was taken by my cousin in her living room. I had to stand on a ladder as Matthew posed as if he was holding me up. Other cousins directed our posing. Once again we dressed as close to the characters as we could and I borrowed a pair of black heels from my cousin Jessie. I pinned my long hair up to look shorter and Matthew wore his best blue suit. The lettering is what took the most amount of time. I had to hand create the custom names by hand-drawing them in Photo Shop. I matched the rest with a font I found online that matched the best I could.

Our first movie poster was easier to edit because it was based on a real photograph, but this movie poster was inspired by an illustration. I’ve since come to realize that most vintage movie posters were made with illustrations instead of photographs so many of the angles and proportions are slightly off and impossible to recreate. Also creating that vintage and painterly look has been a challenge. At first I considered illustrating the card based on the photo or over the photo, but ultimately decided to keep it as much us as possible instead of making it an exact match. I wanted people to know that it was really Matthew and I in the card, especially after the confusion for our card the following year.

By our third year it had become a solid tradition.

For 2017 we recreated “Holiday Affair.” We took the photos ourselves with a ring light off to the side in our tiny studio apartment. I found the yellow t-shirt on Amazon along with the red ribbon and clear wrap. Matthew wrapped me up himself and it was hysterical to see. We recreated the pose so well that people thought I photo shopped my face onto the poster, but it was completely me. I thought I had made it look as much “me” as possible, but it was too close of a match to the original. Now I do my best to make them a little less identical so that people instantly know it is really us.

This card probably took the longest (perhaps 55-60 hours to make) because I had to redo Matthew’s part of the poster a few times to get the shadows just right. The first version did not look flattering at all. They ended up being a little late to mail so I hand delivered a majority of mine on Christmas Day at the big family gathering.

In 2018 we got married and had our honeymoon in Europe. “Roman Holiday” was the movie we watched at our Jack-and-Jill bridal shower that year and Rome was one of the stops on our honeymoon so it was fitting. I had originally planned on “The Bishop’s Wife” for 2018 because of our wedding, but this felt more fitting and fun. Our cat Madeleine also made a cameo. Again, this one was taken ourselves using a tripod and a chair in our living room.

But there was a year it didn’t happen…

2019 was a difficult year for many reasons. We were both so stressed and busy around the holiday season that we had no time to make a card. Instead of causing ourselves more stress we decided to let it go and make more time for ourselves instead. I do not regret the decision, but I do look back and feel slightly sad that we are missing a year. The card that year was supposed to be “White Christmas,” but I couldn’t for the life of me find costumes that would match and we were feeling so exhausted and overextended. We decided to focus on our wellbeing instead. Our family was a little disappointed as the cards had become a much anticipated tradition, but it was right for us. I wrote a handwritten cards instead.

2020 was a big comeback for our vintage movie poster recreations

And thankfully in 2020 we had the time and the wellbeing we needed to create one. “White Christmas” was back on the agenda. Still, I couldn’t find the costumes or anything similar anywhere. The ones I did find were way beyond our budget. So I did some Photo Shop magic and put our faces on instead. I was pretty happy with the results. This card was much easier to create for the lettering, but it was a little difficult getting the background to look nice and make it look believable that our faces were there. It probably took about 20 hours to make.

The tradition continues in 2021

I will reveal our 2021 holiday card on Christmas Eve.

This year my skill and experience has grown. The time it takes to create the custom lettering and to edit has gone down. Our card for 2021 probably took about twenty-five hours in total, but it includes a lot more editing than our last two cards as well as a special guest appearance by our cat Madeleine.

This year I managed to edit the card quite quickly as well as order them in time to get them out for Christmas (often a struggle). Next year I hope to make it even earlier to alleviate some of the stress of making it and getting it out on time. Any guesses which vintage holiday film we recreated this year? Do you have a personal favorite out of the cards we have already made or one that you really hope to see?

When we started this holiday tradition in 2015 we had no idea it would become a tradition of ours or that family and strangers alike would love it so much. We did not set out to make this a tradition, but now it has become one of my favorite holiday traditions and we look forward to making them every year. Matthew, who at first wasn’t exactly thrilled to be a participant in this card making adventure now tells me we have to make it happen every year. I told him that I was worried that we were running out of old holiday movies and he reassured me that there were plenty to do for many years to come. Turns out, he is right. I have found quite a few I’m looking forward to making. If you have a suggestion for a movie we should add to our list for next year, please tell me in the comments below.

Happy holidays!