There are so many feelings that come up when taking your newborn home. From decorating the nursery and late-night cravings to baby shower invitations and thank you cards galore, you have just overcome a nine-month feat worthy of a crown. What better way to celebrate than with a custom baby announcement that your friends and family can cherish as a keepsake.
Much like your first trimester, creating baby announcements or may seem overwhelming. When is the best time to send them? What information should you include? Do you need to hire a professional photographer for newborns? We outline everything you need to know, and then some. Take a breathe, and focus on the most exciting part of creating your baby cards—announcing that you had a baby!
How To Make A Baby Announcement | Baby Announcement Quotes | When To Make Announcement | Announcement Ideas
How To Make A Baby Announcement
Birth announcements are the perfect memento to share all of the sentimental details about your new baby with your loved ones. They can save it for years in a photo book full of memories or tack it on the refrigerator as a daily reminder. Best of all, you will be able to focus your time on your newborn instead of answering countless calls, emails, and texts asking the same questions.
There are so many ways to create personalized baby cards, and not one is right or wrong. We’ve outlined best practices and useful tips for creating DIY birth announcements so you can leave the guesswork to your first swaddle. If you’re announcing a pregnancy, consider sending loved ones a personalized pregnancy announcement card.
1. Gather Your Details
First thing’s first, decide what information you want to share in your announcement. Some details to include could be:
- Introduction—add a cute rhyme or baby quote that fits your theme.
- Baby’s Full Name
- Baby’s Birth Date
- Baby’s Weight and Length
- Family Names—include parents, siblings, or grandparents.
- Birth Location
What you include on your announcements might encourage ideas for personalized gifts down the line, so double-check everything for accuracy before sending off the final product.
2. Choose Your Design And Theme
Baby announcement cards can be cute, sentimental, eccentric, and everything in between. Before you start creating the design, detail what the card’s orientation, size, paper, and trim will look like.
- Orientation: Landscape, portrait, or square
- Size: 3×5, 4×8, 5×5, 5×7, or 6×8
- Paper: Smooth cardstock or pearl shimmer cardstock
- Trim: Regular corners, rounded corners, bracket corners, scalloped corners, or ticket corners
If the personality of your new baby is already shining through, why not emulate that in your announcement cards? If you’re getting the jump while you still have your bun in the oven, consider using the same theme as your pregnancy announcement cards. Or, if your due date is around the holidays you could create a festive Christmas baby announcement.
3. Upload Your Photos
Have a photoshoot with your new pride and joy and highlight their best features! Whether you use one photo for your announcement or a few, you can always use the rest for baby photo books. When taking the announcement photos, keep the size and orientation of the card in mind so everything will flow properly.
4. Send Your Announcements Off
There’s no requirement on who you have to send your birth announcements to. Pull the addresses from your baby shower invites or just make a list of your close-knit family and friends.
If you want to send cards to a substantial list, but have budget constraints to consider, you could send physical cards to your immediate circle and an electronic version to everyone else.
Baby Announcement Quotes
Nothing says welcoming baby quite like a fun quote. Unsure of how to write a baby announcement to encapsulate just how perfect your little one is?
Below are popular baby quotes to help spark your imagination:
- “Our family grew by two feet”
- “The biggest blessings come in the tiniest bundles”
- “Welcome to the world”
- “Our dream come true”
- “And then there were three”
- “Our adventure is just beginning”
- “Meet our miracle”
- “Our greatest blessing”
When To Make A Baby Announcement
You’ve written countless thank you cards and created baby shower invitations to boot, not to mention announced your pregnancy. When your baby comes, another card will probably be the last thing on your mind.
Consider planning out your details and design while you’re still carrying, so when the baby comes all you have to do is add the information and a few photos. Let’s face it—you’ll be taking plenty of pictures regardless. Consider these tips when creating your baby cards:
- Timeliness: While people understand you’re focused on caring for a new life, etiquette suggests that you should send your announcements no later than six months after birth.
- Readability: The purpose of your announcement cards is to share information about your new baby. Make sure that the photo or background you choose allows for easy-to-read text.
- Quality: You don’t necessarily need to hire a professional newborn photographer to take your announcement photos, but make sure the pictures are quality and can be featured front and center.
Baby Announcement Ideas
The sky’s the limit when it comes to baby announcement ideas! Stick to the classics, or have fun with patterns and designs.
Take a look at a few design ideas to get started:
New Year Baby
Time to pop the champagne to celebrate your newest little! Think outside the box when it comes to an NYE themed announcement, add some bubbles or even a starry night sky to the background for a fun and celebratory card.
Include Your Pet
Your fur baby might have to share the spotlight with his younger brother or sister, so you might want to show Fido a little bit of extra love in the announcement. Who can resist a baby and a puppy? A paw-sitive smash hit.
Second Baby
If you’re a seasoned pro and this is your second birth, consider including the older sibling in the baby announcement. Add a fun tag line like “our family is growing by two feet” and your new family is sure to be picture perfect.
Unique Baby Announcement
Your newborn is out of this world and your announcements should follow suit. Add some rocket ships launching into the new chapter, or a few planets to show that your baby boy or baby girl is your world.
Funny Birth Announcement
Add a fun play on words to your introduction for an unexpected laugh from your recipients. “Player 3 has entered the game” is a great way to incorporate a hobby with your new parental duties.
Sibling Pregnancy Announcement
Sharing that your oldest child is going to be a big brother or sister is a great way to help him or her feel a sense of responsibility and accomplishment before the inevitable bickering begins in a few years.
Christmas Baby Announcement
Spread joy to the world with an announcement card that’s on theme for the holidays. Add some festive snowflakes or create a design around the ‘greatest gift’ to warm the hearts of all your recipients.
Final Thoughts
Whatever design you choose, your little one is sure to be the star of the show. Your birth announcements don’t have to be a chore with the right planning and design. Sharing the details of how special your little one is will help your family and friends feel like they’re a part of the most important years of the baby’s life.
Not to mention, you’ll receive personalized gifts with intimate specifics of your baby’s birth. Have fun with it and don’t forget to keep an announcement for yourself to put into your baby photo books! For even more inspiration, or to start your design, find a heartwarming custom baby announcement.
