You’ve been blessed with a beautiful baby, now it’s time to announce it to the world. Sending a birth announcement to your friends and family is as important as sending a wedding invitation. Even in this new electronic age, mailing a physical birth announcement isn’t something that should be replaced by a quick email.
Many new parents wonder what they should include on their birth announcement. This is one area that a seasoned designer can offer their professional experience to make the process easier for you. Here is a list of my recommendations:
1. Photos – We recommend sending a photo birth announcement as everyone wants to see how cute your little one is. You can choose a design that uses only one photo of the baby or use a few, like close ups of their tiny hands and feet. You can also include a photo with siblings or the entire family.
2. Gender – This can be denoted by the colour used on the announcement. Pink for girl or blue for boy, but some want to use a gender neutral colour so we recommend that you include a heading like “it’s a boy!” So there is no doubt as many are using unique names that might not be so obvious.
3. Name – Using either the babies full name or their first and middle name. Many like including the first name or nickname in a script style font faded in the background.
4. Birth Details – Include as much or as little as you would like, the common details to include are; date of birth, time of birth, weight and length.
5. Parents – Including the parents names, if the mother uses her maiden name it is recommended to use only the first names. Common writing includes “Love proud parents, Max and Rhonda” there is no need to include the last name(s) here if you have included it as part of the babies name.
6. Siblings – If the new baby has siblings include them with the parents names. Putting them on the line below the parents name “Love proud parents, Max and Rhonda and big sister Julia” or include them in the introduction “Julia is proud to announce the arrival of her baby brother…” at the top of the announcement. This helps make them feel involved in the announcement.
7. A special saying, poem, or religious verse/quote. Depending on the amount of space left many chose to include something special to them. You can also order a double sided or folded style card which allows for extra space.
We recommend to keep it simple, less is more, is a good rule of thumb. Don’t over-crowd the design with too much information. This is where hiring a professional designer will ensure that your birth announcement is perfect, as their experience with design and layout will help guide you to a completed design that you will be proud to send to all of your friends and family.
