The honest answer to "when should I order?" is earlier than you think, and not for the reason you expect. It is not the making that takes the time. It is waiting for you.
Every personalized piece we make goes through the same three stages, and only one of them is in our hands.
First, we draw it and send it to you
When your order comes in, nothing gets made. Someone sets your wording — the name, the year, the line you chose — into the design, and emails you a picture of how it will look. That is the preview, and we do not start work until you write back and say yes.
This step exists because the lettering on these pieces is raised in metal. Once it stands up off the surface, it is there. There is no undoing a spelling, and no changing your mind about a date. So we would rather show you first.
It also means the clock stops while the email sits in your inbox. If you order on a Friday night and reply on Tuesday, that is three days gone before anything begins. Most of the late deliveries we see start here.
Then it is made, and that takes five to seven business days
From the moment you approve the preview, the workshop needs five to seven business days before the piece leaves us. Business days — so a week on the calendar is closer to nine or ten days once a weekend lands in the middle.
The ornaments are worked in metal and finished in antique brass. The wording is raised, not cut into the surface, which is a slower way to do it and the reason they hold up year after year rather than wearing smooth.
Then it travels, and that part depends on where you are
Shipping is free everywhere we ship, and it is tracked — your tracking number is emailed the moment the parcel leaves. Customs duties are already paid, so nobody knocks on your door asking for money. Local VAT or sales tax is not included and may be charged on delivery, depending on your country.
What we will not do is promise you a delivery date. Transit time depends on where the parcel is going, and we would rather tell you that plainly than give you a date we do not control.
So, working backwards
Allow about three weeks from the day you order to the day it arrives. That covers the day or two we spend waiting on your approval of the preview, the five to seven business days in the workshop, and the time in transit afterwards.
Order earlier than that if you can. Nothing about this gets slower by being early, and the last two weeks before Christmas are the busiest of the year for every courier we use.
A few things worth knowing before you order
- A name, a year, or one short line fits well. Anything longer sits better on a plaque than on an ornament. Each listing tells you its own character limit.
- We make exactly what you type. Spelling, capitals and punctuation come through as you enter them. If you type in lower case, we set it in lower case.
- Personalized pieces cannot be returned. Something with your family's name on it cannot be sold to anyone else. That is also why we email the preview — so the decision happens before anything is made, not after.
- If it arrives damaged we replace it, personalized or not. Send us a photograph and your order number.
- They need almost no looking after. Wipe clean. Avoid harsh cleaners.
If it is a remembrance piece, order sooner
Ornaments made for someone who is gone take longer to get right, and they are harder to get wrong. People want the dates checked twice, and the preview often goes back and forth more than once. Give yourself the extra week. You can find those together under Memorial & Remembrance.
Where to start
Everything for the season sits in Christmas Gifts. If you already know it is an ornament you want, Keepsake Ornaments is the shorter list. And anything that can carry a name at all — ornaments, plaques, glasses, signs — is gathered under Personalized.