Posting your card at the right time so it lands on the right day
Published on 30 August 2026 · 3 min read
There's always a small moment of doubt: you've picked the photo, you've found the words, and then you wonder whether your card will land before or after. Too early and it gets lost in the week's mail. Too late and it turns up once the party is over and the cake is long gone. Good timing isn't luck, it's just two or three markers worth remembering.
Count two weeks and sleep easy
A card posted in France on a working day usually takes three days to arrive, sometimes four in busy periods. At UnCoucou, your card is printed and handed to La Poste with our next dispatch, and there's at least one a week. Add it all up and two weeks before the date you're aiming for is the comfortable marker. Other countries, on the other hand, aren't possible yet: for now, we send to France and Monaco only.
Watch out for weekends, which don't count in the postal journey. On our side, a card confirmed just after a dispatch waits for the next one, up to a week later. And the end-of-year holidays slow everyone down, so shift things by another two or three days at that time.
Planning ahead without arriving three weeks early
For a birthday, aiming for the day before is smarter than aiming for the day itself: nobody has ever complained that a card arrived a day early, whereas a late card is spotted straight away. For a holiday note to grandparents, the idea is the opposite: you're allowed to send it on your last day, your card will arrive after you do and stretch summer out a little at their place. Some people do it on purpose.
And if you're really late? Send it anyway. A birthday card received on the 12th when the day was the 8th still makes someone's day, especially with a photo of the two of you on it. Nobody reads the postmark.
Getting into the habit of a little list
The simplest thing is to write the important dates down somewhere, then count back two weeks in your calendar. One reminder, five minutes to pick the photo and write three lines, and off it goes, from 2.49 € all included, stamp and postage covered. The rest is the post office's job.