Written by the team behind Puzzlify. Puzzlify is our product, so weigh what follows with that in mind. We've tried to make this useful even if you never use it. We're not affiliated with any diocese, parochial church council, church, chapel, tree grower, charity or community organisation.
Visitors to a church Christmas tree festival see the finished thing: rows of lit trees down the aisles, a choir in the chancel, mulled drinks at the back. The volunteers mostly remember setting-up Saturday. Trees arriving on a borrowed trailer, buckets of sand in the porch, a dozen sets of lights that worked perfectly last January and now don't, a primary school class arriving with paper angels, and someone on a stepladder asking whether the star is straight. This short guide is about thanking those people.
Here are a few ideas, with an honest look at whether a photo puzzle is a good fit.
The people behind the trees
- the organiser who keeps the list of which group is dressing which tree
- whoever fetches the trees and wrestles them upright in their stands
- the person who tests every set of lights and labels the extension leads
- the volunteers who help the schools, scouts, shops and clubs on decorating day
- the rota on the door with the guest book, the voting slips and the donations jar
- the team in the hall making the mulled drinks and warming the mince pies
- everyone who comes back in January to take it all down
Why thank them at all
A tree festival is often the busiest the church gets all year apart from Christmas itself, and it brings in people who wouldn't otherwise come through the door. It usually raises money for a local charity as well as the church. It is also a great deal of carrying, crawling under trees to find plugs, and evenings spent minding the door. A small, specific thank-you goes a long way.
A photo that tells the story
The finished festival is beautiful, but the setting-up photos are often the ones the team loves most:
- half-dressed trees with empty boxes and tissue paper all over the pews
- a tangle of fairy lights on the vestry table, mid-untangling
- a stepladder beside the tallest tree, with the star waiting on the top step
- a school's tree covered in paper angels and glitter, before the lights go on
- the first evening, from the back of the church, with every tree lit at once
- the porch sign and the donations jar on a little table by the door
Keep faces out unless people have happily agreed, especially children, and avoid readable family names on tree labels. Turn the flash off for lit trees; rest the phone against a pew end instead. Busy photos with lots of colour make good puzzles.
How many pieces
48 pieces is a relaxed ten minutes for most people. 80 or 130 suit someone who likes a challenge, and lit trees in a dark church are pleasantly tricky. 252 is a real project for the quiet days after Christmas. 24 is ideal on a phone or for someone who rarely does puzzles.
Sending it
Make the puzzle, write the note, publish the link, and send it by email or message, or print the link as a QR code inside a card. The recipient doesn't need an account or an app, and your note appears when the last piece clicks in. Good moments are the closing evening, Christmas Eve, or the January take-down.
A few notes people might write:
- "Thank you for every tree, every plug and every mince pie."
- "Remember setting-up Saturday? It was worth it."
- "The church has never looked lovelier."
- "Thank you for making room for everyone's tree."
- "We'll still be finding needles at Easter. Thank you anyway."
What it costs, honestly
The preview is free, so you can see how it looks before deciding. Publishing the link costs one credit (€3.99), or less per puzzle with a bundle. It's a digital puzzle, not a printed one, so nothing arrives in the post. A card and a few warm sentences are always enough on their own.
Other ways to say thank you
- a card signed by every group that dressed a tree
- a line in the parish newsletter or the Sunday notices naming the team
- a tin of biscuits or a box of mince pies for the take-down crew
- a printed photo of the lit church for the hall noticeboard
- telling the vicar or churchwardens so the volunteers hear it from them too
About Puzzlify
Puzzlify turns a personal photo into a private digital jigsaw you send as a link. It isn't a printed puzzle or a public puzzle board: only the people you share it with can open it. It's not the same as puzzlify.io, Puzzlit, Puzzly or Puzzify. If a photo puzzle feels right, pick a setting-up photo or the first lit evening and make one here.
Whatever you choose, the best part is the sentence that sounds like you, written to the people who carried in the trees.
Written by the small team behind Puzzlify (info@puzzlify.app). Not legal, religious, fire safety, electrical safety or photography permission advice.