Write a letter today — during their first year — and we'll deliver it on your child's first birthday. A keepsake that captures exactly who they were before they remembered.
First birthdays are for the parents. The baby doesn't really know what's happening — the cake, the song, the photos — but the parents know what it took to get here. A year ago there was a hospital room and a tiny stranger. Today there's a one-year-old with a personality, opinions, favorite foods, a specific laugh. Somewhere between those two days, an entire first year happened, and it's already fading. That's the sadness of first birthdays: they celebrate a year you're already struggling to remember clearly.
A letter written during the first year, delivered on the first birthday, is the rare thing that holds a year in place. You write it whenever the feeling hits — the first time they smiled, the first time they rolled over, the first time they slept through the night. You describe the year as it's happening. What they were like at three months, six months, nine months. What surprised you. What you wish you could tell yourself on the hard nights. Then we hold the letter, and on their first birthday, it arrives in the mail.
It becomes part of the day. You read it at the party, to yourself, with tears in your eyes while everyone else is eating cake. You read it to your kid when they're older. It ends up in their baby book, in their keepsake drawer, in the scrapbook their grandparents eventually make. And one day — twenty, thirty years from now — they'll read it themselves. A first birthday letter in their parent's actual handwriting is the kind of gift that ages all the way up with them.
Three simple steps. One beautiful moment, later.
Pour your heart onto paper. Use our Letter Helper if you'd like prompts. You decide when it should be opened — 1 year or 2 years from now.
Mail your sealed letter to our PO Box. We store it in a climate-controlled, fireproof safe — untouched, unopened, waiting.
On your chosen date, we mail your original, handwritten letter with tracking. Your words arrive exactly when they're meant to.
Your letter is in safe hands
You're trusting us with something irreplaceable. Here's what we do about that.
Letters are stored in climate-controlled, fireproof safes — not filing cabinets or cardboard boxes. We treat every letter as irreplaceable, because to someone, it is.
Every letter ships with an active tracking number, so you (or the recipient) know exactly when it's on its way.
If your address changes before your delivery date, email us anytime and we'll update your file. Your letter follows you — no extra fee.
If Hold My Letter ever closes, every stored letter is immediately mailed back to the sender's return address. No exceptions.
One letter. One delivery. One beautiful moment when it returns.
Emailed on your chosen date between 6 months and 2 years out. Add physical mailing for a small fee. Available worldwide — the right choice if you're writing to (or from) outside the United States.
One-time payment
+$12 to add physical mailing (first address)
One-time payment
+$12 to add physical mailing (first address)
Physical mailing add-on: +$12 for the first address. Each additional unique address: +$2.
The original Hold My Letter experience. Handwrite your letter, seal the envelope, and mail it to our PO Box. We store it in a climate-controlled, fireproof safe until your chosen delivery date — then send it back with tracking, still sealed.
One-time payment
One-time payment
🇺🇸 Currently available for US addresses only. International shipping coming soon!
Everything you need to know, answered plainly.
It only takes 20 minutes. The moment it lands will be worth years.
12 chapters. Age-by-age writing scripts. Read on the site.