Save the Dates and When to Send Them
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Save the dates and when to send em
So, you’ve got the ring…..now its time to plan! Beginning the wedding planning process can seem daunting – where do you start? First, you should start by thinking of when you would like to get married; what season do you see in your mind? Do you want to do it sooner rather than later or is a nice long engagement just what you both need in order to save funds and plan the perfect day? Whatever the choice, the first step is usually picking a venue, and then setting a date. Once you do –its time to send out a Save the Date to all of your prospective guests!
Where you are getting married is a good factor for determining when you will need to send out your Save the Dates. If you are planning to do a destination wedding, you may want to send them out as soon as 1 year in advance. If you are getting married in your home state where you know a lot of your invitees are from the same area, you may only want to send them out 6-8 months in advance. If you live out of state and most of your invitees are out of state or country, typically you would send them out about 10 months in advance.
When sending out your Save the Dates – we want to encourage you to be creative. This is your chance to engage with your guests (pun intended) and put your own spin on your first communication with them. We wanted to show you some different ideas that can be super fun and more unique than your typical Save the Dates. While sending your Save the Dates out with a photo of you and your fiancé is super cute – it is also expected.
A cool idea for a destination wedding would be to choose a Save the Date that looks like a luggage tag or a shape of a landmark from that destination. Let’s say you were getting married on an island – your Save the Dates could be in the shape of a palm tree or a pineapple. A cool way to put a spin on your Save the Date is to make them fun and make them a cute decoration for your prospective guests’ home. To see an example, click here : https://www.minted.com/product/save-the-date/MIN-7U6-STD/come-fly-with-us?color=A&greeting=&shape=N
Photo from Minted.Com
Another cool idea would be to do a Save the Date on recycled or repurposed paper. Everyone is so conscious of being eco-friendly and aware of what they are doing to help the planet in today’s world and we are SO on board! There are sites that will allow you to make everything paper based for your wedding from recycled paper! For ideas on where to get these, click here: https://www.foreverfiances.com/Green-Wedding-invitations-p/be_there_pl_save.htm
Now, if you’re really trying to get with modern times, perhaps the best way of getting the word out is to send your guests an electronic version of a Save the Date. There are perks to doing things all electronically now, especially if you are a couple that wants to save some money AND get an automatic yes or no – without spending the extra time trying to figure out who actually responded and who’s Save the Date is still sitting on their kitchen table. Pro tip: If you choose to send out an E-version of your Save the Date, you can put all your guests names, addresses and email address in an excel spreadsheet and keep track of who you’ve sent them out to, as well as reuse the list for invites, food orders, gift tracking and thank you’s. Some sites will even keep this information stored for you as an easy management tool! (Also, did you know that when you book your planning and coordination with us you also get access to our amazing app to keep track of all of this and more?!) For great E-versions of Save the Dates – click here : https://www.greenvelope.com/designs/wedding-save-the-dates
For those who have a little extra in their budget for something unique that their prospective guests can utilize until your big day, something different like a calendar for your save the date (from the month you send it out until the month of your wedding) is a great idea! You can choose beautiful pictures from your venue, pictures of the two of you (&your pets) and make them into a cute calendar for them to hang on their fridge or take with them to work. Alternatively, you can also select just the month of your wedding and make a one page calendar layout of your Save the Date, which is also super adorable and a great reminder. Being unique and funky is a sure-fire way to make sure your guests remember your big day is approaching. To make your own version, click here: https://somethingturquoise.com/2018/02/09/diy-calendar-style-photo-save-the-dates/
Photo: SomethingTurquoise.com
Whatever version of a Save the Date you choose, be sure to follow our timing guidelines and remember that a goal for a Save the Date is to give your guests just a taste of what’s to come- and to get them excited. Be fun, be creative and be yourselves!
