In today’s society most people—including you, your fiancé, friends and family—lead extremely busy lives. Therefore most wedding professionals agree that “Save the Date” cards are a courteous way to announce your wedding date and allow guests ample time to plan. In addition, they help guarantee more invitees will be able to come.
Although “Save the Date” should tie-into your overall wedding theme, by no means should “Save the Date” cards resemble a formal wedding invitation. There is no need to include a significant amount of information and verbiage at this point in the planning process. Simply, use your “Save the Date” to do just that; act as a placeholder on every guest’s calendar.
Remember these, often-creative announcements, serve as a pre-invitation for your upcoming nuptials. Simply include the date, time and place. In addition, it’s also nice to include your wedding site too, so guests can find updates about your wedding as plans develop. Here, they can also post comments and photos to your online guest book.
So, who receives “Save the Date” cards? Everyone on your list including people you already know are attending. Your bridesmaids, siblings, even parents. This fosters early conversation and buzz surrounding your Big Day.
Timing. Typically “Save the Date” cards are mailed six months prior to your wedding. They are extremely appropriate for 3-day weekend celebrations and weddings during peak holidays such as, Fourth of July or Labor Day weekend.
For destination weddings, however, eight months ahead of time is the norm. Keep in mind as more and more destination weddings become the trend, they are also expensive vacations. In this case, “Save the Date” cards are absolutely necessary; guests will need to plan accordingly. Request time off from work, book travel and accommodations early to save, and map out tourist things to do during their visit.
On a more practical note, “Save the Date” not only help increase guest attendance, but they also serve as a way to count your numbers ahead of time, so to speak. If guests already know they cannot attend, you are more likely to receive “regrets” right away. This gives you a bit of lei way when deciding whom to invite. Co-workers? Old high school friends? Second cousins? etc. There will always be some people you haven’t seen in some time, but would be nice to invite.
“Save the Date” come in many shapes and sizes. You can find almost any type of stationery you want: modern, traditional, and photo cards. But this is also an opportunity to be creative with your announcement.
Since “Save the Date” cards are not traditional wedding invitations, you can have a bit of fun with them. Why not play off the theme or location of your wedding? For example, if you are planning a barefoot beach wedding, send flip-flops. For a distant exotic Island, a message in a bottle or map of the Island is unique. For a back-yard clambake, lobster bibs. Or fortune cookies and fridge magnets are extremely popular. There are a plethora of “Save the Date” ideas in the wedding market today.
Although unlikely, if your date, location, or plans change, it is imperative that you update your wedding site with the new information as soon as possible. In this situation, you may want to send a free, virtual “Save the Date” card online.
I remember hearing a story of a wedding getting canceled in Florida due to a pending hurricane. The wedding was pushed out 6 months and new “Save the Date” cards sent.
While “Save the Date” cards are more important now more than ever, it’s still nice to know that each guest will receive an official invite to your wedding down the line.
