This blog has given me the chance to meet lots of other brides to be, who email me their own stories of wedding planning disasters and questions about my plans as well. After my blog on etiquette I got numerous emails on save-the-dates, so I thought it was worth posting a little blog about them here.
Should your save the date match your wedding theme?
Well, that’s up to you. Personally I think the save-the-date stands on its own, so you can go a little bananas with it. You’re mailing them out well before you have the bulk of your plans set in stone anyways.
What is the layout for a save-the-date?
About 99.9% of save the dates I see follow this format:
It’s basically a business card glued to a sheet magnet, and I don’t recommend it. It’s just too small to layout all the information you need, and it’ll get lost on the fridge. They’re also more expensive since you have to pay for all the magnets, which you’ll have to attach to the cards yourself. That in itself is no small feat- it once took me over 2 hours to perfectly align 250 magnets to little business cards for a save-the-date order, and I can never get back those 2 hours of my life.
Your best bet is postcard sized cardstock, and skip the magnet. The larger size gives you more room to put the important stuff on the card. If you’re a super stealthy tiger bride on a budget, I’d skip the picture too. It’s cute, but pricy. And I don’t need your smiling faces staring me down when I’m raiding the fridge at midnight for snacks.
What information goes on a save-the-date?
Glad you asked.
Who
What
When
Website (If you’re using one)
“Formal invitation to follow”
Put all that stuff on the card in that order, and you're good to go:
Save the date- for free cake!
Judy and Mike
are saying "I do!"
June 10, 2011
Formal invitation to follow
Judy and Mike's dreams will come true
at Cinderellas Castle when they say "I do!"
Walt Disney World, Florida
June 10, 2011
Formal invitation to follow
Cheesy, right? That's my niche.
Anyways if you can’t fit all that on the card, then pick something bigger.
What did your save the dates look like and did you make them yourself?
I designed my save the dates using an online printing company. There are so many to choose from you can honestly just Google it. Find one that allows you an insane amount of freedom with font and placement. You really just want the card stock from the company. Save-the-dates are super easy to design, so have a little faith in your abilities and just design them yourself. It’s cheaper, and you can buy lots of flip-flops for the summer with all the cash you'll save.
For our save the dates, I needed something a little different. This is a destination wedding, so I need my guests to ACTUALLY READ THE FREAKING CARD. Honestly when I get a save the date I read the names and the date, and then if it’s a magnet I use it to stick NFL schedules to the fridge. If I need more information than that, then something on that little card better scream it at me. It better be bright, colorful, or just different in some way. You want me to go to your wedding website? Then it better be in a large enough font for me to actually read the web address.
So after Jose laid down the sledge hammer on my first four designs, I came up with this one:
It’s a 4x8 inch card, almost the size of a plane ticket. Jose was very clear that he did not want anything cheesy, hot pink or generally girlie and/or bizarre, so I had to come up with some other way to grab peoples attention. The odd-sized card was a good fit.
It not only lists the standard information, but also tells guests where the wedding is. I added this info on the side of the card to make it stand on its own since I really needed my guests to see it. It took me all of an hour to design, and my guests really liked them.
So now you know the steps: Google, postcard, important info, attention-grabbing. That wasn’t too painful, right?
Happy Planning J
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