Why You Should Send Out Save the Date Cards
Woohoo! Your partner popped the question and you are now affianced!
Congratulations!! The moment you have been waiting for finally came! You may be wondering, what comes next? Once you have booked your venue and ceremony, you need to think about your wedding stationery. Whenever possible, you should book with your preferred stationer approximately 12-16 months prior to your wedding.
Destination Weddings
If you are planning a destination wedding, a Save the Date is a must! Guests need to know that the wedding will be out of town and will need time to save up for the big day and to make arrangements for travel, child minding, pet sitting, time off of work, etc. The more notice you can give them to prepare, the better!
A Save the Date card is an opportunity to let your guests know where the wedding will take place, when it will take place, and who they can contact for travel arrangements.
We at Liz Kotsamanes Designs highly recommend sending these out to your guests one year in advance. This means that ideally, you should meet with your stationer at least 14-16 months before your wedding to create your custom Save the Dates.
Local Weddings
Save the Dates are also highly recommended for local weddings. Guests are more likely to attend a wedding when they are given plenty of notice, and prior to booking holiday plans. If you want to be sure everyone knows ahead of time when the big day will be, send a Save the Date!
Your guests will still need to make arrangements for child minding, pet sitting, time off of work, etc., similarly to destination weddings. This is especially important if you are having an adults only wedding celebration.
Save the Dates are especially useful for summer weddings, as vacations and other weddings may be booked at the same time as your big date. The sooner you let your guests know, the more likely it will be that they can plan around your date and still be able to attend.
When I got married, we had a cousin who had to attend a second family wedding on our date, so they had dinner at one wedding and danced at another! Fortunately, we had sent a save the date, so she knew well ahead of time and could plan accordingly. We were so glad she could attend ours for some of time time, rather than miss it completely!
Local wedding Save the Dates should be sent out at least 6 months prior to the wedding, but ideally anywhere from 8-12 months is best to give your guests appropriate time to plan.
Wedding Weekends
Having a multiple day event? Without a doubt, a Save the Date card is crucial for a full wedding weekend, especially a summer one! For a guest to be able to block off an entire weekend to attend your event, it requires planning ahead. Accommodations must be booked, along many of the other factors mentioned earlier. If you want people to be able to attend all of the events, they need a heads up well in advance!
Why Should I send a physical copy of the Save the Date?
You might be thinking, I'll just send an e-card to tell everyone, what is the big deal?
Well, you could do that, and yes people do it all the time. Here is the BUT…
Contact information may be old and outdated and may not make it to the guest. I have had this happen to me before. Someone uses my old email address that they had on file and didn't update, and I miss out on the invitation completely!
Spam or Junk Folders are an issue! Email constantly ends up in spam folders, and just may not get seen by a number of your guests, defeating the purpose of sending one!
In the day and age of technology, there are still many people who don’t use it- particularly older relatives. Not everyone uses email or checks it regularly!
Mementos
Finally, a beautiful, physical copy of a Save the Date card is a keepsake for your guests and often gets put on the fridge as a reminder. Many people keep the Save the Dates a souvenir.
It is very common that couples use their engagement photos on a Save the Date card, which is a great way to show off your favourite pic to people who may not otherwise have had a chance to see it. This might be the first look your guests have at the wedding that will come, so it can really set the tone for your celebration.
You can spend a little or a lot on Save the Dates. Digital printing can be a beautiful way to send a notice to your guests. Digital printing is very affordable, and you will likely only need a single stamp to send it. We start as low as $3 each for our beautiful, full colour options at Liz Kotsamanes Designs.
Want a luxury finish? We can do that too! We also offer foil and letterpress options for our clients! Starting from $7 each!
Not into traditional cards? We can help you create something out of the box, such as magnets, luggage tags, gifts and more!
Contact Liz Kotsamanes Designs today to see what we can create for you! Let us tell your love story.
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https://lizkotsamanesdesigns.ca/blogs/news/tricky-etiquette-question-no-1-adults-only-weddings