save the date cards???

lowly26

hi all,

just wondering bout save the date cards??? is this a new thing? does every one do it now cause ive never heard of it

amdublin

Only if your date is special and people might arrange other stuff. For example 26th Dec. Or New Years eve.

Etc.

Hope this helps!

byhookorbycrook

American/Hallmark rubbish. Skip it.

lowly26

yep thats helpful thanks were in july so i dont think there is anything major around our date

lowly26

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

American/Hallmark rubbish. Skip it.

good advice think ill take it save time and effort .... oh and of course money

Cathmandooo

I sent them to anyone being invited who live abroad, best give them as much notice as possible! But you could just ring/email them.

lowly26

Cathmandooo wrote: »

I sent them to anyone being invited who live abroad, best give them as much notice as possible! But you could just ring/email them.

the only one comng from away is the bridesmaid and one of the grooms men so they've already been well warned to be home in time lol

El_Dangeroso

I dunno, didn't send them for mine and around three people nearly booked hols around that time but they called me to check first as they knew the month. So I think might be worth sending them about 4-5 months ahead.

lowly26

oh yea i guess a lot of ppl will be booking holidays in july i never thought of that on i dont know what to be doin

Skid

I think it is nice to let people know well in advance. A 'save the date' card might not be necessary, even a text or an e-mail would do the job.

I have missed a few Weddings because I received the Invitation after I had arranged holidays.

lowly26

Skid wrote: »

I think it is nice to let people know well in advance. A 'save the date' card might not be necessary, even a text or an e-mail would do the job.

I have missed a few Weddings because I received the Invitation after I had arranged holidays.

i havent got everyones number or email, i guess i could email those that i do have and send to the ones i dont thats a good idea

Raphael

We made a "card", but just sent it via email. Date was nothing special, but we had a lot of people travelling, and wanted to make sure people could mark it into the calendar ahead of time. One of my best mates had some friends miss his wedding as they just gave the normal amount of notice, and the friends had booked a holiday already - would have upset me and the missus if that'd happened to us.

Sleepy

We've told most people our date in advance and will be sending the foreign invites next week (6 months notice) though I think most of them know the date already...

Penny Dreadful

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

I dunno, didn't send them for mine and around three people nearly booked hols around that time but they called me to check first as they knew the month. So I think might be worth sending them about 4-5 months ahead.

For this reason I stuck a note in with my Christmas cards saying "Save the Date:....."
I was sending cards anyway to those that I really would have liked to be able to attend so it was no additional expense or effort really.
I didn't do it for all of the people who were invited.

lowly26

the more i think of it the more i think sending them might be a good idea, i might email those i can and juat let the others know with a little card

marlie2005

I sent Christmas cards to the family abroad last year for our wedding preparations... It was kind of save the date card and they apprieciated it alot as they had months then to book the hotel and organize other family holiday around it.

The Davestator

We sent save the date magnets. They were pretty cheap and the idea is that they stay visible on a fridge, microwave etc.

lowly26

The Davestator wrote: »

We sent save the date magnets. They were pretty cheap and the idea is that they stay visible on a fridge, microwave etc.

oh thats a good idea do you have a website were i could find them?

Daisy M

I think its a good idea to make your date widely known, we nearly missed 2 of my husbands neices weddings last year as we were about to book a holiday early in the year luckily we thought to check just as we were about to book.

However you need to be very sure of your guest list before you send a save the date message, it will be impossible to reduce numbers if you feel they are too large if you have already sent save the dates. Also if you send them and overlook someone you later send an invite to they may feel they are a last add on.

Its a friging minefield!!!

pwurple

I'm not entirely sure why you wouldn't just send the invite? I mean... that has the date.

The Davestator

lowly26 wrote: »

oh thats a good idea do you have a website were i could find them?

www.savethedatemagnet.com

Got 100 for about €100. You choose a template, e-mail them a few photos of yourselves. They send a mock up by e-mail and once you sign off on them, they arrive. They're popular in America but most of our guests hadnt seen them before, so lots on fridges when we go to friends houses!

confusticated

pwurple wrote: »

I'm not entirely sure why you wouldn't just send the invite? I mean... that has the date.

You might not have venue, times etc completely finalised?

pwurple

confusticated wrote: »

You might not have venue, times etc completely finalised?

If you don't have the venue, then you don't have the date.

Daisy M

pwurple wrote: »

I'm not entirely sure why you wouldn't just send the invite? I mean... that has the date.

Usually you would send out invites 6 weeks before the wedding, I think the op is wondering about sending save the dates out a few months sooner to make everyone aware of the date.

cute_cow

We are getting married midweek in November. We are not sending save the date cards to everyone, but we to a few people.

Just as it is midweek, people will need to take 1 or 2 days off, and we don;t want people using up their holidays before our wedding!

It really depends on your friends and family and where the wedding is. Ours is down the country and family on his side live in the midlands, so would require an overnight stay I think.

We ended up getting the save the date cards in Marks and Spencers. However they do have the Marks & Spncer's PLC thingy and their UK address on the bottom, so got some lovely stickers with our first names and the date on the them, for a couple of euro online.

MILF

Don't be spending €100 on them!! Go to vistaprint.ie and get them there! I got my save the date cards there and they threw in matching envelopes and seals for the back in the same theme with whatever you want written on them for €32 for €50, including postage! And they do save the date magnets too!

I wasn't sure if I liked the idea and then when I saw them and saw how you can create your own and save a heap of cash, I jumped at them. Hubbie to be's family live in England and we wanted to give them as much notice as possible, plus it was a nice idea, I thought!

Here's the link to the save the date ones - Hope it works!

http://www.vistaprint.ie/gallery.aspx?pg=39&category_id=1632&xnav=TsrImage

paulbok

We didn't bother with save the date cards and in hindsite, probably should have sent out something.

Most of the guests knew in advance when it was but a few had booked their summer holidays before the invites went out so couldn't come.

Again in hindsight I would go for an actual card rather than an email or text (the magnets sound like a great idea) as people will forget you emailed them about it. Unless they mark it on a calendar they may forget about it or in the case of one couple that couldn't attend, had it marked for sept instead of August.

Cienciano

pwurple wrote: »

confusticated wrote: »

You might not have venue, times etc completely finalised?

If you don't have the venue, then you don't have the date.

Yes, but confusticated also said "times". You probably book your hotel a year in advance, but you're not going to finalise times till much closer.

OP, save the date cards are a great idea, as soon as you have a date send them out. I'd do it no matter what time of year, people could be booking trips away at any time. But you don't need to go all fancy or anything, they're purely functional!

pwurple

Cienciano wrote: »

Yes, but confusticated also said "times". You probably book your hotel a year in advance, but you're not going to finalise times till much closer.

I suppose. We just booked the venue, and they said most people start at 2pm, so we went with 2pm and sent out the invites the following week. Everything fell into place around that then. I don't really get what you need to wait to finalise. Maybe if the date was easter / christmas / new years when a lot of people have plans, then it might be handy.

There is certainly no requirement to leave sending invites until the last possible moment (the previously mentioned 6 weeks). That's a last date limit, not the 'correct' time to send them.

Ballyman

lowly26 wrote: »

oh thats a good idea do you have a website were i could find them?

You could ask your photographer to make them up for you if you did an engagement shoot with them. I have done up cards for a few people using a pic from their engagement shoots.

Raphael

pwurple wrote: »

I suppose. We just booked the venue, and they said most people start at 2pm, so we went with 2pm and sent out the invites the following week. Everything fell into place around that then. I don't really get what you need to wait to finalise. Maybe if the date was easter / christmas / new years when a lot of people have plans, then it might be handy.

There is certainly no requirement to leave sending invites until the last possible moment (the previously mentioned 6 weeks). That's a last date limit, not the 'correct' time to send them.

You don;t need to send the invites at 6 weeks, true, but sending them a year ahead of time would be too early. But if you have people travelling a long way, or booking holidays well in advance to get a good deal, a years notice can be really useful.

If you were to send the invites out then, people would get it, RSVP, and then quite possibly forget - these things happen. Doing a save the date and then an invite looking for RSVP 2/3 months before it means they get it cleared from way out, and it's a thing happening soon when they get the invite.

The Davestator

The Davestator wrote: »

We sent save the date magnets. They were pretty cheap and the idea is that they stay visible on a fridge, microwave etc.

The Davestator wrote: »

www.savethedatemagnet.com

Got 100 for about €100. You choose a template, e-mail them a few photos of yourselves. They send a mock up by e-mail and once you sign off on them, they arrive. They're popular in America but most of our guests hadnt seen them before, so lots on fridges when we go to friends houses!

Did the same, but organised it ourselves. Ebay for the fridge magnets (cheap enough), printer at home for the ink, ebay again for the lego, and then edited the photo with text giving our name, website name, date etc.



Plus the overgrown grass out the back garden was useful for something :pac:

lowly26

Dónal wrote: »

Did the same, but organised it ourselves. Ebay for the fridge magnets (cheap enough), printer at home for the ink, ebay again for the lego, and then edited the photo with text giving our name, website name, date etc.



Plus the overgrown grass out the back garden was useful for something :pac:

that picture is actually brilliant !!!!

Sleepy

We're having a similar Lego set as our cake topper!

TAPA2012

alot of people who we are invited to our wedding Dec 2013 will be coming from abroad, would you suggest I send them save the dates or send the invitations out alot earlier for them? advice greatly appreciated!

ElleEm

Send them a text/ email.
When I know I'll be invited to a wedding, I get the date off the couple and put it in my diary, simples!
I personally believe that the Save the Date things are such an unnecessary expense. One of my friends is getting married shortly after Christmas, so when she booked her venue, she sent out a text! That can be done for free via webtext!

norrie rugger

Cathmandooo wrote: »

I sent them to anyone being invited who live abroad, best give them as much notice as possible! But you could just ring/email them.

Or, I don't know, maybe send them an invite??;)


Honestly though a "pre-invite" invite, WTF like!

lowly26

TAPA2012 wrote: »

alot of people who we are invited to our wedding Dec 2013 will be coming from abroad, would you suggest I send them save the dates or send the invitations out alot earlier for them? advice greatly appreciated!

if you want to save the expense i wouldnt and just send emails or texts but if thats not an option maybe go for it

Cathmandooo

norrie rugger wrote: »

Or, I don't know, maybe send them an invite??;)


Honestly though a "pre-invite" invite, WTF like!

The invitations weren't ready, I wanted the colour scheme to be included and wasn't rushing myself to have every detail and time to be organised so far in advance, also people would need reminding of the details, why would you remember what church/venue and what time from an invitation you got 5 months ago. Most people would have lost them, they're just to get flights booked if they choose to attend. The proper invitation nearer the time gives all the details they need. There's method to my madness :pac:

norrie rugger

Cathmandooo wrote: »

The invitations weren't ready, I wanted the colour scheme to be included and wasn't rushing myself to have every detail and time to be organised so far in advance, also people would need reminding of the details, why would you remember what church/venue and what time from an invitation you got 5 months ago. Most people would have lost them, they're just to get flights booked if they choose to attend. The proper invitation nearer the time gives all the details they need. There's method to my madness :pac:

I am not having a go at you or anything.

I am thinking more of the actual cards and not your case in particular.
Anyone that we thought would need advanced notice got a call/text/email/facebook/handwritten notification. Cheap and easy. If we did not have any of the contact deatils, for the above, then we decided that we did not really know them enough to have them at our wedding TBH.

ElleEm

norrie rugger wrote: »

I am not having a go at you or anything.

I am thinking more of the actual cards and not your case in particular.
Anyone that we thought would need advanced notice got a call/text/email/facebook/handwritten notification. Cheap and easy. If we did not have any of the contact details, for the above, then we decided that we did not really know them enough to have them at our wedding TBH.

Ha, I'm glad you said this! I wondered about that when someone mentioned not having details to text or email to "guests".

Keedowah

We got married abroad and sent a little save the date card about 10 months before the date. We got a lot of people saying it was a great idea as they got to plan a holiday around the wedding - and gave them plenty of time to get organised.

I think the magnets are a great idea.

Chocoholic84

I don't see the point in these at all...we got married on a Bank Holiday weekend, so we just sent emails/texts to anyone who didn't know the date to inform them!

As someone said, they are just "pre-invite" invites...awful waste of money.

TAPA2012

Thank you! decided we are going to skype all the friends/family who are abroad this coming weekend, hopefully altogether on google hangout, to tell them to save the date. Then for those we know the time difference doesn't suit, we are going to send them a video message of the news so they don't feel left out! It's so hard when everyone is the four corners of the earth these days..........thanks for your advice!