Many brides wonder about the necessity of “save-the-dates” as they compile the charges that pile up during the wedding planning process, but they do have their purpose within the framework of your nuptials. Why should you bother - and how should you go about creating and distributing your preemptive wedding stationary? Read on for some quick tips for your save-the-dates:
Guests from Out of Town: Save-the-Dates are important for your out-of-town guests. A (timely) wedding invitation won’t make it to their front door in time for travel plans and timely accommodations (especially if your nuptials fall during a high-travel season) – they need to know well ahead of time that they should be planning to travel for your wedding. There is such a thing as “too early” for save-the-dates, however. Ten to six months ahead of time should be plenty warning for your far-away friends and relatives.
The Wedding Website: Your save-the-date is a great place to debut the address of your wedding website. It doesn’t have to be perfectly finished yet, but allowing your guests to check out a few pertinent details can’t hurt, specifically locations of hotels with blocks of reserved rooms or registry information for pre-wedding parties.
Save-the-Date Etiquette: Save-the-dates come with their own set of etiquette rules, so don’t wield them without thought. Save-the-dates are not like wedding announcements – everyone who receives a save-the-date must then receive an invitation to your big day. The same goes for the opposite – make sure, if you plan to send out save-the-dates, that everyone invited to your wedding receives one. If not, the people who don’t get one will feel like they weren’t originally intended as guests.
Some Creative Save-the-Date Ideas: Save-the-dates are fun because you can be so creative with them. Many brides opt for magnets, postcards, or even stop-motion YouTube videos to stand as their save-the-dates. Just make sure that if you are going to DIY your save-the-dates, try to keep it simple. 200 balloon printed save-the-dates sound wonderful until you’re staying up until 3am with a hot glue gun and your last nerve. Have fun!