via Attacked by TulleWiki defines a Save the Date as an item stating the date of a wedding or other formal event. It typically states the date when a couple plans to marry, so that recipients will know to keep that date free. Save the dates usually take the form of a card, but can also be a refrigerator magnet or similar item. They are generally sent out at least six months before the wedding date, and are usually followed by a formal wedding invitation.
One problem. Money. I'll be honest with ya, I've been engaged less than a week and when the better half and I talk about potential wedding ideas, all we see are dollar signs floating above our heads. Does anyone else see them? To me, save the dates are one area we can skimp on and save some extra $$ in the long run.
The better half and I have attended a lot of weddings. I don't mean 2 receptions a year.. We sometimes hit 5-6 on the low end if we are lucky! To the exception of a June wedding we will be attending this year, we have NEVER received a save the date card for any of these weddings. I commend these Brides, since wedding invitations are already expensive as it is. If you factor in the card stock, printing and postage costs(bet you didn't think of that one!), a save the date card could tack on another $2-300 additional expense to your already tight matrimonial budget. Instead of putting that $300 towards a piece of cardboard no one will remember receiving, why don't you go the eco-friendlier way and have fun with it!
We were thinking of building a website especially for the wedding for out of town guests and lurking friends who might want to find additional information on the dates, where we are registered and all that extra stuff you usually leave off the official invite. Since my better half is already tech savy, this would be the cost effective way for us to go. A domain name costs next to nothing to register and we could throw the website on an already existing server which would save us a good chunk of change. So there you have it! A $300 expense turned into an under $60 one!
In the end, we decided to only send save the date cards to our out of town/province/country guests. Everyone else can check the website. 'nuff said.
Did you send save the dates out? Any advice for us?
3 comments:
I made my own STD's and they cost me about $175 or so including postage for about 100 of them. I love them! They're on my blog and were little cards with stickers on them that people can put on their calendars and day planners. But we also created a wedding website that has a massive amount of info on it...also linked over on my blog. The websites you can get for free but ours has way more options within it and we paid $89 for 18 months to have it up. I think either way you would be fine. Definitely creating a free web site and e-mailing it out to family and friends is the inexpensive green way to go if that is your number one concern.
No one expects a save-the-date for most weddings. The only time a STD is really needed is if you are having it on a holiday week-end or it's a wedding that most guests will have to travel to attend. I mean, if you're having a Labour Day wedding, you should probably let people know in advance. And if your wedding is taking place in Mexico, you might want to let people know in advance so they can budget and save up in order to go.
We got a wedding invitation for my husband's cousin's a wedding in Costa Rica a couple years ago (he's pretty close to his cousin). Yet this was the first we heard the wedding was in Costa Rica, and we got the invitation 2 1/2 months before the wedding. It wasn't enough time for us to save for the trip, so we declined.
Personally, for our local early June wedding last year, I sent out email save the dates. It worked for most people, and frankly no one expected a save the date. So unless you're having a destination wedding or a wedding on a holiday week-end, I would suggest you DON'T worry about save the dates.
Mrs Beever to be:
The website is %100 why save the dates aren't really as important to us as say the main invite. so any additional info, including wedding details/registry can be found in one spot. I'll be sure to check yours out for inspiration!! :)
Krista:
That's exactly what I was thinking!! And totally agree with you on the out of town/destination weddings. Our friends had a destination wedding in Cuba last year and were on the ball; invites were sent 1 year in advance and that gave everyone ample time to plan accordingly.
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