Why Order Save the Date Cards?

Wedding Ring

Did you or any of your friends get engaged this holiday season?  According to new data released by the social media site Elite Daily,  Christmas Eve is the most popular day to get engaged, followed by Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Facebook compiled data from more than 2.5 million users in an effort to uncover some of the patterns — if any — associated with modern engagements.  They also found that one-third of people get engaged between November and December, and the average age of newly engaged couples is 24.

So if the big question was popped, and if she said “yes!” then the next step is figuring out the perfect date and location for the wedding.  And, of course, it’s the right time to put together the guest list so you know that the possible locations you are considering will accommodate the number of guests comfortably.

Save the Date Cards

Maybe you are already in this process, determining where and when to plan that dream wedding.  If so, you might consider Save the Date cards.  These are cards that are sent to wedding guests well in advance.  They can be sent out normally 6-9 months before the event, and in advance of the invitation.  Sometimes the cards just have text on them and sometimes they have a photo of the bride and groom.  That’s just preference as both are wonderful options.

Why should you send out Save the Date cards? They are perfect to use if you have a lot of out-of-town guests, as they need time to plan their travel.  If you are planning the big day on a holiday weekend, such as 4th of July, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s Eve, then a Save the Date is strongly recommended so your guests will actually “save the date” and not make other plans.

Why plan so far ahead?  Airline tickets are normally less expensive the earlier they are purchased so your guests will have time and details available to book travel if needed.  Also, if you can reserve a hotel ballroom and asking for a special rate for accommodations for your guests, then they will also be able to reserve a hotel room(s) in advance. On your Save the Date cards, if you have created a wedding website, you can list the address so your guests can find these details.

Save the Date cards are not, in any way, a substitute for a formal wedding invitation.  Normally on the save the dates, you would simply provide the wedding date, city of the wedding, and state that invitations will follow.  You would order one Save the Date per couple or family so that guest list is important to know at this point!

If you did create a wedding website, you are ahead of the curve. That’s a great place to, in addition to listing hotel information, list registry details, pictures of the bride and groom, provide tips of what to do when you’re in town, state whether the wedding is casual, semi-formal, black tie preferred, or black tie required, and other specifics.  If you don’t have that information available yet, no worries.  You can list that on accommodation cards when you send out the invitations 3-4 months before the wedding.

Happy wedding planning!

Best wishes,

Renee