What is a "save the date" card?

Question

sorry to sound dumb, but im being told i should send out save the date cards. and to be honest, i dont know what that is. can anyone please explain? thanks

Answer 1

a simple little card to give guests a little heads up about your wedding so they can make arrangements early enough to be able to attend. You send them out when you have a date and time chosen. a few months before you send out the actual invitation.

Answer 2

Lots of websites that you can order wedding invitations from have matching save the date cards to give you ideas. I also had found a site where the did them in magnets. A lot of times you send the invites approx 6 months before the wedding. However, some people may need more than 6 months to prepare, ie out of state or out of town guests who have to save extra money and make travel arrangements. It is a simple guesture to say hey we are getting married and invites are soon to come please prepare. My hubby and I did a "we're engaged" card thru walmart as a way of letting everyone know.

Answer 3

It's just a way to let people know when your wedding is. You can do it with email if you want. Some brides use it as a way to tell who really can't attend, so they don't send invitations to people who really can't come. In general, save the date cards are sent one to two months in advance. The invitations are more formal. Save the date cards say, for example, "Susan and Peter are getting married on July 14, please save the date." Invitations say, "Susan and Peter are getting married July 14 at 2:00 at St. John's Church, 1400 Main Street. Reception to follow at Roger's Restaurant at 3:00". Hope this helps. Congratulations!

Answer 4

I sent my save the date cards out in my Christmas cards for an April wedding. That way people knew when it was going to be and plan for it. Invitations only go out two months prior so if people need to plan to travel or make other arrangments they have a little more time to do it.

Answer 5

LOL Sorry, didn't even occur to me to explain my answer....

Basically, they're pretty explanatory. You send a small card out to your guests telling them you're getting married on this particular day. They're usually small (about the size of the RSVP card) and it doesn't contain many details like time of day or location, just that you are getting married, and it's on this day. If it's not clear to your guests, you can include what town you're marrying in (like, if it's not the town you live in, but your hometown, or your fiancee's hometown, or somewhere else entirely).

It lets the guests know to keep that day free.

Later, they get the details of where and when in the formal invitation.

In regards to the person a few answers up who said it's a waste of money, that's all in your view of it. I have a cousin who is getting married in August, and because she's the last one of us to get married, and she made it to EVERY function of ours (graduations, wedding showers, weddings, baby showers, etc.), often joking that when it was her turn, no one would make it, it was very important to me and all of my cousins to be there for her on her special day. That was heightened by the fact that my aunt passed away last year. She sent out save-the-date cards, and I'm really glad, because we're all going to be able to be there at least for the reception. If she hadn't, that probably wouldn't have happened, since several of us work jobs with ever-changing shifts. So, save-the-date cards have their place.

As far as wedding "invites" go, save-the-date cards are among the very few that are acceptable to do via email, because they're very informal.

Answer 6

Save the date cards are usally only sent if you are going away for your wedding ie in another country. Don't worry about these cards if it's near most of of your relatives & friends. Just make sure the invites are sent at least 2 months before the wedding.

Answer 7

Everyone has told you what they are, so I will tell you when to send them and if you need them because they arent ALWAYS necessary. (Although if people are asking for them from you, you shold do it)

Save the dates should be sent out no later than 6 months before the wedding. You want to send it at least this early because you are asking people to reserve a date, thus you need to give them time to reserve it. It would do nothing if you sent your save the dates and then 2 weeks later sent your invites, know what I mean.

Save the dates are never tacky or tasteless, but they are more necessary at some points of the year and for certian types of weddings than they are for others.
1. If your wedding date falls on or around a holiday, you need to send them. Whether you choose the actual 4th of July or just the first weekend in Dec, you need to send out a save the date. People almost always make holiday plans and you want to be sure that they know welll in advance not to plan anything on your day, especially around Christmas time, weekends fill up fast with holiday parties and such, so people will need a very good amount of time before hand to mark their calandars.

2. You have alot of Out-of-towners coming to your wedding. If you live in PA, but most of your family lives in FL, you will be having alot of people traveling to your wedding. In this case the earlier you send around the save the dates the better because people will want to get the best deals on travel that they possibly can and usually cheaper travel means booking as early as possible. You will also want to speak to a few local hotels about discounted group rates and include that information in with the STD, so that people can make their hotel arrangments as well.

3. You yourself are having a destination wedding and will be inviting everyone to join you on the beach in Jamaica. In this instance you will want to include any travel arrangments for airlines, hotel(usually with destination weddings people dont scatter to different hotels, they all stay together at the same hotel), car rentals etc, so people can be advised of what group rates they can take advantage of as well as know what the plans are. It would be good if you also send out a detailed itinerary closer to the date for everyone as well, so that people are well informed.

Those are really the only instances where you NEED to send Save the Dates, all other cases are necessary, but they are a nice touch! I will say, they dont have to be a huge expense or crazy fancy. There is a website www.vistaprint.com that is wonderful, you design you own save the dates and they cost almost nothing, I need 50 and its less than $10 for all 50 including envelopes. I will spend more on stamps than the actual card!

Best of luck to you!

Answer 8

It's not a pre-invitation. Its a note you send out (we're doing magnets) a few months up to a year before your wedding so that people know to save the date.

Answer 9

If more than 30-40% of your guests are coming in from out of town, then a save-the-date card is sent so arrangements can be made in enough time - especially if flights are needed, etc.

Answer 10

Its a waste of money if you ask me .. Save the date card is to inform ppl of your wedding date . Its like okay wedding is july 28 mark your calendars , invitation to follow .. You do not need to send it unless you have money to waste . All I did was send out the invitations and that was it.