What is Wednesdays is a new feature we have started and we are super excited about it!
We know for the majority of you, this is the first and only wedding you will be planning, so it can be a little confusing and overwhelming at times.
Lucky for us, and all your other vendors, we've done this a few times before. This is our profession, our passion, so we are only ever going to guide you into making the best decision.
Over the years we have had many questions come up from clients about paper, printing processes, products etc and we love educating and explaining our world to you all. What is Wednesdays is our chance to share our most frequently asked questions and answers with you and hopefully clear the fog that is stationery terminology and allow you to make better more informed choices when picking and designing your wedding day paper products.
What is a Save the Date?
Think of it as a 'pre warning' for your guests.
"Hey we're getting married and we want to know if you can come but we haven't hashed out all the details yet but wanted to let you know k thanks bye".
This is a great idea if many of your guests live out of town or will have to travel to attend the wedding. It gives them a little more time to make arrangements, book hotels and dog sitters etc. Most of the time if a guest receives a save the date and 100% cannot make, it they will let you know. One less meal to pay for yay! You're saving money already!
What do I put on my Save the Date?
Lets start at the very beginning, a very good place to start! Names is a non negotiable factor. People want to know who they are saving the date for. Next would probably be the date. Also very important. Third, location. for this you can be pretty general. At this point you should be set on the venue, so having that on the card is a nice idea. Don't worry about putting the time or the ballroom name. Remember it's a general information card, so your guests can google it and say oooh! Maybe list the city or town. If it is a destination, the country wouldn't go a miss. At the bottom of the Save the Date we always make sure we have the sentence, "Formal invitation to follow". Why? Because we have been so general people will have questions. This will let them subtly know there is more to come!
If you do have lots of out of town guests, hotel accommodation will be high on their priority list. This information, if you wish to secure rooms, would be a nice gesture to add in with the save the dates. Again, timing is key and the earlier the better. If your wedding is in peak season, hotels get booked fast. If your wedding is in a hotel where there are multiple events on the same weekend, rooms get booked fast. If you wedding is that first summer after Covid restrictions are lifted, rooms get booked fast. Notice a pattern?
In this crazy time of uncertainty we are in, we have seen more people opt in to adding a website on their Save the Dates. This is a quick easy way to inform guests of any changes or updates that have taken place.
What is the best time to send my save the dates?
Typically we suggest 1 year to 6 months before your wedding date. This gives guest enough time to pencil you in, and also give your college friend the heads up on your date before her cousin, who she doesn't really like any way, decides to have her wedding that same June afternoon. Referring back to the C word, the more time you can give people the better and the more communication there is between yourself, your guests and vendors, the less stressed it will make you.
And there you have it. Save the Dates in a nutshell. They aren't for everybody, but they definitely make the anticipation and excitement towards your big day even bigger, and who doesn't want another excuse for more beautiful keepsakes and photos to add into your wedding album?!