Blissful Bay Weddings

A number of people have asked me about “Save the Date” wedding invitations.  What are they?  When should we send them?  Do they replace a normal wedding invitation?  And what should be included in a “Save the Date” wedding invitation?

Since this is such a common inquiry, AND I happen to be creating one right now for one of my wedding clients, I thought I’d take 5 minutes to shed some light on the wedding “Save the Date”.

Save the Date!

Simply, a “Save the Date” wedding invitation just lets your guests know your wedding date in advance; actual wedding invitations follow later and are sent closer to the wedding date.  They are also usually less formal than the wedding invitation.

“Save the Dates” are fantastic for out-of-town guests as it allows them advance preparation should they need to plan and travel to your wedding.  “Save the Dates” can be sent out about 3-5 months before the wedding day, however, many choose to send out their “Save the Dates” as soon as they know when their wedding date will be.

There are a number of “Save the Date” ideas:

• Postcards
• Electronic Calendar Appointments; for example, Outlook or Google Calendars
• Paper copies
• Magnets or Stickers -  Vistaprint is a great website that allows you to create and design your own prints on magnets & postcards – check them out – I have used them myself & they are totally affordable!
• Photos
• Online invitations such Facebook Events; You Tube; Smilebox; & Evite – I totally appreciate the convinence of using FREE online media as they are instant to recipients and great for recording RSVP’s of your guests.  I have used all of the above to create event invitations and they are very successful!
• Stay on Theme – where possible.  If you know where you are getting married and what colours or themes you plan on executing for your wedding day, it is a great idea to stick with that for your “Save the Date” invites, as they are usually the first visual aid to your preparations that will be distributed.  Examples I have heard of for themed weddings are: Invitations written on Jandels for Beach Weddings; Printed CD cover invitations that are sent with a music CD of the couples favourite songs … ideas are endless & what a fun & unique way to let people know you are getting married.

What information should be included in your Save the Date invitations?  Remembering that you will still be sending out official Wedding invites, there is no need to include more than what you may know at the time you send them out.  Many people do not know for sure where their wedding venue will be at this time, so adding the location is impossible.  Feel free to add as much information as you like – but below are the usual basics you would include:

• Couples names
• Wedding Date
• Location (if known)
• Link to your Wedding Website – if you have one.  A wedding website is a fantastic idea as you can keep updating it with your wedding details.  Guests that use the internet can also be kept informed of all your preparations and the finer details of your wedding by referring to your website.  The Knot has free wedding websites available if you become a member (also free) – go on, check them out!
• Any other details that you would like to include that you feel apply to your wedding day; however, DO NOT include a Gift Registry with your Save the Date invite as it is not really appropriate considering bringing a gift is usually not compulsary.

So there you have it!  Your “Save the Date” wedding invitation!  Easy peasy!

Jacqui

Well, what to say? 

There has certainly been a lot going on of late including one particularly interesting wee project that was inspired via THE KNOT – 10k Wedding Budget Challenge.  This is a great idea to provide couples with relevant costs & information of their local wedding vendors.  So, I too, have jumped on this ‘band wagon’ to make available to couples in my area what the Bay of Plenty wedding industry has to offer.  Consider also how significant it is for many couples to monitor their wedding budgets, and being able to provide a means that enables couples to ‘tweak’ expenses to suit their wedding logistics & budget.  I hope to post my first ‘Under 10k Wedding Budget’ within the next 7 days.  So keep an eye out for it.

Other blog ideas I have been working on are real life “how were you proposed to” stories.  I hope to add a new story each month.  If you have a particularly interesting wedding proposal story that you would like to share with me to post on this website, I would be very keen to hear from you.

So on top of working on my website & business, there is still the usual routine of work & family; and then there is of course Social Media Networking via Twitter & Facebook.   Due to the holidays, admittedly I haven’t indulged myself to a more beneficial capacity as of late, though I still continue to enjoy networking with the many innovative and interesting people within these online communities & have recognised what a significant tool Social Media Networking is.

And there it is!  My ‘excuses’ for failing to post blogs more regularly … I hope you will forgive me.