Save the Date Cards are announcements that inform your guests of
your future wedding in order to keep your special day free. They are
essential in the following situations: if many of your guests are
traveling to your wedding, your wedding takes place on or around a
holiday, you are planning a faraway destination wedding, or your
wedding will take place in a seasonally busy or tourist locale, where
the flights and hotels perhaps book up early.

They are generally
sent at least 4-6 months prior to your wedding but, if you are planning
a destination wedding, for example Hawaii it is strongly recommended
that you send them 12 months in advance if not longer. For seasonally
busy and tourist locales or on or around a holiday it is best to send
them 9-12 months in advance. Your guests will then have ample time to
make all the necessary arrangements needed to be a part of your special
celebration and may even extend it into a vacation of their own.

Use
your imagination, Save the Date Cards are not meant to be formal. There
are many design options available. You can have them match your wedding
invitations, magnets, brochure style, post card size, multiple layers,
booklet style, you can add a picture of you and your fiancé, or
embellishments to add a personal touch.

Here are some guidelines
on what your cards should state, your names, date of wedding, city or
town and state of where wedding will take place. Also, because Save the
date Cards are a recent trend and many that have not attended a wedding
recently may mistaken them for the actual invitation be sure to include
something along the lines of, “Invitation to follow�, “Invitation and
details to follow�, “Invitation will follow� this is usually placed at
the bottom of the card. For more wording suggestions visit www.verseit.com. If you have a wedding website don’t forget to include the address for your guests to view.

If
you need to keep your guest list to a minimum, make a list of close
family and friends whom you want to make sure will be able to attend
and mail them a Save the Date Card, you do not need to send Save the
Date Cards to everyone you are inviting but, every guest that receives
a Save the Date Card must also receive an invitation.

We
recommend providing your guests with additional information to help
facilitate their planning such as airline, car rental, hotel,
information on things to see and do in the area and surrounding areas,
special events, theatrical shows etc. Go the extra mile and acquire
group discounts by calling specific companies and seeing if they offer
group discounts.

Article courtesy of Edna from Edna’s Sweet Announcements

Edna is a professional wedding invitation designer; http://www.EdnasSweetAnnouncements.com