Rules of Engagement: Save the Date Etiquette

The decision to send save-the-dates to our guests was one that was made earlier on in the wedding planning process. For us, three major factors came into play:

1. The majority of our wedding guests are traveling from another state.
2. Our wedding date falls on a three-day holiday weekend during a month that many people opt to make vacation plans.
3. I just so happen to think that stationery is awesome!

Of course, I don't recommend that every engaged couple send out a save-the-date, but it is a nice courtesy to give your guests a heads up to prepare for the big day.

Save-the-dates typically go out six months prior to the wedding date allowing ample time for guests to request vacation time from work, make travel arrangements, and in some cases, save money.

à deux: bespoke bridal paper

Other tips to keep in mind when sending off your save-the-dates...

• Send a save-the-date announcement to guests that you definitely want to come to your wedding. Clearly mark the outer envelopes with the names of all invited guests to minimize any confusion later on. For example, if you don't want children to attend, the save-the-date is your opportunity to make that message clear.
• Formal vs. Informal? Don't worry about it. It's YOUR choice. If you don't want to put your last names on the save-the-date then don't. Let the save-the-date show your personality. Get creative. The Mister and I chose to tell the story of how we met in ours. Our guests loved reading about it when they received the yummy stationery in the mail!
  
  
• Finally, get organized prior to sending out your save-the-dates. It took us over a month to gather addresses and finalize our guest list before we were ready to send out our cards. By the way, I highly recommend the website Postable for keeping track of addresses. It's extremely user friendly, secure, and a fab way to keep all of your guests addresses at your fingertips!

Engaged couples out there, are you sending save-the-dates to your guests? Share your ideas and tips.