Save the Date

A sample "Save the Date" card

Save the dates (also called STDs or Save the Date cards) are cards sent to potential wedding guests ahead of formal invitations. Their purpose is literally to ask guests to "save the wedding date" and not book another event on that date.

Save the dates are usually sent out six months to a year before the wedding. They are especially important for a destination wedding, a wedding with a large number of out-of-town guests, or a wedding around a holiday. Save the Dates provide guests sufficient time to make travel arrangements, and may even include information about the nearest airports and hotel blocks.

It is proper etiquette that anyone receiving a Save The Date will also receive a formal invitation.

1 Information
2 Ideas
3 Tips
4 Weddingbee Posts
5 Weddingbee DIY

Information

The following information should be included on Save the Date cards:

First and Last Names of couple
Wedding date
City

Optional

Hotel information
Wedding website
Nearest airports
Additional wedding weekend activities, such as other parties or brunches

Ideas

Magnet
Postcard
A card containing stickers for guests to put on their calendar indicating your wedding date
Boarding pass tickets or passports for destination weddings
Electronic save the date
Mini calendar with wedding date circled
Photo strip with the couple holding different signs in each of the four pictures (e.g. Save, The, Date, March 17, 2007)
Message in a bottle for destination weddings
A bookmark of pictures of the two of you
A memorabilia of your destination, a shell/starfish/miniature something as a teaser for what's to come at your destination wedding
DIY luggage tags of the destination wedding
Your STD information on a mini-CD

Tips

Include your wedding website on your Save the date. Guests can continue to stay updated with your plans and travel information this way.
Save the dates do not need to include much more than Who, What, Where, and When. Sending out too much information will resemble an invitation, and may confuse guests who are not familiar with "Save the Dates."
Be sure of your guest list when sending out Save the dates. Under no circumstances can you send a Save the date to a person and then not send them an invitation.
Give guests a taste of "what's to come" by designing your STD to match the mood, season, or theme of your wedding. For example, if you're having a beach wedding, you could incorporate starfish or shells into your STD design.
Doing Save the dates is a great way to get your mailing list organized prior to the invitations.
Postcards are a great way to do Save the dates because you can save on postage. However, one downside to this approach is that there is no return address on a postcard, and so if you get a guest's mailing address wrong on it, you won't know unless they are watching for it in their mailbox. You can write a return address on a post card or use a label in the top left corner.