I wanted to pick, order, and send out our save the dates about an hour after we had put our deposit on the venue. But knowing that I would not be putting our engagement photos on our invitations, I knew that I wanted to put them on our save the dates. I couldn’t exactly put our engagement photos on our save the dates if I hadn’t even scheduled our engagement photo session now, could I?
Since the engagement session was scheduled for mid-October, I knew that I could order and mail out our save the dates before Thanksgiving, which, considering the amount of Christmas cards that get mailed out, became my goal. It was hard to choose exactly what style I wanted until I knew what photo we would use, but I picked out a few different ones so that it would be easier to narrow it down.
After searching through the various style that incorporated photos, I came to the conclusion that postcards were the best way to go; they were simple and sleek, but also the most cost-effective. After doing my research, I determined that Wedding Paper Divas had that best selection to choose from.
Sophisticated one-photo postcard
Vintage looking calendar style
Cute two-photo postcard
All photos via Wedding Paper Divas
All these options made it difficult to narrow it down to just one! But based on the photo we decided on, we knew that the first option was definitely the best. I ordered them and about a week later I got them in the mail and started with my addresses. Now I learned two lessons from sending out save-the-date postcards:
The postcards came out super cute, and we did save some money on postage, but if I had to do it all over, I would definitely choose something different.
Did you have any obstacles to overcome in sending out your save the dates?
I worked a return address onto ours, only to realize after they had all been printed, that I got our address wrong (of course). It really didn’t matter though since no one even realized there was a return address on there. I didn’t realize until this post though that I actually have no idea if it made it to everyone it was supposed to. Maybe I should check…
I did postcards from WPD for my save-the-dates as well, which saved paper and postage. I didn’t include a return address but as far as I know that wasn’t an issue. I also chose to do postcard thank you cards (although for those I bought custom stamps from Zazzle which ended up costing WAY more than postcard stamps!).
We used postcards too. I didn’t realize until this moment that we did have a return address on there and two or three did get returned to us! I didn’t know the postal service did that for postcards…
So when you say you would chose something else, do you mean something other than a postcard? Would you do a card within an envelope?
I really like the designs you showed! I didn’t end up sending save the dates (despite a 2 year engagement) but its all good because there is only one guest that I know of that declined as they had booked something for the same time!
We went the postcard route too, from Vistaprint. We had a return address on there and the only ones that got returned were wrong addresses (I think there were a total of 2!). We also did postcard RSVP’s and we got everyone back in one piece. Maybe we were lucky?
Mrs. Buffalo, San Diego, CA Age and Occupation: 26, Treasury Services Representative Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Manufacturing Engineer Engagement Date: July 28, 2011 Wedding Date: September 2012 Venue: Bailey's Palomar Resort About Me: I’m a So Cal girl who doesn’t like the ocean (or sand) and would much rather be out in the country. I’m a Gleek and a Twi-hard, I enjoy baking, reading, watching old movies, and listening to country music. We both love football season, and thankfully our two favorite teams are in different conferences (and therefore rarely play each other). He’s a die-hard Indianapolis Colts fan, and I love the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (and YES, we’re both born and raised San Diegans). He’s my best friend, and I can’t wait to begin the journey of our lifetime together.
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