The sole purpose of save-the-date cards is to give the many people you intend to invite to your wedding plenty of advance notice. If, for example, you are planning to marry during the holiday season or a holiday weekend, you will want your guests to reserve you wedding date on their calendars years in advance. If you will be inviting guest from out of town who will need to fly in for the wedding, they will positive need instant to build the necessary travel arrangements.

You should send save-the-date cards to all of your intended guests when either of these circumstances fit your situation. Even friends and family members who you already understand will attend should be sent a card.

On the other hand, if you are not sure whether a particular person or couple will be invited to the wedding, do not send them a save-the-date card. And there is really no reason, and its a waste of your precious funds , to buy and send these notices when all of your guests live relatively nearby or the wedding will not occur during a busy measure of the year.

Planning and Sending

Once you know all of the basic details about your wedding plans, place your order with your stationer. As with invitations, having these cards printed may take up to several weeks, so give your stationer plenty of measure . You can mail these cards out up to six years before the wedding date.

Save-the-date cards may be planned to match the rest of your wedding stationery and ordered at the identical instant, or they might have a completely different look.

Getting your guests attention

Some brides-to-be really want these cards to be eye catching so that they truly standout and serve as a visual notice. If this is what you have in mind, look for something unusual, such as scratch-off cards or magnets (that could be posted on your guests refrigerators). Maybe you will want to generate your own cards, incorporating one or more of your wedding colors, a graphic develope , or a photo.

You might buy save-the-date cards through most wedding stationery manufacturers and retailers. If you want to create your own cards or save funds , look for a card-develope software code . Michaels arts and crafts stores sells a dazzling software script called "Wedding Invitation Kit" that costs under $25. The program is constructed mainly for building your own wedding invitations, but it does include note cards.

What you should do

Since this will be your first written contact with most of your guests, its important that they build a effective first impression. Make sure that you spell each guests title correctly. If you are unsure about the spelling of someones name, look it up or contact someone reliable.

In your save-the-date, add the date, instant, and place of the ceremony along with any other acquired skill that your guests will need.

Here is a sample of how your notice might read:

"Please save the date of Saturday, June 25, 2005, 2 PM, for the wedding of Karen Hinkley and Brian Nelson in Minneapolis, MN. Invitation and directions to follow."

Always follow up with the expected wedding invitation, which should be mailed about six weeks before your wedding date.

A nice touch that might truly be helpful to your guests is to list your internet page addressassuming you will be updating it with more details.

What you should not do

Keep in mind the purpose of these cards. Dont include unnecessary or inappropriate knowledge such as directions, the rehearsal dinner location and time, or registry experience. (Incidentally, if you do list your name with a bridal registry, the only place that data may be included is in a shower invitation. Generally, sizeably effective etiquette demands that you rely upon friends and relatives to circulate such details by word of mouth and only if asked.)

Since you are not trying to elicit a response, do not incorporate a reply card. And last but not least, you should not e mail your save-the-date information. Of course, there is always an exception to every rule, but try not to break this one.