Giving your guests a heads up about your wedding seems pretty straight forward right? Well it turns out there a plenty of mistakes that can be made. Let’s take a look at some of them so you know what to avoid when you planning and organizing your wedding.

 

Not using save the date cards in the first place

While it is by no means compulsory to provide a ‘pre invitation’ for guests, they can help to avoid scheduling issues in the future. By not sending any guests have just a bit less time to clear their schedule and plan around it. This especially applies if you are having a destination wedding or one that goes over a few days. Giving guests more time to plan means they will be more likely to be available to attend.

 

Sending them too late or early

It is generally said that the ideal amount of time to give guests is six to eight months. If there is travel involved for guests, it may be best to provide a bit more notice to allow them to save money and get time off work. If you provide this important information too late they won’t have time to make the necessary arrangements to come.

Conversely, when sending save the date cards, make sure it is not too early either. If you give guests more than the recommended notice of eight months, there is a risk that they will simply forget to plan anything as they will see it as so far in the future. Similarly, it is never a good idea to send save the dates cards before you have got some arrangements set in stone, this avoid the potential of having to tell guests about a sudden change of plans.

 

Including registry information

Many guests will want to know where your wedding is registered, however it is considered faux par to include this information on save the date cards. Registry information is often best left to a wedding website where guests can go should they want more details.

 

Sending them to people who you are unsure about inviting

Once you have sent your save the date cards you have essentially invited all of those recipients. It is important then that when you send them that you are sure you want all of those people attending. To avoid any confusion or embarrassing conversations go through your list and ensure it includes everyone you want.

 

Investing too much in design

Save the date cards serve a very functional purpose, they tell people when your wedding is and subsequently when to clear their calendar. They are not the formal invitation, given this; they do not have to match your set wedding design. They provide an opportunity to experiment with designs and themes without dedicating to anything just yet.

 

 

Only using electronic copies

Email and digital invites are becoming increasingly popular as more people become digitally connected. How much you want to use email or digital methods of communication with guests is up to you. However, for things such as the actual invitations and the save the date cards, physical snail mail is recommended. Physical copies are ideal as they can be kept by friends and relatives as keep sakes or mementos. In many cases older relatives will not be so tech savvy and may rely a lot more on old fashion psychical mail to get their invitation.

While save the date cards may seem like a relatively straight forward part of the wedding planning process, there are a surprising amount of things that can go wrong. By avoiding these mistakes hopefully you can make sure that your pre invitations are the best they can be.