Maybe I'm being gauche, but...

We sent save the dates because 90% of people are traveling from out of town (bare minimum 2.5 hours). So, for those that will fly or plan a long drive, we wanted to give them more than a couple months notice.

I agree. I think they're stupid. If people really are so busy that they need a "save the date" to remember your wedding, they probably shouldn't be invited...

I wouldn't bother if almost all of our guests were not out of state and our wedding was not during the holidays

Team Coakley!

Somehow, I manage to remember 150 weddings a year....

@MrsCoakley what a short-sighted way to look at it. People have given totally valid reasons why they're sending them. If you don't agree, that's fine. But to suggest that people who need a STD shouldn't be invited is pretty absurd.

No point except to waste paper, time and money and lock you into inviting people you may not want to invite in a year.

I think it's convenient for weddings that may fall on a busy weekend and for important family members or guests that may need to travel to the wedding and book accommodations and make arrangements well in advance. Personally we are skipping them and just plan to send the invites a couple weeks sooner than usual. I get the point to them but don't feel it necessary.

We did ours only because our wedding is on 4th of July week and I have out of town guests, and sometimes people take vacation around holidays so we just wanted to make sure people knew so that they would be able to come. Otherwise I would skip it.

I'm really just looking at it from a budget perspective I guess--if we can accomplish it with a phone call, why spend an extra $200 on it?

We did save the dates only because our wedding is a semi-destination affair at the beach during the in-season, and people will have to be traveling at a minimum, 4 hours (save for FH's grandparents and aunt, who live an hour away from the outer banks). Stuff books up fast that time of year.

We've had a lot of folks just make our wedding part of their beach vacation this coming summer, and the STDs helped them coordinate that ahead of time.

If you dont have a lot of guests who will need to travel, it isnt needed. I wont lie - it did tie us into a guest list that if I had to redo it right now, 4 months out, Id leave out some folks and I've ended up adding other people after save the dates went out - but it is what is what it is. The people I'd have left out I honestly doubt will come anyways, and if they do.. hey, the more the merrier. We're ready to host everybody, even though its unlikely to happen.

Instead of Save the Dates we are just sending out our invites earlier than usual to give people who may need it the extra time to plan

We are doing STDs because 90% of our guests are from out of state (12 hour drive). We are also getting married on New Years Eve, so we want to give people more than enough time to plan & find an affordable flight, child care, etc. since it will be a holiday.

I plan to get mine from Vistaprint and use coupons- I don't intend to spend a lot of money on them or have them be super fancy- they are literally just so our far-flung family can have some info. about the wedding.

@katie90 date twin! I sent my STDS out for the same reasom

@Kelsey Vistaprint is great! I bought mine from there and with coupons, I spent about $45 for 150 of them.

We have a lot of people coming in from our of town. Plus, for us, it's just fun. Not necessary at all.

I don't see the point in them either HOWEVER bc we are getting married on a Thursday, my family says it's necessary so I may do them.

We have quite a few guests coming in from other states and other countries so we want to make sure they have time to plan accordingly

I sent save the dates because my wedding is on labor day weekend. I was advised by family that I should. Looking back, I feel it was a waste of money but oh well its already done.

I only spent $30 ish on mine and I got magnets from vistaprint. I didn't send them to my entire list, but to all my out of town guests and people I knew 100% would be invited. I would never have spent $200.

I also only spent about $85 on my invites from vistaprint. And $15 for thank you cards from Michaels....so all in, I spent less than $200 for all my wedding stationary.

Favors and programs aren't necessary, either. But lots of people still do them. Like a lot of things, it's a personal preference. If you don't see the point, don't send them. If you want to send them, do it. You're not wrong either way.