Save the dates

You can do STDs by text or phone, paper STDs aren't necessary. Just remember that an STD of any kind is an invitation, so make sure you aren't giving a STD to anyone who's questionable. If you want to give people a head's up, then I would wait until approximately a year out as well.

For several decades, and as recently as parents’ generations for many, the standard method of save the dates at 6-12 months before the wedding was a phone call or word of mouth. That is still done by many to this day. The postcards trend didn’t come into existence until 5-10 years ago and not everyone uses them. Make sure your guest list is 100% set in stone, and only your ride or die people you can’t imagine the day without, before you send save the dates because you must send invitations to everyone who receives a save the date.



As far as invitations, you can purchase full sets dirt cheap at Annsbridalbargains.com and Costco.com

We printed our save the dates at staples! You can also design for free on Canva and have them printed out at walmart/ staples etc. I also agree doing them online is a great option to save on the postage too!

I just love magnet STD’s because they stay on the refrigerator as a constant reminder of your date. People are forgetful. If you can find these for cheap….

You could print on cardstock if you want it to look fancier. I think whatever you choose will be just fine.

To save money, I’d skip printing altogether and just do an E-save the date. Can use a service like paperless post so it still *looks* fancy, or even design it yourself and just email it as an attachment. Save the dates are not required (but are helpful!) so there is no standard of formality. Personally, I think that an emailed save the date is likely to look nicer than a paper save the date, so I would waste the money on ink and postage!

I spent a lot of $$$ on paper save-the-dates and postage, and looking back it was an unnecessary expense. However, I wouldn't recommend doing it on regular printer paper. Do it via email instead, with a link to your wedding website, so your guests have all the info in one place.

Go digital! There's a lot of places you can get free digital std like joy and I think the knot!

I was also going to recommend costco.com. If you have a membership (or can use your mom's or something), they are ridiculously cheap. And come with envelopes too! I'm definitely getting my save-the-dates there. There is no reason to spend much money on them.

I designed mine for free online (googled templates). Then, printed them at Staples or Office Max. I had to buy envelopes (half off at hobby lobby and also used for response cards), but I think I spent $10 total on STD.

I think that absolutely works. I also like the phone call/e-vite suggestions. We printed ours as postcards at Vista print because it was cheaper to mail than traditional envelopes.

You don't even really need to do save the dates. They are still relatively "newish". I think I received my first save the date around 6 years ago. All other weddings before that have only been the official invite.

Definitely not. Shutterfly helped us. But I didn't purchase any of their standard STD templates. I used a picture of my wife and I (we went the courthouse, now planning the wedding lol), put a QR code to our Honeyfund in the corner of it, and ordered 100 prints at a couple cents a piece. Some prints are closer to $0.50/each due to the size chosen. There are sooo many ways to DIY your save the dates AND invites. Between Amazon, Etsy, and Wedding Wire, you are covered.

Definitely not. Shutterfly helped us. But I didn't purchase any of their standard STD templates. I used a picture of my wife and I (we went the courthouse, now planning the wedding lol), put a QR code to our Honeyfund in the corner of it, and ordered 100 prints at a couple cents a piece. Some prints are closer to $0.50/each due to the size chosen. There are sooo many ways to DIY your save the dates AND invites. Between Amazon, Etsy, and Wedding Wire, you are covered.

Definitely not!

We didn't do separate save the dates and invites, but we took a picture of ourselves we liked and used an app to make it look like a pencil drawing, then printed postcards out with the invite text on the back.

We bought nice paper on ebay for all our other wedding stationery and designed / printed it ourselves.

Jennifer - I designed my own save the date on Templett (I started selling them on etsy, cause it was so easy to do!) and we bought 120lb linen textured cardstock on amazon for $18. Envelopes for $10. Had them printed at our local print shop for $18. Stamps were pricey, can't get around that, but they look beautiful and I'm so proud of them. I've gotten virtual save the dates before and I thought those were cute too!

I’m designing my save the dates on canva and printing them on FreePrints as a 4X6 matte photo…it should cost under $10 for 75 prints and then I just need to pay postage.

I just ordered my sample template. Im also including the link to our wedding website to encourage people to RSVP before invites are formally sent out. Hopefully it’ll help save a few extra bucks on postage for invites

I don't think it's a bad idea, we will send ours via email and messenger 💜

I initially wanted to do STD and invitations digitally. However, my fiancé's family is a little more traditionalist and like their "hand printed" invites. I ended up compromising and plan to print out invites myself at Office Depot (.75 per copy) and buy adhesive magnets on Amazon ($15 for a pack). Since they're magnets, I only have to make one per household. Still in the middle of my DIY but so far it's looking good! Hope this helps!