Did you book your wedding venue in Spain? Now it’s time to start thinking about the Save the dates.
Why are Save the dates so important for Destination Weddings?
When getting married away from home, you should reach out to the guests earlier than you would normally do. You need to allow people enough time to plan days off from work and if you are getting married during summer holidays, it’s nice for them to know this quite some time in advance so they can plan.
People will also need to book flights and accommodations. Some might need to update their passports, or other paperwork to be able to travel. And then of course we have the financial part of it. People might need to save up money to be able to travel. In other words; give them enough time, and more people will be able to attend the wedding.
What should you write on your Save the dates?
Very little. Your names, date of the wedding, venue (or the city where you are getting married if you don’t want to give the news quite yet), who is invited and the link to your wedding website, if you decide to have one.
When should you send them?
For destination weddings, the Save the date card is key. You should send it out about 1 year – 8 months prior to the wedding, depending on how far away people will need to travel.
Today more and more couples opt for electronic versions of Save-the-dates, since the document is not considered “as important” as the invitations that will be sent out later. However, for destination weddings they actually are important! If you want the Save-the-date to be a part of the design scheme for the day you, you kind of need to have your design style figured out already. Another idea is to keep it simple and neutral on the Save the dates, and then incorporate more style and colors on the invitations instead.
You could choose to have them tailor-made by a graphic designer, and then printed (if you don’t send them out electronically). If you’re an Etsy-lover like myself, you will find many, nice customizable alternatives there.
Environmental friendly options
If you’re not ready to ”go paperless”, there are many environmental friendly printing options today. I highly recommend that you look into them. You can find unbleached and sustainably sourced paper. Vegetable ink is less harmful to the environment. Next step is to send them out to everybody.
When should you send out the invitations to Destination weddings?
I recommend you to send them at least 6 months prior to the wedding.
Wedding websites, and why you need one
I highly suggest that you get a wedding website. It is a very easy way to keep guests updated, and you can add or change information there if necessary. I think I’m going to have to write a separate post about wedding websites. Don’t forget to include the link to the website on the save the dates, and the invitations!
Let your guests RSVP online
You you can hire a web designer if you really want a fully customized website built from scratch. But it’s absolutely not necessary. A pre-made website works just as well, and they can be customized quite a bit too. Just make sure you choose a site that comes with a RSVP feature, which will make it really easy for your guests to just click in there and RSVP if they are coming or not.
Most wedding websites do have this feature, on some you might need to upgrade to premium version for an additional fee to get access to it. In conclusion, it’s worth it because it will save you many headaches if you can have it all stored safely in one place.
I personally think that majority of guests would prefer to RSVP electronically instead of having to find a mail box to post the RSVP card. What do you think?