Budget Friendly Save the Dates

mountaingirl8

I am just beginning to wedding plan, and even looking in to my options for Save the Dates has me overwhelmed! Can anyone recommend a budget friendly Save the Date option? I really like the idea of a postcard, but I'm open if there are even cheaper options out there.

Thanks!

lovesclimbing

Not doing them is the cheapest. I didn't use them. You can always just let your VIPs know with a phone call. I let some people know, and I think my mom did quite a bit as well. So families and BFFs knew quite a bit ahead of time that way.

Other than that, a lot of Knotties recommend Vistaprint.

ETA: spelling

lurkergirl

I did Vistaprint postcards.  They have sales a lot, so don't pay full price!  Get on the email list and wait for an email about specials.  I got 100 for like $30 or something (including shipping which cost more than the cards themselves).  You can pay more and have them stamped and import your addresses, but I got them blank and addressed them myself.  I also spent about another $30 for stamps.

[Deleted User]

I did my own postcards. I did a very simple design on word publisher. There is an option for doing postcards for the type of paper. I just put some images on the corners and the basic info in a nice font. I got the paper from the office supply store, you can buy packets of them that are 8 1/2 x 11 so you can get four cards done in one shot. I opted for a textured postcard, gave it a bit fancier & professionally done look. Once I printed the info side, I flipped over the sheets of paper & ran them through to print our return addresses on the other side. Saving me the time of writing our address on each card or having put labels for our address on. I don't remember the costs (it was a little over two years ago when I did them) but it was very affordable. It also made the postage affordable too.

vulpiepop

I designed my own postcards and then used Vistaprint to print them. They were pretty cheap, about $15 for 50 postcards. You can take advantage of sales or get them cheaper with coupon codes. I usually use this site to get coupon codes: http://www.retailmenot.com/view/vistaprint.com

kvruns

I planned to not do it at all but now I think we're doing VistaPrint postcards.  You can get 50 for $10 -- or right now there's a sale for $6.00 for 50 so you can get them very cheap.  I wanted to just stick them in with Christmas cards since they would go out at the same time but FI doesn't like that idea.

The other idea I looked at was just taking a picture and printing it (especially since places like Shutterfly, etc have free prints a lot).  Walmart.com gave me 25 free prints and I was going to do a photo college with "save the date" header and call it a day but looks like VP is going to win over.

ShesSoCold

I also used Vistaprint for magnets. Super easy and they often have Groupons. So we paied $17 for a $50 Vistaprit credit. After the cost of the magnets, we were still under the $50 so we added address labels and little matching stickers with our date.

mrsbanany

I also did Vistaprint.  We paid about $60 for 200 cards (we only needed 110 but they were having a lightning deal where it was only $5 to add an extra 100 vs. the $10 to add an extra 10) address labels and shipping.  I know we definitely paid more than most people as well because they always have super great deals through Groupon and their mailing list but we didn't use anything but the deals they had listed on their website

lyndausvi

word of mouth

mountaingirl8

Thanks for the tips everyone! Looks like I'll probably use Vistaprint, if I do them at all.

CTYankeeBride

Another Vistaprint user.  I made our design then uploaded it and had it printed on the post cards.  I ordered envelopes to put them in for a few extra dollars because I wanted to use as much space for info as I could. 

They definitely aren't a necessity. I'm glad we sent them but I think it's a "know your crowd" kind of thing.

bessmia

Hello there, I thin is important that you do them. 

I will have my niece take some pictures, will order them in sepia matte print at Walgreens and place a mailing label in the back. it will look like a post card. 

also, she has a professional camera, so they will look really cute. 

nicole4793

I've heard a lot of good things about Vistaprint. Thus far, I love www.annsbridalbargains.com/ 

One thing that I like about this site is that you can even order free samples 

of invitations, so I'm sure they'd let you do that with save-the-dates as well. 

They even shipped invitiations to me for free, so I literally paid for nothing. 

[Deleted User]

We did Save The Date Postcards from Staples.  We actually got them a few months early because they were having a back to school printing sale, but I'm sure they have other sales throughout the year.  They have a lot of designs to choose from, or if you're computer savvy, you can create and upload your own design.  They came out great, decent quality for postcards.

cheapchicbride16

Just don't do them. It will save you money, time, and stress in the long run.

klk111415

I was able to get STD magnets from Vistaprint for less than $60 with the discount codes on their site.  If you do postcards- they are even cheaper.  I received mine last week but I felt the quality was a little off... looked a bit blurry (but only to me, of course) so I contacted them and they are sending me a free reprint.  Excellent customer service and an option that won't break your budget!

futuremartin2015

Look into local high schools! Most will have a printing service that the students are in charge of. We did that and got postcard STDs for about 80 dollars (There were about 150+ cards made), and they did everything! I love how they turned out.

DaniBites

Check out Groupon, I ordered mine with a Groupon deal from Zazzle.  I got 110 for $45 and they were personalized with our picture and came out great!

pekchw

We design our postcards and had them printed at Staples. Had a coupon and for 200, we got it for $60.  Worked out great..

adettma32

I got 250 (way more than necessary, oops) postcards from VistaPrint for $50.. get on their e-mail list, they have sales all the time.

[Deleted User]

Browsing Groupon and LivingSocial is great, too... especially around the holidays! A lot of printing companies will put up really good deals. Just make sure to read the fine print for exceptions and expiration dates.

lpnelson504

I used 123print.com and I got 100 postcards for $14.85!!! The quality was excellent and they always have specials. I you sign up for their emails, they give a coupon code for 20% of your first order. Good luck!

sharkattack1989.defunct635831054205898261

We're going to do an email Save the Date on MailChimp. (It'll include the same sort of image you'd do on a printed Save the Date, but if someone wants a print copy they can print it on their own.)

I'm also going to include a button where people can give me their mailing address, so I don't have to hunt as many addresses down when it's time to mail my invitations.

It's a good excuse to load email addresses in for all of our guests, so closer to the wedding we can send a quick email with the schedule, lodging/travel info, etc. We're doing a lot of things digitally for conveninece and to save money.

I do a lot of email marketing for my job, so I'm confident using this service, but MailChimp is really easy to use in general.

Knottie42853364

If you have engagement photos (or other nice photos of you and your fiancé) you can type your save the date text on top of the photo, and then go get 4x6's printed at Bartel's or Walgreens. It's like $0.19 per print, so if you want to send physical save the date cards this is a fairly inexpensive way to make them.

cincystacy

not sure if you have your save the dates yet, however I bought postcards from the dollar section at target, each pack for $1/ 10 cards so total $15.  I plan to print the save the date where you would normally write.  Also postcard postage is cheaper!

nikkilovesjoel

We got 6"x8" Christmas cards from Sam's Club on black Friday for $15 for 100.  We used our engagement pictures in a collage design and wrote a message that said, "We're merry and getting married on July 3, 2015!"  We are sending them out in lieu of our traditional Christmas cards, so it's not costing us any more than we would spend on usual Christmas cards.  Yay for killing two birds with one stone!

mountaingirl8

Thanks for the advice ladies! 

WiseUp

Check out Zazzle!  We got a Groupon for it and got a lot of Save the Dates for not much money.  I love our design, fast shipping, and a very easy to use website!  Make sure you check out the Groupon eligible designs before you purchase.  I did A LOT of shopping around and found that this was the best deal for an amazing product.  I found that Zazzle cards in envelopes were cheaper than doing postcards (including postage) and I have received a lot of compliments on them.  Magnets are cute but pricey... and don't forget to factor in those postage stamps!  

Happy Planning!

Katiemorchak

Make your own. More work, but by far the most charming and definitely the most cost effective.

tpwkalyn

Luckily, I have a family friend that works for a printing company that is going to print ours for at least half off. My FI designed our Save the Date & we are sending it to her! If we wouldn't have been so lucky, I was planning on using Vistaprint. They have the lowest prices & best quality that I've seen so far!

rox2112

If you're good with Photoshop or have a friend who is, you can do your own. I also agree that they're not necessary. A great way to show off your engagement shoot, sure. But as a PP said, as long as your VIPs know well enough in advance, you can skip 'em.