Save the Date questions

katecrobertson

I think we will need to do Save-the-Date mailings because we have so many people coming from out of town. How early do you send them? Has anyone used STD magnets? I've gotten those before, and they're handy, but they seem like they'd be expensive. How much is your average paper STD anyway? Is DIY really the way to go?

jesslainemitch

I "borrowed" a template from savethedatemagnet.com and then uploaded the image to vista print as postcards to save money.  savethedatemagnet.com allows you to go through their whole process of designing your STD using their template and shows you a high resolution image before you have to order.  I just saved the final image to my desktop and uploaded to a blank template in vista print.  Doing it this way left me with a small white border on the top and very bottom of my postcards but it looked intentional to me, like I was giving it an old school photo vibe.

Hope this helps!

dapo2004

I also ordered save the dates from Vistaprint, but I used one of their templates:

They were free (except $7 for shipping). If you sign up on their website, they consistently send out free offers for postcards, magnets, etc.

MnMShaw

DIY seemed to be the cheapest way when I was doing it.  You can buy printable magnets from Frys for super duper cheap, so I designed the magnet myself and then printed at home.  Then I designed a post card and ordered it off of vista print.  You can also buy that sticky tape found on the back of credit cards when you get a new one in the mail (I bought it from Michaels).  I then used that sticky stuff to put the magnet on the post card, put them in an envelope and mailed them.  I probably spent about $50-$60 on about 200 of them, including stamps. 

knsbride87

My photographer designed & printed our save the date postcards. For 100 with envelopes it was about $100. I'm getting married October 23 and we sent out our save-the-dates in February. I know that's early but the majority of our friends/family are out of town and will have to book flights and hotels so we wanted to make sure that everyone had plenty of time to plan!

maineiac75

I'm in the same boat as you.  Everyone gives different guidelines for save-the-dates.  On average, 6-8 months before is good.  I did save-the date 4x8 photo cards online at Walmart.  Since we're waiting until spring to do our engagement photos, I had my parents take several head shots of us.  We uploaded the photo to my Walmart photo account, chose the template, filled out our date, location, web site address, and that was it.  The only downside is that Walmart's templates are limited.  The upside was the cost - 40 cents per STD, including the envelope.