Save The Dates - Is "Invitation to Follow" Necessary?

MoreChocolatePlease

Hi Guys. I have limited room on my Save The Dates. I was wondering if it was really necessary to have "Invitation to follow" or if I could skip it? I will have "Save the dates", our names, the date, the location and our wedding website on the card.  It's a pretty casual STD so I don't think it would be mistaken for an invitation but can you tell me about your experiences. Did anyone think your STD was the actual invite?

Thank you!

MoreChocolatePlease

Thanks so much @alisonmarie658! I figured it would obvious enough, but wasn't sure if I knew only about STDs because I've been immersed in wedding stuff between planning and the my friends getting married the last few years. I appreciate your thoughts!

tammym1001

I sent out STD's and I didn't put "invitation to follow" on them because I thought there was literally no way anyone would mistake them for invitations since all it basically had was our names, the date, and city. I had at least 5 people tell me they got the invitation. I'm like "ahhhh it's not an invitation". LOL So there are plenty of people who have no idea what a STD is, but really I don't think it's that big of a deal. I just said that was a STD and you will get an invitation closer to the wedding. 

itzMS

We put "Formal Invitation to Follow"

That way, people knew the STD was just that...a "Mark your calendars!" reminder, and we'll send out invites with additional details and RSVP info later.

Jen4948

I don't think you need to put the wording "invitation to follow" on there per se, but people who aren't familiar with save-the-dates may mistake them for the actual invitations.  I'd just be prepared for people to come to you scratching their heads in confusion.

southernbelle0915

MoreChocolatePlease said:

Hi Guys. I have limited room on my Save The Dates. I was wondering if it was really necessary to have "Invitation to follow" or if I could skip it? I will have "Save the dates", our names, the date, the location and our wedding website on the card.  It's a pretty casual STD so I don't think it would be mistaken for an invitation but can you tell me about your experiences. Did anyone think your STD was the actual invite?

Thank you!

I think it depends on your crowd. If you have a lot of younger people who are used to seeing STDs I think it's fine to not include it. If you have a lot of guests who might not understand what an STD is, I would find room for it. 

On a side note, I can't imagine you don't have room for this. All that goes on an STD is the words "Save the Date", your names, the date, and the location. It's usually less than 10-20 words. Total.

MuppetOverlord

I put formal invitation to follow on the back of our STDS. I think it was unnecessary though.

svc2014

I would know it's coming but I have heard that many of my great aunts were confused when getting save the dates for other weddings and were totally confused. So if lots of your guests are older it might not be bad idea.

itzMS

svc2014 said:

I would know it's coming but I have heard that many of my great aunts were confused when getting save the dates for other weddings and were totally confused. So if lots of your guests are older it might not be bad idea.

My slightly dense 30 year old BIL asked if he was supposed to "respond" to our STD (before even opening the envelope).

I think it's just a simple nicety for everyone.

 

 

svc2014

itzMS said:

svc2014 said:

I would know it's coming but I have heard that many of my great aunts were confused when getting save the dates for other weddings and were totally confused. So if lots of your guests are older it might not be bad idea.

My slightly dense 30 year old BIL asked if he was supposed to "respond" to our STD (before even opening the envelope).

I think it's just a simple nicety for everyone.

 

 

haha AWESOME!

AllyIdo

My friend got married in Jamaica a couple of years ago. She sent out STDs that looked like plane tickets.

Her grandmother, who was 90, called her up when she received it, overjoyed. "I can't believe you are flying me to Jamaica!! Oh my goodness!! How nice of you to do!!!"

LOL.

svc2014

AllyIdo said:

My friend got married in Jamaica a couple of years ago. She sent out STDs that looked like plane tickets.

Her grandmother, who was 90, called her up when she received it, overjoyed. "I can't believe you are flying me to Jamaica!! Oh my goodness!! How nice of you to do!!!"

LOL.

haha love it! So did she correct the grandma or just pay for the ticket and move on?? haha

bobcats67

Our wedding reception is at House of Blues and they do custom Ticketmaster-style tickets for the Save the Dates... we've been struggling with whether to put Invitation to Follow on there. You only get a certain number of lines and characters so every word matters. I think after reading this, we might put "Formal Invitation to Follow" on there after all. We think our older guests in particular might be confused by receiving a ticket in the mail - and now that I think about it, they might be thinking they need to bring it in order to get in!

MoreChocolatePlease

Hi Guys. Thank you so much for sharing your advice and experiences. Here is what I ended up doing:

I spoke with my mother and she thought that her crowd would know what a Save the Date was and would know to expect an official invitation at a later date, so I didn't end up putting the phrase on front.  (I know my friends will likely understand since we've had a great deal of wedding in the last few years.) For those who might be confused I will write a personal note on the back of it and include that an official invitation will follow. I also have a "Save the Date" stamp that will go on the envelope. Hopefully this will be clear to everyone.

The Save the Date is a pre-designed specific photo card with limited text room if a website is included. My wedding location is on the longer side unfortunately. I did pay for a more condensed website name so I saved a little room there.

I do have a few of my mother's relatives in Europe. It doesn't seem like Save the Dates are common there and my mom thought they might be confused, so she is speaking to them personally and directing them to our website and letting them know they will receive an official invite.

Thank you so much again!