Kelsey, our bride-to-be guest blogger is back today sharing her thoughts on the Save the Date (and to please not call it a STD — though I do…sorry Kelsey!). Take it away girl!
—
You’re getting married. You know that. Your close friends, coworkers, and every member of your family that your mother made you call immediately knows that. You’ve also picked a place and a date, so now you have to tell people. Enter the save the date.
Create your pinterest board, scour the Internet for your favorites, and get all of your options in front of you. Then back up and take a breath and remember that before you can buy on these babies you need a guest list. Yeah. Crap.
I’m sure you (or maybe your parents) have a general number in mind, but when it comes to actually spreadsheeting it, things can get cut throat. Get yourself a bottle of wine and clear an evening. Here’s what we did: asked both sets of parents for their list by a certain date. We gave no indication of how many people could be on the list – just send us a list. Then we put together our own list of friends. Finally we combined all three lists and started to cry got to work.
We scheduled a google hangout with each set of parents so we could see their shining faces and also share our screen. Not pictured in the screen share? The bottle of wine we were drinking. Remember to breathe, and remember that for whatever reason your dad’s first coworker who you’ve never met may have to come to the biggest day of your life. It’s going to be fine. Think of the presents.
I’m not going to give advice for this portion of the planning because every family is different. What I will say is: pick your battles. There will be a bajillion decisions to make after this is decided, and is it really going to ruin your day to have your second cousin there?
Ok. Back to the good stuff. Fun fact: wedding boards and brides call save the dates STDs. Seriously. That is the acceptable acronym. Don’t be that bride. It takes 1% more effort to spell it out instead of using STD.
There are so many other options than your standard magnet. What’s the wedding vibe? Boho, formal, garden party, other? Use that to guide your selection. Did you do an engagement photo shoot? Use some of those lovely photos! Want something a little quirkier? Try a flow chart or have some fun with the font. This is a piece that’s going to live on everyone’s fridge for months so pick something you love.
There are some fantastic online vendors. Paperless Post now does printed pieces, Etsy has amazingly unique handmade options, and at Minted you can pick a save the date that will match your invitation! The important thing to remember is that there is no wrong choice.
