Save The Dates

In order to craft your Save the Dates exactly as you envision them, you may want to consider working with a professional graphic designer to give you the exact artistic look and feel that you have in mind. While traditional templates and pre-existing designs will work for most purposes, working with a professional artist to craft a custom design that will truly set your save the dates apart.

The first step is to find a professional designer or artist to work with – in fact, you don’t have to find an artist that specializes in save the dates, as long as he or she is able to produce high quality designs that can easily translate into a printed product, working with a professional printer. To start, you may want to ask you friends for recommendations on local designers and artists; chances are that your social network has a few creative artists in it already, even if you don’t know them. Once you have found an artist you believe you can work with, schedule an appointment where you can discuss what you envision for your particular design, as well as the medium you want it printed on. In most circumstances, the artist should be able to provide custom art to apply on nearly any format – for example, if you are printing on custom wine bottles, then your artist can provide an electronic label to the company, so that you can get exactly the look you have in mind. In many cases, the printers will also have their own in-house design team, so you can consider working with the company directly, or, at least, inquiring into the services they may offer.

Once you select an artist to begin creating the work, you should establish guidelines include your budget, time line and process – most people have a rough estimate of their budget but have fixed deadlines for submitting the save the dates for creations. As a result, you’ll want to ensure that the artists fully understands not only the date of the event, but also the lead time that the printer will near in order to create and deliver the items well in advance (so that you have time to sort and mail them out according to your own deadline.) Because of this, you’ll want to consult with an artist well in advance of your own internal deadline, so that you have time to make revisions and work through a creative process to get exactly what you have in mind. Specialty printing (such as wine labels or golf balls) can take weeks or, in some cases, months in order to complete on time. As a result, you’ll want to focus on getting the process started as early as possible.

Have the artist you select provide several examples of styles for your review, so that you can give feedback during the process and end up with the right finished product. You’ll find the collaborating with an artist means that your vision can come to life with better production quality and can ensure that your save the dates are of the highest possible quality.

You’ll want to leave your guests with a parting gift so they will always remember the excitement of your special day. While you will, of course, have pictures and videos of the event, you can leave your guests with special save the dates mementos that they can keep and cherish for years to come:

Collector’s Event Coasters
A great way to incorporate wedding favors with a special message is to imprint a custom text or engraving on coasters or tablemats. That way, you can create a functional piece that provides a number of benefits during the event itself, enhancing the presentation of the tables, as well as providing your guests with a gift they can keep in their homes.

Specialized Wine Bottles
Most wedding events feature wine that is carefully selected by the bride or groom – you can take this idea a step further by printing custom wine labels that reflect the event, as well as providing a sense of customization to the event. Just think of the possibilities: rather than having just a traditional Merlot or Shiraz label, you can create a special label just for the bride and groom, taking a traditional red wine to new heights.

Wedding Photo Albums and Picture Frames
One of the great benefits of having a special event are the timeless memories that are created, and hiring a professional photographer to capture the events is a great way to share in the celebration with those you care about. While sending out digital copies of photos or even physical prints with a thank you card is a good idea, you can take it a step further by giving each guest a custom photo frame or album to give the pictures a special placement.

Creative Table Seating Assignments
Taking table seating to a whole new level, you can utilize the seating assignments to provide a special ambiance to the event. You can use virtually any type of item to denote the table assignments, and should focus on items of particular important to the bride, groom and families. For example, if the groom is a baseball player, you may want to provide a mini-stadium with the guests in a particular section, and if the bride is an attorney, you can create a virtual mini-courtroom for her guests’ seating assignments.

You can take your save the dates idea to a whole new level by employing a creative format. The key to getting creative with your idea is to envision a final product, and then look at the various options for the format that you utilize. Once you have a vision for the style, you can then begin to select a format that will allow you to showcase the particular design in question:

Interactive Puzzles
By taking the various frames of your design and having them printed on a puzzle, you guests can enjoy putting together the pieces of your save the date. Individually, the pieces aren’t clearly related to any particular idea, but, once put together, they will see the complete details and design that you envision. Puzzles are great because they serve an entertainment purpose well beyond their original construction.

Photo Strip
These aren’t any regular photo strips, however – you can send you guests a personalized version of those viewers with images that provide all the details of your special event, supplemented with picture of the happy couple, the location of the event and, even, pictures of your with select guests! Strips range from custom comics to sideshows, all tailored to your specifications.

Digital Scavenger Hunt
You can go digital with your save the date, by having your guests to on an on-line scavenger hunt for clues. By sending them to an initial website, they can work their way to a hidden page on your wedding site, where they can find all the details of your special event!

While Save the Dates are traditionally associated with wedding reminders, you can use them for virtually any special occasion, ranging from parties and celebrations to reunions and get-togethers. With a diversity in styles and setups, Save the Dates are perfect for marking your next special event:

Special Birthday Parties
When you are organizing a special birthday party for a loved one, such as a sweet sixteen a 50th birthday, or anything in between, save the dates are a great way to let your guest list to know in advance. Especially for destination parties or secret events, save the dates help to get the word out in an exciting way.

Milestone Anniversaries
If you’re organizing a milestone anniversary, for yourself or a friend, then you may want to consider using save the dates to help mark the occasion. Often times, anniversary parties are a must-attend for out of town friends and family, so providing them with advance notice is particularly important.

Bar and Bat Mitzvahs
Marking the transition into adulthood for young Jewish adults, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs are an event that is commonly shared with family throughout the country. In fact, it’s common for international cousins and friends to travel to make the occasion. Since the date of the even is known in advance, you can certainly provide your guests with 12-month notice to help them make travel plans.

Graduations
Whether you are preparing for a high school or college graduation, save the dates can provide close family and friends with advance notice about the event. For students who are embarking on a career after graduation, the event is one last time for friends and relatives to share in a joint celebration.

Traditional save the dates cards are a core part of celebrating a special occasion. Today, with the growth in design technology, however, you can create a save the date in virtually any printed format. Thinking beyond the basic structure for the designs, save the dates are limited only by your imagination. Our editors have seen some pretty amazing ideas, including custom mini-cakes with an announcement, special website messages and, even, a DVD-based save the date digital announcement. Get creative and start working on an idea that comes from your heart – here are some great examples to get you started:

Postcards for Destinations Weddings
Vacation, or destination, weddings are becoming increasingly popular. These weddings allow your guests to enjoy a long-distance trip and relax in an exotic destination with friends and family. Whether you are traveling with your guests to an Island destination, to a European resort or just to a regional getaway, you can start off a destination properly with an exciting save the date reminder. Keep in mind that for travel-based weddings, you’ll want to ensure your guests have proper lead time – so you may want to extend the expected send time from six to nine months. A great way to let your friends and family know about the event is to send a custom post-card reflecting the destination in question and include all of the details so they can (enthusiastically) start their plans early.

Snow Globes for Winter Weddings
If you’re planning a winter wedding, then you may want to spice up your save the dates with custom snow globes. Everyone is fond of bringing back snow globes from trips as gifts for our friends – kids and adults alike love shaking up the globes! You can now place your own custom message and imagery to show the bride and groom at their winter wedding, letting your guests know to save the date with a smile.

Custom Golf Balls for Resort Weddings
Whether you are an active golfer or not (certainly, some of your guests will be), ordering a custom golf ball printing can provide a creative way to let your guests know about your wedding date well in advance. And, printing custom text on a golf ball can be more affordable than you might think – especially since you can buy the golf balls at wholesale (and you don’t need the latest Tiger Woods sponsored ball to pull this off!) A simple printing can contain the name, date and location, and you can include tees and a custom note to start the festivities off right.

Save the Date Cookies and Cakes
There’s nothing quite like the aroma of freshly baked goods to get one’s heart racing. Well, you can get creative (and delectable!) with your save the dates by sending out home or bakery-made cookies with a message that your guests can savor. Keep in mind that, after eating the goods, you’ll want to also provide a note that will remain, so they can save the date even after enjoying the treat.

With the nearly unlimited selection of save the dates online, chances are you can find a design similar to what you envision. To take your idea to the next level, however, you can also create your own save the dates magnets, giving them greater meaning and more significance than traditional reminders.

At SaveTheDates.com, our editors consulted with some leading wedding planners who shared their step by step tips on how to create your very own save the date magnet:

First, you’ll want to use design software such as Photoshop. If you’re looking for a more affordable solution, consider Photoshop Elements, or even the open-source GIMP design suite. These tools will help you realize professional results in less time, and you can even have your work refined by a professional graphic designer.

To start, set your canvas size to the envisioned size of the magnet. Once you have your canvas set, you should create several layers to try out your ideas – you can import photos, add blocks, gradients and, of course, text in varied fonts and colors. Experiment with the designs and get feedback from your spouse and relatives until you’ve settled on a design that you like. Once you have a solid design, save it in high resolution as a vector (.ai or .psd file) and take it to a local printing shop.

Now, you have a few options: you can either pay the printer to produce your design directly on magnetic stock, or you can print it on card stock and glue it to a magnetic material (this will save money, but can take time and patience.) Either way, it will feel great to know you’ve designed your own announcements.

Pioneer Color has nearly a decade of experience in producing personalized save the dates products. One of the top offerings is its reminder magnets which are exclusively designed based upon customer ideas; as a result, Pioneer makes some of the most visually appealing Save the Date magnets on the market today.

In fact, there are over 200 unique layout designs, many of which can be further customized with your own photo or graphic to make it truly unique. The designs range across a variety of styles, from the traditional “Lovey Dovey” magnet to a creative “Ornamental” design that will stand out on your guests’ refrigerators. No matter what style you are looking for, chances are that Pioneer can tailor a design to your tastes.

Not only do the magnets apply to weddings, as they also can equally apply to special parties, anniversaries and other events you are sharing with guests. The designs as sufficiently versatile to allow for nearly any use. Even better, they are priced competitively and offer volume discounts – you can order in sets of 25, 50 or 75, with breaks for larger orders. At a few dollars each, the high quality production truly provides a solid value.

To facilitate your purchase, the site’s navigation is distributed according to color or theme, so that you can hone in on the perfect design for your tastes. Even further, you can view designs by the individual designer, giving the magnets a higher level of personalized feel and demonstrating why Pioneer Color is a leader in the field. With the broad choices available, you can also provide you own ideas or creative work to create an entirely unique design, working with their artists and printing department. Either way, you’re sure to have a save the date that your guests will always remember, even after the special day!