Cozy Reminder
I always feel that the simple Save the Dates are the best Save the Dates. This design includes a bold lower border that includes all the details of your upcoming nuptials. The font is playful and casual which really catches the eye. This photo is also spectacular and the blue brick wall coordinates well with “the” in Save the Date. It’s not always possible to do but I like when folks match the picture with the card.

Photo Blocks
With the Photo Blocks Save the Date card you can choose up to 6 photos to include. I find this card to be oh so sophisticated and I really like the ability to choose square sized photos along with vertical photos. You can mix and match black and white or colors photos that allows some nice contrast. And I like the brown and white middle box coloring.

With this in mind make sure that the wording of Save the Date cards includes the following 3 key elements:

• Who is getting married?
• What is the date of the wedding?
• Where is the city/location of the wedding?

Make sure to include the day, month, and year of your wedding. If you don’t know the exact venue of your wedding yet it is fine to include just the city of your wedding. That let’s folks who will need to travel know that they need to book airfare or other travel arrangements in advance.

Basic Save the Date Wording
A common example of the basic Save the Dates wording follows below:

Save the Date.
Alex Hartford & Evan Wright are getting married.
March 24, 2010
Seattle, Washington

Here is an actual example. The order of the wording is changed somewhat to make the focus on the date. But I think you will get the idea. Remember that sometimes choosing a specific Save the Date design requires you to use specific wording. Although many Save the Date vendors allow you to customize the text as you desire.

Formal Save the Date Wording
If you prefer more formal language for your Save the Date try using something like this

Please Save the Date for the wedding of
Samantha Walker & Benjamin Thompson
July 17th, 2010
San Francisco, California

Fun & Casual Save the Date Wording
Use this wording if you would like to use something more fun/casual and less formal:

Boy met Girl….
For the rest of the story
Please join us on August 28, 2010
For the wedding of Linda & Jacob in NYC

Note that some couples choose to just use first names and not include last names. This can work well and I like the casual approach if either you or your spouse has a unique first name. Or it can also work if you intend to have a smaller wedding with mostly close friends and family. Ultimately you have to decide if it makes sense for your own Save the Date wording.

Stunning Script
This card is consistently one of the top sellers at Wedding Paper Divas and it is easy to see why. With the rich red color and elegant cursive script it makes a beautiful Save the Date card. It also comes in turquoise and black.

Engagement Collage
Jill Smith Save the Date cards are typically bright and bold and this card called Engagement Collage is no exception. It’s a picturesque design that let’s you add your 3 best engagement photos to send to your family, friends, and loved ones. I find it to be oh so cool and contemporary.

Canna
Brown and orange are two of my favorite colors. And they make for a striking duo in this design by Jill Smith. This Save the Date card has modern fonts that make it really stand out and yet the two little flowers add a touch of panache.

Stylish Script
If you want a classic black and white card then this design by Feather could be perfect. It features cursive script at the top and simple serif font for your names, the date, and location of your wedding. I especially like how the “save the date” cursive script is written almost as if it was written with an actual water brush with the dark and lighter areas. Who says that black and white is boring? Please do keep in mind that this is a square save the date card and so postage via the united states postal service will cost extra since they can not be machine scanned. This square envelope surcharge typically costs about 20 cents per card in addition to standard postage. So it can be a significant extra cost so please keep that in mind.

Stem Silhouette
This delicate design by Feather features a bird on a branch in the center. The drawings are cute and basic and the choice of fonts really complement the bird and branch.

Paper Poppies
This is a save the date card that gets a ton of great reviews. It features translucent poppies in wonderful colors including medium pink, deep plum, or pumpkin. It’s a modern card that has a bold style. The couples’ names are printed in matching font color to the poppies. Also, if you like the Save the Dates you can get matching envelopes, thank you cards, wedding invitations, and more.

Natural Wildflower
The Natural Wildflower wedding Save the Date card is a classic, pure and simple. It features a breathtakingly intricate wildflower with such texture that it looks like the genuine article. It comes in a brown, orange, or red color palette and features cursive lettering for “Save the Date”. It’s hard to go wrong with such a great design.

The photo booth Save the Date on the left is called Made for Each Other and I adore the black and white almost film strip like look. It is simple and striking. You can use color photos or black and white photos but I think you know what I prefer. Please do note that it is recommend to use higher resolution photos. Actual photos taken in a photo booth do not tend to come out very well.

The photo booth Save the Date magnet on the right is called Long in Style. This one works better with color photographs and features photos laid out in a whimsical style with white borders. It’s perfect if you have had engagement pictures taken as you can choose 3 matching photos.

Beautiful Band
This is an especially elegant Save the Date card. It has a sleek sophisticated look that places a basic blue banner with your wedding information on it. This is quite striking especially when paired with a wonderful black and white engagement photo like the one seen here. I also really like the contrast of the cursive style headline with the couple’s names and the more basic block letters with the wedidng info below.

Extraordinary Style
Again this Save the Date card has a blue teal band of color. This design has more of a postcard look which I think is quite charming.It also makes use of cursive font for the couple’s names but also adds the initials in the background in light blue font. A simple yet extraordinary Save the Date card.

Jasmine Blossoms
This Save the Date photo card is one of our favorite designs from Good on Paper and is actually one of the best selling designs. It features a modern look with small jasmine blossoms that add a hint of nature to the invitation. The bright yellow and orange colors welcome the season of spring.

Damask
This design is unique and colorful with orange flowers that hang over the top of the card. The Orange cursive font matches the flowers and provides the wedding save the date information. This design also has matching wedding invitations, response, reception, direction and thank you cards.

Park Bench: Paradise
This card is so charming. I love the little blue bird perched on the bench that has “you and me” etched into it. So simple and adorable!

You can see the complete collection of Good on Paper Design’s Save the Date cards.

Buttercup Blossoms
Yellow flowers with a simple green dot make this design stand out. The brown border nicely draws your attention to the photo of the couple. And of course you can customize it with whatever photo you’d like to use. In addition to mustard yellow it also comes in red lantern and eggplant colors. You can also choose your own custom colors if you see fit.

Marriage Garden
This Save the Date card from Dwell Studio lets you express your style in a totally organic way with the beautiful floral outline printed on Wedding Paper Divas signature ecru card stock. It comes in a variety of colors including hunter green, navy, and rich red.

Photo Booth
This design is such a clever idea. We really like the idea of a film strip from a photo booth shoot to show off multiple photos of the happy couple. This one is particularly good if you can’t decide which of your engagement pictures to include. With the Photo Booth Save the Date card you can show 3 different pictures. It comes in three colors including watermelon, tropical and leaf.

You can see the complete collection of Dwell Studio’s Save the Date cards.

Engagement Announcements
As soon as the groom “pops” the question, your guests will want to celebrate the occasion – by sending out an announcement to your expected guest list. Luckily, you can start the celebration well ahead of time! Engagement announcements provide an opportune way to reach out to long distance friends and family, as well as opening up communications and giving an expected time frame to your guests.

Wedding Announcements
Once you have solidified your actual event day and details, you can issue wedding invitations that invite your guests to celebrate in a magical day. There are a wide variety of design and format selections that you can chose, ranging from traditional cards to exciting ideas such as customized puzzles, where the date is revealed upon completion.

Guest Favors
You’ll want to provide you guests with gifts to help them remember the special day, and a “day of” save the date gift can ensure the memories of the special day will remain with your friends and family for years to come. Often times, wedding planners integrate the favors in with table seating assignments in a unique form to integrate save the dates into the event itself.

Gift Thank You Cards
When thanking your guests for attending (and providing much appreciated registry gifts), you’ll want to take your thank you cards to the next level. A great idea is to create custom save the dates thank you cards which allow you to combine custom designs with hand-written notes, ensuring that you show full appreciation for your guests.

In fact, the type of save the dates you use are limited only by your imagination. Depending on the particular type of wedding, you may want to use special save the dates – for example, destination weddings often use “messages in a bottle” for destination weddings or provide a custom label on a bottle of wine as a parting gift for your guests. Virtually any printed source can provide an anchor for your idea and there are countless artists that will work with you to craft the perfect implementation.