Save the Dates: why, when, and how it’s done

Save the Date cards: do you need them? When do you send them? And how many times will you giggle when someone refers to them as STDs?

I can answer all of these questions…

• Need: You only need to send them if there's the perfect storm of two things: you're having a destination or holiday wedding, and you actually want people to show up.
• When: If you're having a destination wedding, eight months before the date is considered polite. This way, if your friends are like mine, it'll give them a good, long time to save the money and it's enough time in advance for them to know not to accept gigs or tours that coincide with that date. If it's a holiday wedding then six months in advance is perfect.
• Giggles: If you're like me, you'll keep giggling until you start working for a wedding blog and then it'll just become second nature to think about doing “STD roundups” and excitedly telling people about this “cool STD” you just saw.

Now, we at the Offbeat Empire know that “need” and “want” are two different things. So whether or not you NEED to send them, you may just want to send them after seeing these awesome examples, and that's cool too!

STDs that have crabs:

Jennifer's STDs had CRABS! Get it? Ooh boy, these are awesome for a beach wedding and only the best people EVER would get the joke. Seriously, if you're going to spend a butt-load of time talking about your STDs, why not just get in on the joke?

Rock ‘n roll inspired:

Tribe member SweetAdelineXO used a rock poster inspired design. Also of note: concert ticket Save the Dates to get your rocking wedding started off right.

No graphics necessary:

Jessica and her partner DIY'd their Save the Date without the use of graphics. Jessica created the banner out of fabric and they took the photo themselves using a tripod.

Meta-tastic Save the Dates:

Flickr user Vashti_ninon13 explains, “A fun way to start off our wedding. We loved using yellow bubble envelopes that we addressed with Sharpies and Star Wars stamps to round it off. Really a tri-fecta for us.”

Classic with a twist:

The classic photo booth Save the Date, but jazzed up with a little turquoise and red selective coloring.

Vintage-style:

Stacey scanned a vintage postcard of the hotel wedding venue, then photoshopped the text directly onto the image.

Tiny and intriguing:

Miranda and Jake DIY'd these puppies. Miranda explains, “I made these tiny save the date cards and put them in normal A4 envelopes. The envelopes I traced and glued together myself, and they're stuck with adorably small roll of masking tape. Made in InDesign. The supplies and postage for about 40 of these cost around $30.”

For the artists:

Ashley, her husband Mike and one of their groomsmen hand-drew all their individual Save the Dates. Ashley explains, “The other side is boring “WE'RE GETTIN' MARRIED” stuff in Juno type font, you know the drill.” My favorite, of course, is the shark attack one. 😉

Interactive magic STD:

I love this flippy-magic-eye-trickery-thingy STD that was designed by Seth and Holly.

Save the Date video:

Tribe member Little Bug Bride and her fiance made a two minute timelapse/stop motion Save the Date on the beautiful Puget Sound on New Year's morning with a gorgeous sunrise.

Want more Save the Date ideas? Good…

• Do-it-yourself library card Save the Dates
• Do it easy and cheap: 30 FREE Wedding Save-the-Dates
• X-Men: Joining forces to save… the date?
• Save the Date cards with Post-it Notes!
• A hell, just check out our tag archive devoted to Save the Date porn