Unconventional Save the Dates

Joe and I are officially three months away from the big day!!!  Now we hit crunch time. But first I have to back up a bit and talk about Save the Dates.

Photography by Unveil Loft

As I was doing wedding research, I came across an article that talked about 10 things that you could cut from your wedding to save costs. I read through out of curiosity and one of the ideas popped out to me. The article mentioned that Save the Dates are a new aged tradition and you could go a bit unconventional with them or skip them all together. Until a few years ago, Save the Dates were unheard of and hardly never sent. Now, they are a part of every wedding checklist for six months before your big day. 

As I thought more about Save the Dates, I realized that as much as I wanted to send one, I didn't want to spend an arm and a leg. I also knew a few friends had spent as much money on their Save the Dates as they did on their invitations. After discussing with my handsome fiance, we decided to still send a Save the Date but still go a bit unconventional and make it a little more affordable. Below are a few non-traditional Save the Dates that your guests will love but won't hog a chunk of your budget!

The unconventional piece that we used was to make a Save the Date video. One of our best friends is an amazing videographer and we were lucky enough to have him produce our video. Shake was kind enough to spend the afternoon and evening taking some fun shots of us at the Stone Arch Bridge, one of our favorite places in Minneapolis, as well as in the Guthrie. He also grabbed some footage of us at Centennial Lakes, where we were engaged. Set to a song that Joe and I love, Shake organized the video and some pictures from the past 6 years to look like a scrapbook. He did an incredible job, we couldn't be happier with the final result! Try searching YouTube for other video ideas and you view our Save the Date video here.

Joe and I also decided to send a picture card with the link to the video, our date and wedding website. These are much more affordable than thick post cards or custom made cards. This is a great option for those who still want to mail something but do not have a large budget. Check out your local Costco or Sam's Club for picture cards or more cost-effective post cards.

A number of couples that we know have chosen to go fully digital and use Evite or Punchbowl online Save the Dates. These sites provide adorable templates for free or for a small price. This option is affordable and still gets the word out at least six months before the big day. The beauty is that you will then already have guests' email addresses when RSVPs come around!

My brother and sister-in-law made Save the Date magnets. I love this idea because it allows people to stick your faces to their refrigerator with only a small bit of space taken and your wedding date clear for them to see. Magnets are also easily mailed and inexpensive!

Another fun idea is to create wordle. Use a free online program to type in the words you'd like (try things like "Save the Date" and your wedding date or use some words that describe the happy couple), create with your own wedding colors and then create a jpg and print at your local printer! Affordable, visually stunning and would make a cute framed piece of art for your future home. I made a simple one below in our wedding colors but try it yourself at http://www.wordle.net/