Are save the dates worth it?

We did STD picture magnets and they were totally worth it! We got ours from Zazzle

Yes they are very much worth it because it gives guests a heads up to set the date aside so that they don’t plan family vacations or other PTO during that time and miss your wedding. There is a misconception that save the dates are a recent trend when they have been around as long as weddings and other events have existed. It’s how people communicate that they will be having an event in the future for their loved ones to attend. Up until recently, that was done by word of mouth in person or phone call. As of the last 5-10 years, people have been told that communication via phone call is taboo and that the information can only be given via a postcard or magnet. Phone calls, text messages, visits in person still exist and are used as much as if not more than postcards. It depends on what is commonplace in your family and social circle.


If you want to send a postcard or magnet with your engagement photos then do that, but it is not the only option for save the dates to be handled. If your budget is a concern, phone calls and text messages cost $0, as do visits to family and friends that you regularly speak with.

View Quoted Comment

STDs are just a heads up and a courtesy, nothing more. I agree that sharing the date in person, in a letter, or a phone call to ones VIPs and sending invitations out within the normal time frame has always been and still is a perfectly acceptable approach. I've never heard anyone say it's taboo not to mail out STDs. That's absurd. Ironically, years ago it was STDs that were considered unacceptable. You were supposed to send out your invitations at the acceptable time and not appear to be trying to one up anyone.

OP, I think mailed STDs do have certain advantages over something digital. People put them up on their bulletin boards or refrigerators where they are less likely to be overlooked, for one thing. I've seen STDs done both with and without engagement photos. All that's necessary is your name, the city, and the date.

Here is two layouts I did just playing around with them, not the photos that I am gonna actually use as they are not good quality photos. Again I was just playing around with these as I got bored one night and wanted to see what they would look like as a DIY project and printed on out on 4x6 photo paper the other on cardstock paper. Both looked very nice printed on both papers but I liked the 4x6 photo paper better. I am just waiting on us to have our engagement photo session and use a picture or two from them. I like the second one better because the flowers on it are our wedding colors.

We spent $400 on printed ones with envelopes. Some people forgot the date anyway. I would say they're not worth it and an email will do you just fine. You can still put your engagement photo on a cute design and send it as a PDF!

I like physical save the dates to put on my fridge. I pretty much delete all emails unless I'm expecting something, so an electronic one would get missed. I spent < $100 on mine. It didn't have our picture but there's still plenty of options for picture ones that are cheap.

View Quoted Comment Totally agree! Emails are read and forgotten. I like having STDs on our fridge where it’s easily accessible and not forgotten. I especially love the photo magnets. I’m not a person that frames & hangs photos of friends in my home, so I love saving picture STD magnets on the fridge. We still have some from 10 years ago on there! 😆

I like physical copies. We put it on our fridge. We did STDs but at the time we sent them we didn’t plan on doing an engagement shoot. We ended up meeting with our photographer two months before our wedding because we realized that we don’t have a lot of pictures together and got some photos. But yes I personally think I’ll forget an email unless it’s someone I’m very close with but I understand the extra cost

I like physical save the dates! I'd worry about an email or text being buried beneath the rest of my inbox clutter and be forgotten before I had a chance to add the date to my calendar. We just did postcards with an engagement picture from Minted - no extra costs for envelopes and postage is cheaper too.

We sent out Save the Dates in February and I think it was well worth it. A lot of our guests are out of state, and the ones who do live locally enjoyed receiving a card! We ordered ours from Shutterfly. It was just under $120 for ours including free envelopes, and we got them when everything was 50% off.

I got 60 full color front & back with gold foil from VistaPrint for about $120 with free envelopes.

Totally worth it for us to show off the engagement photos and give our out-of-town guests a heads up.

We’re going to send out std cards. I think that they will work better for our guests than a text or a email.

Hi How are you and congratulations,

Save The Dates Are a Must! and yes they are worth it. They ate important for guests to be able to plan to take days off from work ect. especially for your out of town guests who will need to plan for transportation and accommodations