Once your wedding date is set, save the dates are one of the first opportunities to share the exciting news with your guests. They give friends and family an early heads-up about when and where you’re getting married, while also giving them a first glimpse of your wedding style.
With Shutterfly, you can start with a save the date template and customize everything from your photos and wording to the paper, trim, envelopes, and addressing. You can also choose from select magnet save the dates for a keepsake guests can display on their fridge.
Follow these steps to create save the dates that feel personal to you and give guests the details they need to start planning.
1. Gather Your Save the Date Details
Before choosing a design, make sure you have the essential information you want to share. Save the dates don’t need to include every detail that will eventually appear on your wedding invitations. Their main purpose is to tell guests when and where the wedding will take place so they can keep the date open and begin making travel plans if needed.
Your save the date can include:
- Your names
- Your wedding date
- The city and state or general wedding location
- Your wedding website, if you have one
- A short message such as “Save the Date” or “Formal Invitation to Follow”
You don’t need to include every venue detail, wedding schedule, registry information, or RSVP instructions at this stage. Those details can be shared through your wedding website and formal wedding invitations later.
Before ordering save the dates, it’s also a good idea to have your guest list fairly settled. Anyone who receives a save the date should also receive a wedding invitation, so only send them to guests you’re planning to invite.
2. Choose a Save the Date Template
Start by browsing Shutterfly’s save the date templates and choosing a design that fits your wedding style. Your save the date is often the first piece of wedding stationery your guests will see, so it can help establish the look and feel of your celebration before the invitations arrive.
You can find templates ranging from simple and modern to romantic, rustic, elegant, colorful, and photo-forward. Some designs feature one large engagement photo, while others have layouts for several pictures.
Think about both your wedding and the photos you want to use when choosing a template. If you have one engagement photo you especially love, a single-photo design can make it the focus. If you want to show several moments from your engagement session, look for a multi-photo layout.
You don’t have to have your entire wedding aesthetic figured out before choosing your save the dates. Pick a design that feels like you as a couple and works well with the information and photos you want to share.
3. Choose a Card or Save the Date Magnet
After selecting your template, choose the available format for your design. Shutterfly offers traditional flat save the date cards, and select designs are also available as save the date magnets.
Flat cards give you the traditional stationery experience and offer paper and finishing choices that can help create the look you want. Magnets turn your announcement into a practical keepsake guests can place somewhere they’ll see your wedding date regularly.
If you love a particular template, check its available options to see whether it can be made as a card, magnet, or both.
4. Customize the Paper, Trim, and Finishing Details
If you’re creating a flat save the date card, the next step is choosing the physical details of your stationery. These choices affect how the finished card looks and feels before you even begin personalizing the design itself.
Depending on the template, you can select your preferred paper and trim. Shutterfly offers paper options with different weights and finishes, allowing you to choose the feel that best complements your design.
You can also select a trim style, such as square or rounded corners or a more decorative shape when available.
If you’ve chosen a save the date design with foil, you’ll also select the available foil option for that card. Foil details can add shine to elements such as your names, wedding date, or other parts of the design.
Making these selections first gives you the physical foundation for your save the date before you move on to your photos and wedding details.
5. Add Your Photos and Wedding Details
Now it’s time to make the template yours. Upload your favorite photo or photos and add your names, wedding date, location, and any other wording included in your design.
You can personalize elements such as:
- Engagement or couple photos
- Names
- Wedding date
- Wedding location
- Save the date wording
- Wedding website
- Font styles and sizes
- Text colors
- Design colors and other customizable elements
Pay attention to how your photo works with the layout. A vertical engagement photo will usually work best in a portrait-oriented photo space, while a wide landscape image may fit more naturally in a horizontal design. You can adjust your photo within its designated area to find the crop that looks best.
Keep the most important information easy to find. Guests should be able to quickly see who is getting married and when the wedding is happening without having to search through the design.
Before moving on, check the editor for any alerts about your photos or text. For example, Shutterfly may alert you if an image’s resolution could result in lower print quality.
6. Personalize the Back of Your Save the Date for Free
Don’t forget about the back of your card. Shutterfly includes free back-of-card customization, giving you another space to make your save the date your own without crowding the front.
You can use the back to:
- Add another engagement photo or several photos
- Include your wedding website
- Add a short note to guests
- Share additional wedding or travel information
- Add text alongside another photo
- Choose a patterned background for a finished look
If your front design is photo-heavy or intentionally simple, the back can be especially useful for information you still want guests to have.
You don’t have to fill the back with extra details, either. If everything guests need is already on the front, a photo or patterned background can give the card a polished finish without adding unnecessary information.
7. Choose Your Save the Date Envelopes
Once your card itself is complete, you can choose how you’d like to send it. Plain white envelopes are included by default with save the date cards, or you can upgrade your envelopes to complement your stationery.
Envelope options include:
- White envelopes: The standard included option.
- Colored envelopes: Add another color from your wedding palette or create contrast with your card.
- Custom envelopes: Add a personalized design to the envelope and take advantage of free address printing.
- Pre-lined foil envelopes: Add a metallic detail inside the envelope for an elevated finish.
- Slip-in envelope liners: Choose a solid color or pattern to add another decorative element inside compatible envelopes.
Your envelopes don’t have to perfectly match your save the dates. They can coordinate with the colors and overall style while still adding something new to the presentation.
8. Select Your Addressing Option
Addressing dozens of save the date envelopes by hand can take time, so Shutterfly offers several options for handling addresses before your cards arrive.
You can choose:
- No addressing: Receive your envelopes blank and address them yourself.
- Return address only: Have your return address printed while leaving the recipient side blank.
- Address for Me: Have both your recipient and return addresses printed for you.
- Mail for Me® Service: Let Shutterfly address, stamp, and mail your save the dates directly to your recipients. Mail for Me® Service uses plain white envelopes.
If you choose custom envelopes, address printing is free, making it easy to personalize the envelope while also saving time on addressing.
Before placing your order, carefully review your address list for spelling, apartment numbers, ZIP codes, and any recently changed addresses.
9. Review Your Save the Dates Before Ordering
Save the dates contain some pretty important information, so give everything one final review before placing your order.
Double-check:
- Both names and their spelling
- Wedding date
- Wedding location
- Wedding website URL
- Photo quality and cropping
- Text placement
- Font size and readability
- Front and back of the card
- Envelope selection
- Guest names and mailing addresses
Also pay attention to any warnings that appear in the Shutterfly editor, such as a low-resolution photo or an empty photo space.
It can help to have your partner or someone else you trust look over the card before you submit the order. When you’ve been staring at the same design for a while, another set of eyes may catch a typo you’ve stopped noticing.
What Should a Save the Date Say?
Your save the date wording can be simple. Guests mainly need to know who’s getting married, the wedding date, and where the celebration will take place.
For example:
Save the Date
Taylor & Jordan
September 18, 2027
Napa Valley, California
Formal Invitation to Follow
ourweddingwebsite.com
You can adjust the wording to match the tone of your wedding. A formal celebration may call for more traditional wording, while a casual wedding can use something playful or conversational.
The formal invitation will provide the complete wedding details later, so don’t feel like you have to fit everything onto your save the date.
Should Save the Dates Match Your Wedding Invitations?
Your save the dates and wedding invitations can coordinate, but they don’t have to be identical.
If you’ve already chosen your wedding colors, fonts, or overall aesthetic, your save the dates are a natural place to begin using them. You might carry the same colors, typography, or design style into your invitations later.
But save the dates are sent early in the planning process, and plenty can change between choosing them and ordering your invitations. It’s completely fine to choose a save the date you love now and refine your wedding stationery style as your plans develop.
What matters most is that the save the date feels appropriate for your celebration and clearly communicates the information your guests need.
When Should You Make and Send Save the Dates?
Start creating your save the dates once you’ve finalized your wedding date and have enough location information to help guests plan.
Most couples send save the dates several months before the wedding, with more advance notice helpful for destination weddings or celebrations that require significant travel. Give yourself additional time before your planned mailing date to choose a design, gather addresses, personalize your cards, review your order, and account for production and shipping.
You don’t need every wedding detail finalized before you make them. That’s part of the reason save the dates exist: they let you share the most important information now while the rest of your wedding plans continue coming together.
FAQs
What information should I put on a save the date?
Include your names, wedding date, and wedding location. You can also add your wedding website and wording such as “Formal Invitation to Follow.” Full venue details, RSVP information, and other details can be saved for your wedding invitations.
Can I put engagement photos on my save the dates?
Yes. Many Shutterfly save the date templates are designed to feature one or more photos, making engagement pictures a popular choice. You can choose a layout based on the number and orientation of the photos you want to use.
Can I make save the date magnets with Shutterfly?
Yes. Select Shutterfly save the date designs are available as magnets. When a design offers both options, you can choose between a traditional flat card and a magnet.
Can I customize the back of my save the dates?
Yes. Back-of-card customization is free on Shutterfly save the date cards. You can add photos and text or choose a patterned background to complete your design.
Do Shutterfly save the dates come with envelopes?
Save the date cards include plain white envelopes by default. You can also upgrade to colored envelopes, custom envelopes, pre-lined foil envelopes, or compatible slip-in envelope liners.
Can Shutterfly address my save the dates?
Yes. Addressing options include no addressing, return address printing only, Address for Me with recipient and return address printing, and Mail for Me® Service. Custom envelopes include free address printing.
Create Save the Dates for Your Wedding
Making your save the dates is an exciting milestone because it’s one of the first times your wedding plans become something you can actually share with your guests. Start with a Shutterfly save the date template you love, choose your card or magnet format and finishing details, then personalize the design with your photos and wedding information.
From free back-of-card customization to upgraded envelopes and addressing services, you can personalize the entire experience from the announcement itself to the moment it arrives in your guests’ mailboxes. Once everything looks right, all that’s left is to place your order and get ready to officially put your wedding date on everyone’s calendar.
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