Friday, April 29, 2011

facebook save the date card

I do enjoy a quirky project; This card definitely falls into the offbeat category.


It's a 6.25x4.25 inch card that is designed to look a bit like a facebook page. There is room for multiple photographs, the wedding date, the couple's name, location. At the top, there is even room for a website url!

If you met on facebook, you are both facebook addicts, or you just think this is hilarious, check out the design's detail page on Save the Date Originals for more info.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Hello Knottie brides!

Yes, you. You have just created a cute little website for your wedding via the knot.com and now you want to give out a little save the date magnet that includes the url. You know that if you give out a fridge magnet, your guests won't lose the address, and will always have access to information about your Big Day.

But if you want to go with those small 3.5x2 inch magnets, your gigantic website is kind of a problem.

Why? It doesn't look good on a lot of designs. And on many, well, it just isn't going to fit.

This small save the date magnet design is a popular one:

It's simple, it's cute, it's not excessively swirly.

But if someone asks me to modify the design with a knot.com url:

Oh, that's not good. And you really can't go below 9pt font size if you expect your wording to print well and/or be readable.

What I usually do is send a couple to notlong.com to shorten their url. But it's a third party site, and a lot of couples are leery about using a random website.

Well, I just set up my own url shortening service. Instead of notlong.com, you now use... savedat.es! Basically, a shortener creates another shorter url that will automatically send someone right to your website.


That shorter website would works a lot better with most save the date designs:

This shortening service is maintained by Save the Date Originals. I am not going to promise that your short url will work into infinity, but as long as I'm in business, you should be good. I've been in business 7 years and counting- you probably only need your short url for a year or two.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Excuses, excuses.

I love a good excuse to create promotional materials for my own business. I spend all my time on printed materials for weddings and other businesses- Save the Date Originals could use some love!

318 Designs is hosting a bridal workshop this weekend, and I am sending in some favor magnets. 318 Designs is a Louisiana based event planning company. Check out the website: http://318designsbynicole.com

The favor magnets are 4x2.5 inches and feature a "celebrate life" theme. I'm adding in folded cards with some promotional print. Both card and magnet are going right into the striking blue envelope.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Cards & Magnets

It's time to mail your save the dates! Will you go with a card, a magnet, or... both?

A lot of my customers struggle between ordering a card or a magnet. Part of the reason is that magnets are more expensive. To fit a decent amount of wording on a magnet, you either need to go with a medium size... or sacrifice a little on the design. If you go with a small magnet, you end up needing a card anyways to mail it out in (smallest mailable size is 5x3.5 inches- this is discussed elsewhere).

A better solution might just be to order both a card and a magnet. Pick out a save the date card that you like, and then add a small 2x2 or 2x3.5 inch magnet. With Save the Date Originals you can change up colors and get a matching design, so it's not like you have to search for a pre-made combination. Make your own.

Check out this example:

This customer chose a photographic save the date card, and then a grape/winery themed small magnet. She had the colors edited to suite (lime green and purple).


Right now, when customers order a printed card from the save the date section plus a small 2x3.5 inch magnet, they also get little envelopes for the magnets (free). That way, customers don't have to worry about the edge of the magnet potentially scratching the card in some way.

It thought the combination came out looking awesome, and I think the customer agrees:

Angie,

I received my save the date cards and magnets yesterday and love them! I am so excited to send them out to everyone. Thank you so much for your help and patience throughout the design process! You have been wonderful.

Thanks again,
Brianna