When to send save the dates for other events

Another question that comes up a lot: When do you send save the dates for a birthday?  Or for a Halloween party?  Or a Bar Mitzvah?

You didn't think people only sent out save the dates for weddings, did you?  Actually, people send out save the dates for a variety of events.  If you are planning something far in advance, it's going to be a big bash or important life event, or you want people to be able to schedule time of work... well, those are all the reasons you might send out a save the date.  Be it for a wedding, a first communion, a milestone birthday, or major wedding anniversary.  School reunions & family reunions are also common events that people will send out save the dates for.

For weddings, there is a fairly clear timeline on when to send out save the dates:

But for these other events, sending out a save the date a year in advance might be considered over-doing it.

The timeline is a little shorter for these other events.  You usually send out an invitation for a wedding 2-3 months in advance.  But for other events, you might only send out the invitation 1-1.5 months in advance.

You wouldn't really send out save the dates for a wedding 3 months in advance.  But it does make more sense to send out save the dates 3 months in advance for one of these other events.

In conclusion: It depends a little on when you are sending out the actual invitation, whether the event is going to require hotel bookings for a number of guests, and whether it's on a major holiday.  What I can say is that if you are thinking about sending a save the date for something like a big 60th birthday bash, 3-6 months in advance is a good timeline.

For a big family reunion in the summer, sending out save the dates with holiday cards tends to work well.

Mahna Mahna!

A new children's birthday invitation has just been added to the website:

This invitation is for a Mahna Mahna themed party.  What is that?  It's a song made famous by a muppet skit- check out this youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N_tupPBtWQ

This invitation is about 4.5x6 inches, printed on white card stock.

This customer also ordered a matching kid's shirt just for fun!

Ticket Week: 4

Ticket save the date magnets are very popular here at Save the Date Originals.  This week, blog posts will feature new ticket ideas & variations that people have had me (the designer) working on this year.

The fourth ticket design is also a save the date, but for a surprise birthday party, not a wedding.  This ticket is a variation on the TicketMT1 magnet design.  This version is still 2x5.5 inches, so to make room for more wording, we scrapped the photograph.

The guests are notified, shushed, and awaiting more details in the forthcoming invitations.

Twilight &True Blood Themed Party

I have worked on Halloween themed save the date and invitations in the past. They have all incorporated imagery you might expect- such as a haunted house, a pumpkin, a skull, or maybe a ghost.

A party theme that is similar, but more specific, is: Twilight and/ot True Blood vampire themed parties.



One of my recent customers decided to throw a party with this party theme. She found some awesome drink labels here, on HWTM's blog, that incorporate blood splatters.

But she wanted more than drink labels- she wanted favor tags, First Aid Kit labels, and invitations.

The 5.5x4.25 inch invitations were sent out with 5x3.5 inch response cards, and include a quote from Twilight. She will hand out mini first aid kits to guests to symbolize Bella's klutzy nature.

You might have noticed that her themed party was also her birthday party. Turning 30 might suck, but this party won't.


On a sidenote- check out this alternate 4x8 inch invitation design:

There really are a lot of ways to go for invitations designs in this "vein".

Surprise!

Surprise birthday party, that is. I have not yet had the opportunity to work on surprise birthday invitations, but thanks to working with a recent customer, I have two 5x7 inch designs to add to the website:




Right now, designs like this are settled into the "Your personal events" section of my website; For everything that is not necessarily wedding related, Christmas related, or baby related. This section includes birthdays and Bat Mitsvahs, moving announcements and First Communion save the dates.

Save the Date Stickers

Like printed magnets, stickers are another way to "stick" a date of an event in a guest's mind. The idea is that your guest can affix the sticker on a calendar, or in a planner book.

Given that purpose, you wouldn't want to send your guest a gigantic sticker- just something small, with the date.



In this photograph is a good example of a small but effective card and sticker combination for a sweet 16 save the date party. The card is 4.1x2.6 inches, and the sticker is about an inch in diameter. With custom and personalized design services that STDO offers, it is easy to coordinate the card and sticker design.

I would recommend no larger than 2 inches in diameter for a save the date sticker.

Firsts

Firsts are always exciting, such as your child's very first birthday. Sometimes it is just too fun to send out bright colorful invitations to celebrate the event.

Check out this example of a 5x7 inch carnival themed birthday invitation.

Folded Birthday Cards

For this project, one of my customers had a fun idea.

Have you ever heard of the Shel Silverstein? Among other things, he wrote Children books, such as "Where the Sidewalk Ends".

For my customer's son's birthday, she wanted a custom birthday card that was unique. The first part of her idea was to put a poem on the front of the card. The front of the card is simple, set up the same way a "Shel Silverstein" book might be.




A nice simple design... But that isn't all! The inside is a riot of colorful balloons with the birthday message:



Check out what this customer has to say about her order:

"Ordering custom invitations from STDO was the best decision I've made in planning my son's birthday party. Angela was able to provide several proofs for my ideas almost immediately, and was very responsive to requests to change or tweak details of the design. Her communication with me during the process was prompt and informative, and above all, I am absolutely delighted with the quality of the finished product. I have gotten many compliments on them and will definitely be a repeat customer. Thank you, Angela!"