I have to admit I'm not wild about any of these. They're either too busy or they're just another piece of clutter. (Also, if you have to close your RSVP list--i.e. if you send out more invitations than you can accommodate--you're pretty much on the road to a hosting fail anyway.)

I actually like a lot of these. I'd never heard of a wedding save-the-date before the last wedding I went to.

We used them for ours (upcoming) because my fiancé assumed we would, and it occurred to me, in the middle of sending them out, why it was a good idea--we had the date set, but no other details.

I'm a low-fuss wedding kind of person, but if I knew Hannah and Lee, I'd be very charmed to receive the first one. The others, not so much. They're too gimmicky and not personal enough. I dislike theatrical, potlatch weddings and their gimmicky paraphernalia.

When we get these things from people we don't know very well I always wonder if they actually expect me to organize my life around their wedding. Obviously it's different for family and close friends. But don't family and close friends deserve something a little more personal than most of these.

These all pretty much suck (sorry Hannah and Lee!) Whatever happened to just getting married with family and friends?

*love* the balloon. After attending countless weddings, people want an 'experience' and at least these folks seem to be attempting to bring their guests something more than just another event.

I don't want an "experience". It's not about me, the guest - it's actually just about the two people who want to spend their lives together. Agree that gimmicks make it seem like they're trying too hard. The first one I like too, the idea of sharing some of their personal story is good. It could be even more personal and heartfelt, instead of trying to sound like a script writer for Friends wrote it.

I so enjoy these non-traditional save-the-dates (and the invitations that go with them). Anything but the envelope inside the envelope inside the envelope (why the extra envelope??), tissue paper, and gold cursive script...

I love the first one - what a great way to tie in people who might not know how these people ended up where they are. It really makes it personal.

I really hate the studio picture on a magnet save the date handouts. It seems like a waste of a good magnet to throw it out, but I'm pretty sick of staring at my brother's friend's acne-ridden face on our fridge :(

Wow, so much snark in the comments!

Anyway, as someone who is very much against the Wedding Industrial Complex, while planning a wedding, I think the first one is really cute and personal. I plan on sending some vintage postcards (with local landscape photos on them) with a hand written message. I found the postcards at an antique store for super cheap.

Why all the negativity??? I think these are funny and different, charming and interesting! Sheesh, talk about Monday grumps!

Aw, I love the Hannah and Lee save the date. Save the date cards are actually very important if you have family and friends traveling for the wedding. Hannah and Lee's "timeline" save the date is particularly useful because everyone has family members who are invited but who don't know the minutiae of a couple's life together. This helps them get to know the couple before they arrive for the wedding.

You only think they're different, Traciwithaneye, because you've obviously never been invited to a wedding. There's nothing different, fun or original about these.

Dulcibella - no, they don't expect you to rearrange your life, but they also want to give you a heads-up that you're invited. So you don't make other plans. Also, so if it's a long trip for you, you can get going early and get vacation time, a dog sitter, deals on tickets, rooms, etc. Especially since Miss Manners says you don't have to mail invites until 4-6 weeks in advance and so many get down to the wire on that...

michpc - the extra envelopes are a tradition from a time when the mail was delivered by horseback, got dirty, and was opened by a servant. The interior envelope was delivered to the actual invitee, clean and unopened. They are totally unnecessary today, but since it's tradition, some people still use them. Of course, if we were going for tradition, folks wouldn't include RSVP cards - you're supposed to write back your congratulations and attendance on your own stationary - but no one would ever get around to it...

The goal of the gimmicks is to be memorable. If they're as close as being invited to the wedding, you'll probably remember if they just sent an email...except they're super excited, and this is their first chance to share that, so they go nuts. Just be happy for them.

I agree, Traciwithaneye with you (quite the snappy bunch today..)
I think the first one is quite entertaining..the others, not so much.

@Fredbiscotti-tsk, tsk.. I think you need a time out.

@ failjolesfail- thanks for the history of the extra envelope.. I hate that tradition..

thanks for the history, jailjolesfail!

I have a feeling though that at least 90% of women who use the second envelope have no idea why, just like I didn't.

My apologies if I'm talking about you or someone you love, but...what kind of a-hole spends $995 on save-the-date cards? What a waste.

to those who don't understand the purpose of save the date cards:

if your family & college friends live scattered across the country, they need time to plan travel, especially if it's a holiday or summer weekend. you can't send invitations too early or else people will lose the RSVP cards or change their RSVP decisions.

PS. i think these are quite adorable. what would you prefer, loopy script and gold embossing?

@apf, I find a lot of the more traditional formats are cleaner than most of these examples. Yes, these are imaginative, but they're cluttered. I'd probably prefer the loopy script and gold embossing, because the appeal to my personal sense of aesthetics.

I think they are fun. Friends of mine sent out STD cards because they got married on New Year's Eve and people really needed to plan ahead for accomodation and so on. My friend made the cards herself (as she did all the invitations, place names, table names etc!) and they were very cool.

Ugh. AT is so hetero already that these save the date cards are stomach-churning. "Thus delaying the day Hannah has been waiting for"? And losing her name to his...before getting married. They're all awful and depressing.

I thought save-the-date cards were silly, until my sister got married and I helped her do her invitations. She made a list of all the save-the-dates that came back, and pestered family members to give her a functional, updated addresses. If it wasn't for the save-the-dates, we would have been stressing about invitations getting sent back because her FMIL gave them the old address for the groom's great aunt or because a college friend has moved several times in the past year. I wouldn't want to spend a ton of money on save the dates, but it seems worth it to reduce the stress by having a trial run before you send invitations.

I like the same the date cards. Just because someone is getting married it doesn't mean you know from the get go if you are going to be invited. Maybe you really do want to attend if invited and this helps let you do that well in advance. If you don't want to attend you can certainly ignore and then decline the invitation when it comes. I am really shocked at the number of really nasty comments on here. The only real point is to let you know you are invited to the wedding and give you the chance to be sure you can attend.