Save-the-date postcard ideas?

We want to send Save-the-Dates soon since most of our guests are out-of-towners (even we are out of state!).





I'd like to send it in postcard form. Don't like the magnet idea. I was thinking about buying actual Chicago postcards (like the ones you get from penpals) and write a message on the back like "Save The Date!, Name, Venue, Date, See ya in the Windy City!"





Three questions:





1) Is this not distinct enough as a save-the-date? We want receivers to understand that it's not just a postcard, but a save-the-date.





2) Should we instead personalize it and create our own postcards with a cityscape on the front with a "Save the Date" on front. Then the message on the back.





3) We want to send save-the-dates to ALL guests, but the ones that reside in Chicago already...is this stupid? I wasn't planning on creating a separate one for them.





We don't want any engagement pics of us, or anything tacky, or trendy...let me know what you think! Thanks for your advice

Save-the-date postcard ideas?
We actually went with the post card idea as well. I made them.





On the front I had save the date written, along with our names, the date of the ceremony and the city and state it would be located in.





On the back I of course had the sendee/sender address' and I also mentioned where we were registered. I know its tacky to include that in invitations and such and youre supposed to make people aware of it by word of mouth but I just wanted to put it in writing because so many people had been asking.





I actually made them out of 4x6 photo paper and they turned out quite well.





I think the post card idea is a good idea, not only does everyone do the magnets, but they also cost more in postage, with the price of stamps these days you gotta pay attention to that.....lol.





If youre concerned about it not being obvious that they are save the dates, then yes, you need to make it quite clear, some how some way. Maybe writing as large and bold as possible "Save the date" and then the rest of what you are wanting to say.





I would think that most people would actually pay attention to the postcard and realize its a save the date. However, if you are that concerned about people not realizing it, then yes, I would go ahead and make your own , this way you can make it as distinct as you'd like that its a save the date, not just an average post card!!





And BTW, we sent the save the dates to all our local guests as well as our out of town guests, so no, its not stupid. Even local guests need a heads up about whats to come.
Reply:Try the site vistaprint.com. They have postcards that can be created by you for an extremely affordable price. You can upload your own design. That sounds like the best option for what you are trying to do with the save the dates. Good luck.
Reply:I don't care so much for the regular postcard idea. It just doesn't seem wedding enough for me.





I like what you said- create your own with the Chicago city scape with 'save the date' on the front and your info on the back. It seems to incorporate all your likes and dislikes. And I don't think it's stupid for the people who already live in Chicago- if anything they will get what the picture on the front really is.
Reply:IMO, whether letter, post card, eMail, fax, or phone call, any 'save the date' reminder that is a personal communication is useful and appreciated. And any 'save the date' reminder that takes the form of a mass produced, impersonal, one-size-fits-all infomercial is tacky. I don't much care what kind of picture the postcard has on it, so long as the message is personally written to ME, not a spammed "Dear Friends" message. If you care enough about me to want me at your wedding you should care enough about me to scribble a note or make a phone call.
Reply:there is some software you can buy that lets you design postcards. I cant remember the name of it but I would try to find it on the web. This way you can design something that is very unique to chicago and place all your save the date info on the front so it looks a littl more professional and people can actually tell it is a save the date card.
Reply:One challenge regarding post cards is that they seem to get lost in the mail more often than regular envelopes. I've send out hundreds of party invitations, and the only ones that seems to get lost are the post cards. I suspect that they end up tucked into magazines or junk mail, and then thrown away. I would stick with envelopes, even if you end up making a post-card-style card and putting it into an envelope.





We found a save-the-date card that included a sticker on the front, supposedly to put on your calendar (but who has paper calendars these days?). Still, we thought it was a little different, and liked the style of the card. I think that making your own would be just fine, too. We actually thought briefly about having baseball card type cards printed up. Nothing to do with baseball, but something that looked like a trading card. We decided it was too casual for our tastes. But I still like the idea, honestly.





We sent our save-the-date cards to all our guests, local and out-of-town. It's not stupid at all. It conveys to your guests that they are valued friends, and that you want to make certain that they are free to attend. That's a message that is as true for local friends as for distant ones.





Congratulations, and good luck.
Reply:I saw a really cute way to do this idea in Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine Winter 2008 issue on page 136.


Its hard to describe on here but she bought postcards (either you can make them or buy them) and attach mini little envelopes to the back of it and put your save the date info inside of there.


I thought it was cute hard to explain--go look at the magazine.