Top Five Reasons You Need a Save the Date Card
Lisa Parker asked:
One of the most forgotten elements of any wedding is the save the date card. In fact, some couples choose not to send them at all. If you want to give your guests a save the date card, you can send them with your invitations or you can choose to send them separately after your guests have replied. It is always a good idea to send your guests a save the date card. Here are the top five reasons why save the date cards make sense.
#1 – Some guests really could forget your wedding if you do not remind them.
It is not meant to offend you, and it does not mean that you friends and family members do not care about you. Sometimes, life just gets in the way and people need to be reminded of your wedding. With a save the date card, your guests, even those that are very forgetful can attach the card to their date book or hang the card on the refrigerator. You invited your guests with the hopes that they can attend your celebration. Although you have spent the past several weeks or months thinking about your wedding, they have had to deal with other events in life. If you want them to come, send them a reminder.
#2 – You can avoid fielding phone calls about date, location, and time.
While your friends and family members may not forget about your wedding, they may not remember the exact time or location, or they may be confused about the day. During the few weeks before your wedding, you have hundreds of little details to worry about. Do you really want phone calls from everyone you know asking for the details, forcing you to give out your information over and over and over again? Instead, a save the date card can provide your guests with the necessary information, and this can save you time and aggravation.
#3 – When people are planning their own events, they can refer to your save the date card.
The date of your wedding should be the most important day in your life, but this is not always the top priority for your guests. Sometimes, your guests might be planning weddings of their own! By giving out save the date cards, you can make sure that there is no confusion about your big day. This is a gentle way to remind people not to plan their events on the same day as yours. Without a save the date card, they might forget and make plans they cannot change.
#4 – People can carry a save the date card with them.
Wedding invitations are often bulky, and it is unrealistic to expect someone to carry around your invitation. However, if someone is on the go and often making plans, it is important to have a way to quickly check a date. When you send a save the date card, they can take that with them to plan their coming weeks appropriately. Match your save the date card to the style of your wedding (formal, rustic, casual, etc), and you will also be reminding your guests about what they should wear to your wedding. Your guests can carry the card with them when they go shopping as a small reminder. This is important because plans may come up out of nowhere and it can help them plan accordingly if they have the date of your wedding with them. Another benefit of carrying around your wedding date is that they can be prepared if somebody asks them about the wedding celebration.
#5 – A save the date card says that you care.
Above all else, save the date cards provide a polite way to inform your guests about the date of the wedding. By sending your guest a save the date card, you show them that you care and really want them at your wedding. Save the date cards are traditional, polite, and thoughtful.
Not every wedding needs a save the date card. Sometimes, if your wedding is very low budget or planned extremely quickly, you do not need a save the date card. You may not need a save the date card if you have a very small close-knit guest list or are planning a reception after a civil ceremony. In most cases, however, a save the date card can really help your guests remember your wedding. Although your life has been revolving around the date for a long time, others need a reminder. If you want your friends at your wedding, send them save the date cards!
When you are planning your wedding take these five reasons for using a save the date card into consideration. There are many benefits to this type of stationery and you can simply send them with your wedding invitation or mail them closer to the ceremony as a reminder.
One of the most forgotten elements of any wedding is the save the date card. In fact, some couples choose not to send them at all. If you want to give your guests a save the date card, you can send them with your invitations or you can choose to send them separately after your guests have replied. It is always a good idea to send your guests a save the date card. Here are the top five reasons why save the date cards make sense.
#1 – Some guests really could forget your wedding if you do not remind them.
It is not meant to offend you, and it does not mean that you friends and family members do not care about you. Sometimes, life just gets in the way and people need to be reminded of your wedding. With a save the date card, your guests, even those that are very forgetful can attach the card to their date book or hang the card on the refrigerator. You invited your guests with the hopes that they can attend your celebration. Although you have spent the past several weeks or months thinking about your wedding, they have had to deal with other events in life. If you want them to come, send them a reminder.
#2 – You can avoid fielding phone calls about date, location, and time.
While your friends and family members may not forget about your wedding, they may not remember the exact time or location, or they may be confused about the day. During the few weeks before your wedding, you have hundreds of little details to worry about. Do you really want phone calls from everyone you know asking for the details, forcing you to give out your information over and over and over again? Instead, a save the date card can provide your guests with the necessary information, and this can save you time and aggravation.
#3 – When people are planning their own events, they can refer to your save the date card.
The date of your wedding should be the most important day in your life, but this is not always the top priority for your guests. Sometimes, your guests might be planning weddings of their own! By giving out save the date cards, you can make sure that there is no confusion about your big day. This is a gentle way to remind people not to plan their events on the same day as yours. Without a save the date card, they might forget and make plans they cannot change.
#4 – People can carry a save the date card with them.
Wedding invitations are often bulky, and it is unrealistic to expect someone to carry around your invitation. However, if someone is on the go and often making plans, it is important to have a way to quickly check a date. When you send a save the date card, they can take that with them to plan their coming weeks appropriately. Match your save the date card to the style of your wedding (formal, rustic, casual, etc), and you will also be reminding your guests about what they should wear to your wedding. Your guests can carry the card with them when they go shopping as a small reminder. This is important because plans may come up out of nowhere and it can help them plan accordingly if they have the date of your wedding with them. Another benefit of carrying around your wedding date is that they can be prepared if somebody asks them about the wedding celebration.
#5 – A save the date card says that you care.
Above all else, save the date cards provide a polite way to inform your guests about the date of the wedding. By sending your guest a save the date card, you show them that you care and really want them at your wedding. Save the date cards are traditional, polite, and thoughtful.
Not every wedding needs a save the date card. Sometimes, if your wedding is very low budget or planned extremely quickly, you do not need a save the date card. You may not need a save the date card if you have a very small close-knit guest list or are planning a reception after a civil ceremony. In most cases, however, a save the date card can really help your guests remember your wedding. Although your life has been revolving around the date for a long time, others need a reminder. If you want your friends at your wedding, send them save the date cards!
When you are planning your wedding take these five reasons for using a save the date card into consideration. There are many benefits to this type of stationery and you can simply send them with your wedding invitation or mail them closer to the ceremony as a reminder.
Wedding Save the Date vs. Birthday Save the Date
December 2, 2009 by admin
Filed under Home And Family
Grace W Chen asked:
Often, save the date cards are closely associated with weddings, but they can be extremely useful prior to planning a large birthday celebration, particularly a milestone birthday where attendance is important.
Importance of Sending Wedding Save the Date Cards
Weddings are an important day in anyone’s life, and friends and family are usually invited to witness the event. Even your closest friends and family have busy lives and could face a very awkward dilemma if your wedding happens to coincide with a pre-planned trip.
To avoid this scheduling conflict, save the date cards should usually be mailed 6 to 8 months prior to your wedding and at least one year in advance of a destination wedding. They not only act as a physical reminder and give advance notice of your wedding, but provide logistics details for those who would need to travel to attend your wedding. People are busy, so respect their schedules up front with save the date cards.
Wedding save the date cards needn’t list every detail that will appear on the actual invitation, such as the address of the ceremony and reception. You only need to list a general location at this point so that anyone who will be traveling can plan to be in that area on that day. You could provide a few travel tips, such as local airport information and local hotels, to make travel arrangements easier.
When to Send Birthday Save the Date Cards
Although save the date cards aren’t always associated with birthdays, anytime you plan a celebration, you want to ensure that friends and family will attend. This is particularly relevant to parties with a potentially large guest list or for milestone birthdays. After all, a big event with a small turnout might not sit well with the guest of honor. Of course, if you are planning an intimate dinner party, for example, where the absence of 1 or 2 guests would be noticed, definitely consider sending save the date cards so you can hopefully avoid a gap in the guest list.
The best way to prepare guests for a birthday bash is to send save the date cards. You won’t need to send these months in advance as for weddings, but you should plan to have them in the mail at least two to three months in advance of the party. If you’re inviting out of town relatives or friends, it would be nice to include travel information or even offer to house them for the party (depending on your circumstances).
Save the Date Ideas
You can send photo cards with a picture of the happy couple or the guest of honor, depending on the occasion. Consider transforming the save the date card into a magnet for guests to put on their refrigerator to remember and enjoy. If you are budget-conscious, consider fill-in or printable save the date cards. As long as you write legibly or choose a clear font, your guests will still appreciate the notice.
You can be as elaborate and creative as you desire when choosing save the date cards because they’re not only functional, but also help entice guests to attend a fun and memorable event.
Often, save the date cards are closely associated with weddings, but they can be extremely useful prior to planning a large birthday celebration, particularly a milestone birthday where attendance is important.
Importance of Sending Wedding Save the Date Cards
Weddings are an important day in anyone’s life, and friends and family are usually invited to witness the event. Even your closest friends and family have busy lives and could face a very awkward dilemma if your wedding happens to coincide with a pre-planned trip.
To avoid this scheduling conflict, save the date cards should usually be mailed 6 to 8 months prior to your wedding and at least one year in advance of a destination wedding. They not only act as a physical reminder and give advance notice of your wedding, but provide logistics details for those who would need to travel to attend your wedding. People are busy, so respect their schedules up front with save the date cards.
Wedding save the date cards needn’t list every detail that will appear on the actual invitation, such as the address of the ceremony and reception. You only need to list a general location at this point so that anyone who will be traveling can plan to be in that area on that day. You could provide a few travel tips, such as local airport information and local hotels, to make travel arrangements easier.
When to Send Birthday Save the Date Cards
Although save the date cards aren’t always associated with birthdays, anytime you plan a celebration, you want to ensure that friends and family will attend. This is particularly relevant to parties with a potentially large guest list or for milestone birthdays. After all, a big event with a small turnout might not sit well with the guest of honor. Of course, if you are planning an intimate dinner party, for example, where the absence of 1 or 2 guests would be noticed, definitely consider sending save the date cards so you can hopefully avoid a gap in the guest list.
The best way to prepare guests for a birthday bash is to send save the date cards. You won’t need to send these months in advance as for weddings, but you should plan to have them in the mail at least two to three months in advance of the party. If you’re inviting out of town relatives or friends, it would be nice to include travel information or even offer to house them for the party (depending on your circumstances).
Save the Date Ideas
You can send photo cards with a picture of the happy couple or the guest of honor, depending on the occasion. Consider transforming the save the date card into a magnet for guests to put on their refrigerator to remember and enjoy. If you are budget-conscious, consider fill-in or printable save the date cards. As long as you write legibly or choose a clear font, your guests will still appreciate the notice.
You can be as elaborate and creative as you desire when choosing save the date cards because they’re not only functional, but also help entice guests to attend a fun and memorable event.
Celebrate Your Life: Infuse it with Joy and Spirit
Heather Ash Amara asked:
Celebrating the many transitions in your life, from difficult to ecstatic, weaves a thread of spirit into everything you do. It also encourages you to be in the present moment with your full, conscious attention. The act of celebrating keeps you attuned to the gifts of all aspects of life, from birth, to death, to rebirth. Your celebrations can mark not only the expected holidays, but also the mundane, the unexpected, and the challenging.
Creating personal celebrations helps you integrate change because it moves your brain from thinking about the experience to symbolically communicating with your full being and taking physical action. This stance allows your body to embrace the shift and bypasses the habitual, cyclical nature of your thoughts.
Bringing your community (work, spiritual, or family) together to celebrate is a beautiful way to mark the passing of time and to gather energy. Your ancestors probably gathered with their tribes, clans, or families at important times to share information and goods, to reconnect their hearts, and to reestablish ties. Imagine what it would it be like to gather once a year to celebrate your friends and family and honor their internal and external changes: births, deaths, new insights, and growth.
Creative Intent
Creativity and intent are the two aspects of a transformational celebration. Combining your creativity with your intent is a catalyst for alchemy. Creativity invites you to dream big, to use celebration as an artful expression of your heart. Intent gives you focus on what you want to accomplish. These two guiding forces need to be balanced in your celebrations and your life.
To apply creative intent to a celebration, start by dreaming all the places you could celebrate change in your life. Look back at major life shifts and imagine how it would be if you had consciously marked them with a ceremony. Dream big, with no limitations. The question to ask is “How?” How would you celebrate cleaning your house? How would you ceremonialize ending a relationship? How could you honor menopause? Creativity comes when we look at change and explore its gifts and possibilities.
Intent then brings focus and direction to our dreaming. The questions of intent are “Why?” and “What?” Why would you celebrate cleaning your house? What is your purpose? Why honor the end of a relationship? What do you want to get out of the ceremony? Why would you mark the start of menopause? What would you like from doing it consciously? The intent gives the celebration purpose, guiding its direction and outcome.
There is no right or wrong way to celebrate. Ceremony is three-dimensional, physical art, wide open to possibility. As with all art, there are some guidelines and tools that provide a structure to work with and enhance the impact of the creation. Remember that these guidelines can be gleefully abandoned as spirit moves you.
Steps to Create a Celebration or Ritual
After you explore your creativity through sacred brainstorming and get clear on your intent, there are five steps to create a spectacular celebration: contain, release, invite, deepen, and open. These work whether the ritual is for you alone or for any size group.
1. Contain
The first step to ritual is to move out of your daily world into a world of magic and possibility. Create a sense of the sacred by lighting incense or candles, picking smells or colors that support your intent, and/or building an altar. Use pictures, statues, natural objects, or crafts to create a place for meditation, reflection, or inspiration. Your altar can be for used as a general anchor or for a specific intent.
For a general altar you may use your favorite deity or guide, an object for each element in the four corners, candles, crystals, found and natural objects, or a bowl of water with flowers. If you want to build an altar for a specific purpose, ask yourself, “What will reflect the specific thing I am working on back to me?” For an abundance altar, you may use money from around the world, overflowing fruit baskets, and pictures of what you want to manifest. For an altar to release a relationship you could use pictures, writings, and a candle with the intent to release the person. For an altar to dedicate yourself to your spiritual path, try a picture of an open road, a beautiful inspirational nature scene, or your favorite superhero (to remind you of your power to move past obstacles).
Once you have set up sacred space, you can call in any guides, deities, power animals, ancestors, or teachers. Many traditions call in the four elements (air, fire, water, earth), which are the foundation of life. The elements also represent a part of our being, and hold a direction (east, south, west, north). By calling in guides and helpers and/or the four elements, you amplify the energy of your actions.
2. Release
To create space for new things in your life, you must first release the old. It is vital that you let go of what no longer serves you, and doing so with gratitude and love encourages the release to happen gracefully. Doing release work makes the obstacle conscious, which then gives you the ability to move it out.
Questions to ask:
- What can you release to bring more space into your life?
- What emotion, pattern, agreement, or fear is keeping you stuck?
- What are you willing to let go of?
Creative ideas:
- Write down the fear or emotion you want to release and burn the paper (fire), bury it (earth), tie it in a tree (air), or wash the ink off (water).
- Dance, tone, chant, or speak out the pattern, emotion, or fear.
3. Invite
Now that there is space, what do you want to invite into your being? Inviting in the new allows the universe to align with your desires and support you fully.
Questions to ask:
- What do you want more of in your life?
- How can you open to bring this in?
- What emotion, new agreement, or perspective do you want to experience?
Creative ideas:
- Write down the feeling state you want to bring in and burn the paper to bring more energy (fire), bury it to ask for grounding (earth), or tie it in a tree to fly (air).
- Dance, tone, chant, or speak the pattern, emotion, or state you want to create. – Hold the emotion or pattern consciously and anchor it in your body.
- Visualize or meditate to ask for guidance and open to the new.
4. Deepen
Leave space for stillness and integration to absorb the effect of your release and calling in. Meditate, write, create artwork, eye gaze with a partner, or sit silently.
5. Open
Just as you consciously created a container for your celebration, you also want to consciously open your container and bring what you learned back into the world. Make sure you open your circle by thanking and letting go of anything you called in at the beginning of your ceremony. State your intent again, and then feast or do something nourishing for yourself. Many ceremonies and celebrations end with good food and communing.
Example:
Now that you have the guidelines, let’s see how it works with a specific example. For a celebration to clean your house, your creative brainstorm may bring you the following ideas: play loud music and dance through the house, call your friends and pick a day to clean your home at the same time and then go out to lunch to celebrate, spend fifteen minutes every day loving your home and belongings by putting things in their proper place.
When you look at your intent, it may be anything from: “Make sure I can find my keys and important items each day,” to “Use my housecleaning as a symbol of clearing away my fears and mental clutter.”
Suppose you decide to pick a time each month to clean, and you invite your best friend to join you, with the intent to use the cleaning to clear your own mental clutter. Here is how you could use the five steps of ritual:
1. Contain
Light a candle in each room to remind you of your intent for clarity. Call in the energies of your grandmother, who was a fabulous housekeeper, and your spiritual teacher. (You may have pictures of them both in a specific place in your house during the cleaning.)
2. Release
Go through your house dusting and cleaning all the rooms, stating an affirmation to yourself, i.e., “As I clear this dust and clutter I clear my mind.”
3. Invite
Go through your house again with a scented spray, bells, or flowers. Say out loud in each room, “I invite harmony and joy into this space.”
4. Deepen
Sit in your favorite room and send blessings to your space. Let the silence quiet you.
5. Open
Blow out all the candles, and thank your grandmother and teacher for their support. Call your friend and make your date for lunch.
Celebrations bring joy and play into all the nooks and crannies of your life journey. Instead of waiting for the “big moment” in the future, celebrate each day, from the simple tasks to the challenges, from the mundane to the sacred.
Celebrating the many transitions in your life, from difficult to ecstatic, weaves a thread of spirit into everything you do. It also encourages you to be in the present moment with your full, conscious attention. The act of celebrating keeps you attuned to the gifts of all aspects of life, from birth, to death, to rebirth. Your celebrations can mark not only the expected holidays, but also the mundane, the unexpected, and the challenging.
Creating personal celebrations helps you integrate change because it moves your brain from thinking about the experience to symbolically communicating with your full being and taking physical action. This stance allows your body to embrace the shift and bypasses the habitual, cyclical nature of your thoughts.
Bringing your community (work, spiritual, or family) together to celebrate is a beautiful way to mark the passing of time and to gather energy. Your ancestors probably gathered with their tribes, clans, or families at important times to share information and goods, to reconnect their hearts, and to reestablish ties. Imagine what it would it be like to gather once a year to celebrate your friends and family and honor their internal and external changes: births, deaths, new insights, and growth.
Creative Intent
Creativity and intent are the two aspects of a transformational celebration. Combining your creativity with your intent is a catalyst for alchemy. Creativity invites you to dream big, to use celebration as an artful expression of your heart. Intent gives you focus on what you want to accomplish. These two guiding forces need to be balanced in your celebrations and your life.
To apply creative intent to a celebration, start by dreaming all the places you could celebrate change in your life. Look back at major life shifts and imagine how it would be if you had consciously marked them with a ceremony. Dream big, with no limitations. The question to ask is “How?” How would you celebrate cleaning your house? How would you ceremonialize ending a relationship? How could you honor menopause? Creativity comes when we look at change and explore its gifts and possibilities.
Intent then brings focus and direction to our dreaming. The questions of intent are “Why?” and “What?” Why would you celebrate cleaning your house? What is your purpose? Why honor the end of a relationship? What do you want to get out of the ceremony? Why would you mark the start of menopause? What would you like from doing it consciously? The intent gives the celebration purpose, guiding its direction and outcome.
There is no right or wrong way to celebrate. Ceremony is three-dimensional, physical art, wide open to possibility. As with all art, there are some guidelines and tools that provide a structure to work with and enhance the impact of the creation. Remember that these guidelines can be gleefully abandoned as spirit moves you.
Steps to Create a Celebration or Ritual
After you explore your creativity through sacred brainstorming and get clear on your intent, there are five steps to create a spectacular celebration: contain, release, invite, deepen, and open. These work whether the ritual is for you alone or for any size group.
1. Contain
The first step to ritual is to move out of your daily world into a world of magic and possibility. Create a sense of the sacred by lighting incense or candles, picking smells or colors that support your intent, and/or building an altar. Use pictures, statues, natural objects, or crafts to create a place for meditation, reflection, or inspiration. Your altar can be for used as a general anchor or for a specific intent.
For a general altar you may use your favorite deity or guide, an object for each element in the four corners, candles, crystals, found and natural objects, or a bowl of water with flowers. If you want to build an altar for a specific purpose, ask yourself, “What will reflect the specific thing I am working on back to me?” For an abundance altar, you may use money from around the world, overflowing fruit baskets, and pictures of what you want to manifest. For an altar to release a relationship you could use pictures, writings, and a candle with the intent to release the person. For an altar to dedicate yourself to your spiritual path, try a picture of an open road, a beautiful inspirational nature scene, or your favorite superhero (to remind you of your power to move past obstacles).
Once you have set up sacred space, you can call in any guides, deities, power animals, ancestors, or teachers. Many traditions call in the four elements (air, fire, water, earth), which are the foundation of life. The elements also represent a part of our being, and hold a direction (east, south, west, north). By calling in guides and helpers and/or the four elements, you amplify the energy of your actions.
2. Release
To create space for new things in your life, you must first release the old. It is vital that you let go of what no longer serves you, and doing so with gratitude and love encourages the release to happen gracefully. Doing release work makes the obstacle conscious, which then gives you the ability to move it out.
Questions to ask:
- What can you release to bring more space into your life?
- What emotion, pattern, agreement, or fear is keeping you stuck?
- What are you willing to let go of?
Creative ideas:
- Write down the fear or emotion you want to release and burn the paper (fire), bury it (earth), tie it in a tree (air), or wash the ink off (water).
- Dance, tone, chant, or speak out the pattern, emotion, or fear.
3. Invite
Now that there is space, what do you want to invite into your being? Inviting in the new allows the universe to align with your desires and support you fully.
Questions to ask:
- What do you want more of in your life?
- How can you open to bring this in?
- What emotion, new agreement, or perspective do you want to experience?
Creative ideas:
- Write down the feeling state you want to bring in and burn the paper to bring more energy (fire), bury it to ask for grounding (earth), or tie it in a tree to fly (air).
- Dance, tone, chant, or speak the pattern, emotion, or state you want to create. – Hold the emotion or pattern consciously and anchor it in your body.
- Visualize or meditate to ask for guidance and open to the new.
4. Deepen
Leave space for stillness and integration to absorb the effect of your release and calling in. Meditate, write, create artwork, eye gaze with a partner, or sit silently.
5. Open
Just as you consciously created a container for your celebration, you also want to consciously open your container and bring what you learned back into the world. Make sure you open your circle by thanking and letting go of anything you called in at the beginning of your ceremony. State your intent again, and then feast or do something nourishing for yourself. Many ceremonies and celebrations end with good food and communing.
Example:
Now that you have the guidelines, let’s see how it works with a specific example. For a celebration to clean your house, your creative brainstorm may bring you the following ideas: play loud music and dance through the house, call your friends and pick a day to clean your home at the same time and then go out to lunch to celebrate, spend fifteen minutes every day loving your home and belongings by putting things in their proper place.
When you look at your intent, it may be anything from: “Make sure I can find my keys and important items each day,” to “Use my housecleaning as a symbol of clearing away my fears and mental clutter.”
Suppose you decide to pick a time each month to clean, and you invite your best friend to join you, with the intent to use the cleaning to clear your own mental clutter. Here is how you could use the five steps of ritual:
1. Contain
Light a candle in each room to remind you of your intent for clarity. Call in the energies of your grandmother, who was a fabulous housekeeper, and your spiritual teacher. (You may have pictures of them both in a specific place in your house during the cleaning.)
2. Release
Go through your house dusting and cleaning all the rooms, stating an affirmation to yourself, i.e., “As I clear this dust and clutter I clear my mind.”
3. Invite
Go through your house again with a scented spray, bells, or flowers. Say out loud in each room, “I invite harmony and joy into this space.”
4. Deepen
Sit in your favorite room and send blessings to your space. Let the silence quiet you.
5. Open
Blow out all the candles, and thank your grandmother and teacher for their support. Call your friend and make your date for lunch.
Celebrations bring joy and play into all the nooks and crannies of your life journey. Instead of waiting for the “big moment” in the future, celebrate each day, from the simple tasks to the challenges, from the mundane to the sacred.
