How can we make our save the date email classy?

February 12, 2009 1:35 PM

How can we make our save the date email classy?

We need to send a Save the Date email for our July wedding tonight. The future Mrs. david1230 wants to make it classy, but not classy. How can we do that?

I thought about an html email, but it'd be tough to ensure it works in all clients, and I don't really believe in html email anyway. I also thought of making a jpg, but I don't have photoshop. Is there a free Mac image editor I could use to make something? Do you guys have other creative ideas?

posted by david1230 to clothing, beauty, & fashion (23 comments total)

In my experience, the very nature of the thing is the "classlessness". Send the invitation, that's the notification for people to save that date.
posted by taff at 1:44 PM on February 12

I think a .jpg is going to be your best bet. How about using a free graphics editor like GIMP?
posted by gnutron at 1:49 PM on February 12

You could make your wedding webpage (assuming you are making one) early with the date, location, local attractions etc and then send out a link to that as your save the date.
posted by rmless at 1:50 PM on February 12

Throw up a little webpage with a nice design and some relevant information. Send everyone a personal note with a link to the site. (Use BCC liberally to make it seem like a one-on-one email)
posted by chrisamiller at 1:50 PM on February 12

Uh...you're sending your Save the Dates via email. By the definition of using email, you are past classy.

Ascii art and formatting might work. Or download GIMP. If that won't work, a simple message in all text that says something "blah and blah request the honor of your presence at our wedding on this date please save the date". or something along those lines might work. You could also go "I PITY THE FOOL THAT FORGETS THIS DATE" if your love of the A-Team knows no bounds.
posted by Stynxno at 1:50 PM on February 12

Sending HTML mail or image attachments with textual information in them to large numbers of people is more "classy" than classy. Just send plain text. If you want bells and whistles, make a simple web site and link to that.
posted by grouse at 1:52 PM on February 12

If you want to make it classy, send physical save-the-dates via postal mail. Get a whole bunch of vintage postcards and use those, or something. Emails are really just noise, and won't look cool stuck on the fridge to remind you of something like a well-done save the date card would.
posted by pdb at 1:57 PM on February 12

Plain text is the classiest form of e-mail.

If you need to do something flashy make something nice-looking in your word processor or whatever and "print'' it to a PDF file. Someone else can tell you how to accomplish that on a Mac. A PDF is classier than a PNG is classier than a JPG.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 2:02 PM on February 12 [2 favorites]

FWIW, we're sending the email to save money, time, and trees. The wedding isn't particularly formal, and we don't believe in wedding etiquette except where it's the same thing as common sense. Asking people to save the date isn't classless - it's a courtesy to our families who are going to have to travel. We want to let them know the date and location ASAP, before we know all the details that we'll put on an invitation.
posted by david1230 at 2:03 PM on February 12

I'd recommend Seashore over the GIMP, for the kind of thing you're likely to be doing, and with your experience level - it's simpler but full-featured enough.

Aside from that, if you want classy, print it up and send it. Classy email is all-but oxymoronic.
posted by Picklegnome at 2:07 PM on February 12

I think your choice of the word classy is throwing people off. I assume you're mostly looking to avoid sending a lolcats "I can haz maridge?" message or a cutesy e-vite to your intended guests. To lend a little more seriousness, I like the website idea. You can take whatever artwork you would have sent as an e-mail attachment and put it up on your wedding website. There are free "wed-site" services available, if that's of interest. You can send an e-mail to everyone directing them to the link, and you can put the image/message up on your website--something simple and nicely designed, maybe in your wedding colors if you've chosen them (not necessary) that says "Mrs.1230-to-be and David1230 will wed on July 15, 2009. Please save the date" and then later in the wedding planning process, you can change the website to include directions to your venue, registry info, tourist-y suggestions for out-of-towners, etc.

Here's the thing about save the dates and invitations: no one really cares about them. The important thing is the information. Past that, your guests will look at them for like a minute and think "oh, how cute" or "oh, how unfortunate--lime green? really?" and then they'll carry on with their lives and show up at your wedding. If your guest list is made up of people who use e-mail, I don't really see the problem.
posted by Meg_Murry at 2:12 PM on February 12

I happen to like pingg.com for sending out event dates mostly because recipients can upload to their online calendars with a single click and you can choose from a decent selection of free images (including lots of photos). Instead of aiming for "classy" your best bet is to not over think this and simply avoid the "cheesy"...
posted by rosebengal at 2:19 PM on February 12 [1 favorite]

If I were getting this email, I would like it to either 1) just be a link to a wedding website with details or 2) just be a plain text email that says sort of what you said in your comment above -- "Since we know you'll be traveling, we wanted to let you know that our wedding will be xxxxx at xxxxx p.m. If you have questions about where to stay or things to do, please call us or send us an email."

We did save the dates for the same reason as you -- they were sent only to people who were from out of town, which helped us save trees. But most of those people aren't the email type, and we wanted something just a tad big more formal. But college friends -- they got an email like the one I described above.
posted by dpx.mfx at 2:29 PM on February 12 [1 favorite]

Why not use a site like E-vite? Not only can you link to a nice looking page for not a lot of work, it will also send reminders.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 2:48 PM on February 12

I would suggest that to make it classy, you need to eschew any attempts to "be creative". Send a low-key, yet heartfelt text-based message that says what you want it to -- that you're excited about your wedding, that you've picked a date and hope they'll be able to be there, and that formal invitations will follow so they don't need to RSVP now. Capitalize and punctuate, but don't windowdress it with cutesy graphics or fake invitation-ness.

Better yet, unless you're having a giant ceremony with lots of guests you don't regularly talk to, just include the information in your regular correspondence with them.

And most importantly, be absolutely 100% without a doubt certain that you will formally invite every single person you asked to save the date.
posted by jacquilynne at 2:56 PM on February 12 [1 favorite]

you need to eschew any attempts to "be creative". Send a low-key, yet heartfelt text-based message that says what you want it to -- that you're excited about your wedding, that you've picked a date and hope they'll be able to be there, and that formal invitations will follow so they don't need to RSVP now. Capitalize and punctuate, but don't window dress it with cutesy graphics or fake invitation-ness.

This. Honestly, if it were me I'd sit down with the list and spend a few hours one evening with a boilerplate message with the details, but sending an individual, customized ("Dear Aunt Marge and Uncle Homer....") email to each person/family. Make them feel like they're getting a personal message from you, not a mass email.

we don't believe in wedding etiquette except where it's the same thing as common sense

That may be true, but many of your older and/or more traditional relatives and family friends may feel differently. There is a website called Etiquette Hell that you might want to check out for common and/or absurd pitfalls.

Probably the most common issue with "Save the Date" notifications (as described on that website, anyhow) is that folks get the "Save the Date" email/magnet/postcard/whatever but then don't actually get invited to the wedding. Don't be that couple.
posted by anastasiav at 3:17 PM on February 12 [1 favorite]

Honestly, if it were me I'd sit down with the list and spend a few hours one evening with a boilerplate message with the details, but sending an individual, customized ("Dear Aunt Marge and Uncle Homer....") email to each person/family. Make them feel like they're getting a personal message from you, not a mass email.

nthing this. No matter how non-traditional you are, there's no way a mass email can be construed as classy, in any way.

Even if you don't like most wedding etiquette, the best kinds of etiquette exist to ensure that you're showing consideration to people with whom you interact regularly. Mailings are good because they show someone that you care enough to take the time (and spend the money on paper/stamps) to think of them. If you don't want to mail something out, personal phone calls to the people who are traveling is better. Barring that, write individual emails. The more time and thought you put into contacting people individually, the classier you'll seem (and be).
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 4:05 PM on February 12

Yes, individually composed text e-mail, that shows you were actually thinking personally about each person you invite, is by far the best way to spend time you'd otherwise spend futzing with a graphics program. Write from your heart.
posted by amtho at 5:28 PM on February 12 [2 favorites]

Seriously, don't listen to the people telling you not to send out save the date emails. I wonder if some of them are confusing a "save the date" with the actual wedding invitation, which it is not. Do whatever you want, classy or not, just include the information that is necessary for your guests to start picking travel dates and hotel rooms, and they will appreciate it (I've received both, and appreciated both equally). For what it's worth, my fiance saw this open and thought I wrote the question, because we'd been discussing save the date emails for the same reason as you -- it seems like a waste of money to send out save the date cards, not to mention a huge waste of paper. One of the wedding website companies that I looked at had save the date emails that coordinate with the design of the wedding website - they basically said to save the date and contain a link to the website. That might be a classy version of the emails that some people above mentioned sending out.

Oh, also, there IS no traditional etiquette surrounding save the date cards, they're a recent phenomenon meant to help guests plan their trips. That's all.
posted by echo0720 at 7:48 PM on February 12

Mailings are good because they show someone that you care enough to take the time (and spend the money on paper/stamps) to think of them.

Oh my god, this is SUCH bullshit. I really don't care if someone spends the money on paper/stamps for a save the date card. What I DO care about, is that someone tells me their wedding date early enough so that I can get a decent rate on a flight and hotel room. Like I said above, that's the whole point of sending out save the dates.
posted by echo0720 at 7:50 PM on February 12

Oh my god, this is SUCH bullshit

Sorry, but I don't think it is, and I'm part of the e-mail generation. The fact that something takes time and money (and uses paper) doesn't necessarily mean it's not worth doing--and yes, I do know the difference between a save-the-date and a wedding invitation. Generally, whenever someone's attaching an image to a huge list of recipients, that registers in my mind as "spam", no matter the event. If you're really that strapped for cash and worried about paper costs, send personal emails.

If nothing else, the extra effort can't hurt.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:06 PM on February 12

We ended up bcc'ing everyone in a plain text with a link to a (mostly bare, for now) wedding website. For those of you predicting the world would end, it hasn't yet. I'll keep you updated.
posted by david1230 at 6:29 AM on February 13

How did it go? We are in the same quandary -- need to send out a very quick save the date linking to our website with the hotel info because people need to book their rooms immediately, as the wedding location is a popular destination.

I was thinking of getting one of these jpegs people send out and putting it in the email, but maybe plain text is better...
posted by jacquagirl at 6:06 PM on March 17