Save The Date

6 Months Before the Wedding

Some couples going through the wedding planning process would contend that developing the guest list is the most stressful of the activities. Hopefully by now you’ve done a pretty good job of narrowing down your list and have come up with a final count. More importantly you have made it through this process without too much stress or disagreement. Deciding upon who makes the final cut and who doesn’t can be difficult, but it’s a huge relief when this task is complete. Now that you have your final list, you want to send out some “save the date” notifications to all of your guests.

When you went to look at invitations, hopefully you considered “save the date” notifications in your stationary needs. These are important as they go out well before the wedding, and this is the perfect timing to send them out. This will ensure that guests have a nice reminder to put your big date on their calendars. Be sure to include your selected color scheme with your “save the date”. While some couples include any hotel information with the invitations, some opt to include it with these important notifications. This can also be a great time to let people know where you are registered if you want to give them some advanced notice.

You can get creative with your “save the date” notifications and have magnets created so that people can hang it on their refrigerator as a cute little reminder. You can have an engagement or some special picture of the two of you on the save the date as something cute and memorable. This is a fun task and a nice to have item as some couples may not opt to send them out. However the “save the date” notification can be quite important if you are getting married over a holiday weekend, have guests coming into town that need to make travel arrangements, or if you’re getting married at a busy time of year such as the summer or holidays. If you want to be sure that all of the special people in your life join you on your special day, then sending out “save the date” notifications are a great idea. These have gained popularity in recent years and can be a great way to introduce your theme, colors, and serve as a proactive measure prior to your invitations going out.

Book Rooms for Out-Of-Town Guests

9 Months Before the Wedding

Your wedding may be the one occasion that you get to have all of your family and friends in one place. Not only do you get to the be the fairy princess, but you get to see all of your loved ones. You will likely have at least a few guests coming in from out of town—everyone loves a wedding and wants to share in your happiness. Once the save-the-date cards go out, people can plan accordingly and will likely start making any necessary travel arrangements as the wedding approaches.

If you have even a few out-of-town guests coming in for your special day, then you will want to look into possible hotel options. If you are having your wedding in your hometown and know the best hotels in your area, then you’re in luck. However most brides could use a little help in determining which hotels will best fit the needs of their guests. If you need a little help getting started, you can visit a site such as HotelPlanner.com to point you in the right direction of some great hotel options. HotelPlanner.com specializes in group bookings for parties requiring more than five rooms. While your instinct may be to go for the nicest hotel in town, it helps to have a couple of options at various price points.

You can do your research online and then it’s always very helpful to go do a visit. Check out the actual hotel whenever possible and all of the amenities. You want to be sure that it’s clean, close by, and fits the needs of your guests. Keep in mind that some guests may be staying a few days there for all of the wedding festivities, so consider proximity to restaurants and possible activities when possible. As you are reserving a block of rooms, the hotel should work with you to provide a discounted rate. This means that you will have to give a baseline for the number of rooms you think will be reserved at the selected hotels, and in turn your guests should receive a discounted rate that is associated with your wedding when they book. Ideally you want to have the details of this worked out by the time you send out your invitations so that you can include the information within.

Providing two choices with different price points is ideal. If the town your wedding is being held in doesn’t offer more than one hotel, just try to negotiate a good rate for your wedding guests that take advantage of the block. You will have to provide your guests with a deadline to book by or the rooms will be put back into the hotel’s inventory. Including all of this pertinent information on the invitations and even a wedding website can make the whole process of booking seamless for your guests. Easy and effective is the way to go, after all everyone is coming to see you on your big day!