Custom Save the Date Cards

What Save the Date Cards Are

Save the date cards are 5x7 folded or flat cards sent 6–8 months before a wedding to alert guests to the date — well in advance of the formal invitation, which arrives 6–8 weeks before the wedding. The save-the-date is the wedding's first public announcement; it tells guests to block the date, give them time to plan travel for destination weddings, and signals the visual tone of what's to come.

PhotoCardMagic's save-the-date cards feature the couple's engagement photo restyled as art on the front (Watercolor, Watercolor, Photorealistic, or Oil Painting) with the wedding date and city/region announcement on the back or inside. The bulk pricing tier — $4.99 each at 5+, $3.99 at 25+, $2.99 at 100+ — makes save-the-dates economical at typical 100-guest wedding scale.

When to Send Save the Dates

The save-the-date timing window varies by wedding type:

• In-town wedding with local guest list. 6 months before the wedding. Acceptable down to 4 months for very local weddings with no travel logistics.
• In-town wedding with significant out-of-town guests. 6–8 months before. Out-of-town guests need time to book flights and hotels.
• Destination wedding. 8–12 months before. Guests need time to book travel, take time off work, and budget for the trip. Some destination weddings send save-the-dates at 12+ months for venues that require booking that far in advance.
• Holiday-weekend wedding. Add 1–2 months to the standard window. Holiday weekends compete for travel logistics with general holiday plans.

For PhotoCardMagic orders, plan 2–3 weeks before the desired send date to allow for printing (5–10 business days for orders of 100+) and your own assembly time.

What Information Goes on a Save the Date

Save-the-dates are intentionally lighter on detail than wedding invitations. The standard content:

• Couple's names — both partners, first names sufficient ("Sarah & Marcus" rather than full formal names with parents).
• Wedding date — fully spelled out is fine ("September 15, 2027") since the formal invitation will arrive later with full date formatting.
• City or region — "Charleston, South Carolina" or "Costa Rica" or "the Catskills." Specific venue is optional at this stage; the formal invitation will include venue details.
• "Formal invitation to follow" — standard line acknowledging the save-the-date is not the full invitation.
• Wedding website URL (optional but increasingly common). Lets guests find logistics, registry, and accommodation info before the formal invitation arrives.

Avoid: full venue addresses, dress codes, RSVP-by dates, ceremony times, specific event schedules. All of those go on the formal invitation.

Picking the Style

Four styles work for save-the-dates. Match the style to the wedding aesthetic:

Photorealistic — the literal engagement photo, color-corrected and printed full-bleed. The most-ordered save-the-date style for couples whose engagement photos are particularly strong. Right when the photo itself is the point.

Watercolor — hand-painted florals around the engagement photo. Editorial finish that signals a design-conscious wedding aesthetic. Right for weddings with floral elements in the decor.

Watercolor — soft watercolor wash around the photo. Universal across wedding aesthetics. Right when the couple's wedding style is undefined or when you want maximum-broadly-acceptable styling.

Oil Painting — old-master rendering. Right for formal weddings at traditional venues (estates, historic churches, ballrooms). Less common than the other three but lands appropriately for the right wedding type.

Match the save-the-date style to the wedding invitation style. Sending save-the-dates in one style and invitations in another disrupts the visual coherence of the wedding suite. Once the save-the-date style is chosen, the invitation and thank-you cards should match.

Cards vs Magnets

Save-the-dates are sent in two physical formats:

• 5x7 cards (PhotoCardMagic's product). Sit on the recipient's mantel, fridge magnet board, or display surface for the months between save-the-date and wedding. The PhotoCardMagic-specific advantage: the engagement photo restyled as art reads as gallery-quality, not template-driven.
• Magnets. Stick directly to the fridge or magnet board. Some couples prefer magnets because they're functional. PhotoCardMagic does not currently offer save-the-date magnets; for magnets specifically, Vistaprint and similar mass-market printers are the right vendor.

For the photo-restyled-as-art aesthetic specifically, cards are the right format. Magnet save-the-dates are typically templated layouts with photos dropped in; cards work better with the AI-restyle approach.

Bulk Order Logistics

A typical 100-guest wedding orders 80–120 save-the-dates. The bulk workflow:

1. Pick the engagement photo and style. Generate free previews to test 2–3 styles before deciding. The style chosen here should carry through invitations and thank-yous.
2. Write the save-the-date copy. Couple names, date, city/region, "formal invitation to follow," wedding website URL.
3. Pick quantity. 100+ at $2.99 each.
4. Upload the guest CSV (optional). Pre-addressed envelopes at $0.50 each save 4+ hours of hand-addressing on a 100-guest list.
5. Check out and ship. Standard US shipping is free for orders over $40. Production: 5–10 business days for orders of 100+.

For couples planning the full wedding-stationery suite (save-the-dates, invitations, thank-yous), order all three from the same source photo and style for visual coherence. Combined cost for a 100-guest wedding: ~$900 plus envelopes across all three orders.