Save-the-Dates

I absolutely REFUSE to call them STD's. I just can't do it. lol

Our save-the-dates will be sent out via e-mails. Why? First and foremost, budget limitations. I just simply cannot afford to create paper save-the-dates and then spend all that $$$ on postage for them. Most everyone that we will be inviting to the wedding has an e-mail address and uses it frequently so e-mail is the way to go for us!

I realize that our wedding is still 11 months out and it may seem a little early to be sending out a save-the-date e-mail. However my family (close and extended) and close friends that will be invited will have to travel to the wedding. They also have very busy schedules and plan out as far as a year in advance! So...in our case, we need to get these babies out as soon as we can!!

So yesterday I sat down and started designing some save-the-date graphics that we can put in the e-mails to get the word out. Just like with my Flickr Cards, I had no vision or ideas for the design of the graphic. I just set to work and let my creative juices flow and these are the options I ended up with:

(Source: yours truly)

I created these graphics from scratch, no part of them was taken from anyone else or any other image. As you can probably tell, the top designs were my first attempts and as you work your way down, my last. I would love to be able to wait to send these puppies out until after we have an engagement photo session and get the pictures back, but there's no way I can hold off. So, I rummaged through my pictures of the two of us and found two of my favorite images (and also realized we need more pictures of us together). I still have to show these images to Charles (doing that tonight) so that I can get his input on them since his mug is on them too! But before consulting with him #5 is my absolute favorite! We're dressed up a little more in this picture and the day it was taken was fantastic! Back in October, Charles took me on a train ride on the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad. I'd never been on a train before and it was so awesome!

If you enlarge the picture, you'll be able to see the design elements better. If you notice our wedding website address feel free to check it out. I'll blog about it soon but it's not done and I was waiting to blog it until it's complete. Which save-the-date design do you like best?

Are you sending out your save-the-dates via e-mail or snail mail?