Carissa Loethen’s Bridal Blog: Save the Date! How We Found Our Perfect Wedding Announcements, 65 Decisions Later

Sixty-five decisions later, we found our perfect save-the-dates

By Carissa Loethen Jul 28, 2015 12:00 AMTags
Carissa's Bridal BlogE! Entertainemnt

Five different format options (flat cards, magnets, coasters, etc.), six print type choices (foil-stamped, laser-cut, letterpress, etc.), dozens of fonts, hundreds of design options and endless number of colors means I just made 65 decisions to accomplish one of my first major wedding planning tasks: Making my custom-ordered save-the-dates.

(By the way, just when you think you're finished, well, you're not! Yup, it's time to pick those envelopes and return address labels.)

Thank heavens for Jenica Blaire, the amazing Wedding Paper Divas production designer who helped me whittle down the seemingly infinite possibilities. I sent her a couple photos along with our wedding details, and breathed a sigh of relief when she sent over several chic and unique options. Finally, we narrowed the choices down to four top picks. I asked my mom and fiancé to rate their favorites. After much debate, option three was the clear winner—and I love how it turned out!

Get lost in my eyes damnit! #savethedateouttakes

A video posted by Carissa Loethen (@carissaloethen) on

Our friend Eric Guidice was sweet enough to help Shanon and I attempt to capture cute photos for our save-the-dates. We ended up picking the two pics that made us LOL when we saw them. I shared a little behind-the-scenes look at our photo shoot. Clearly, we're not natural models…

After our cards were complete, I asked Jenica for her thoughts on envelopes and return address labels. She suggested the gold envelopes with the "Striking Elegance" address labels. Sold! They matched perfectly, and added some sophistication to our fun cards.

Then, I couldn't imagine just putting a boring ol' stamp on such a pretty package. So I ordered these adorable Golden Inscription "Save The Date" stamps. Luckily, the lettering ended up complimenting the envelope nicely.

Starting this process seemed very overwhelming with the thousands of save-the-date options out there, but if you're not a natural Martha Stewart (ahem: me) I'd highly recommend partnering up with Jenica or one of the other friendly experts at Wedding Paper Divas. She's great at walking you through the numerous decisions and making you look like a total pro when finished.

For once, I'm actually eager to get to the post office. I can't wait for my family and friends to see these!