Skip them!
Frankly, i do not know when and where and by whom Save the Dates were invented, but believe it or not: back in the good old days guests were very well able to attend a wedding although they got nothing but a simple invitation.
However if you are having a destination wedding or want to invite out of town guests you should inform them as early as possible to give them enough time to save money for the trip and book plane tickets and hotel rooms. Tell them about your plans when you meet them in person or simply call them.
Why physical Save the Dates are not necessary:
1. Creative and unique STD's require a lot research and work, especially when you want them to match your theme, your colors, include a photo of the happy couple, have a pretty font and an awesome design. Trying to make everything look perfectly can become very time consuming and nerve-wracking. There is so much you have to do while planning your wedding, why make it even harder by adding "extra-stuff"?
2. Costs can easily sum up and even simple DIY cards need to be made of something and you have to pay for material and stamps.
3. People who are not that much into wedding trends or especially the elderly might be confused about getting a STD because they have never seen one before.
4. People who get a STD must be invited to the wedding. This can cause some trouble in case you have to cut down the final guest list due to unexpected budget restrictions or a limited seating capacity of your venue, or when you are not that close anymore with one of your friends or relatives and do not want this person to attend your wedding.
5. Actually the main reason why i am writing about Save the Dates:
I know it is a special day for you. But think of all the thousands of weddings that are celebrated all over the world, every single day. Imagine all the paper products that are used for each of these weddings. Save the Dates, shower and wedding invitations plus envelopes, programs, place cards, menus and so on. Sad but true, couples put so much love and energy into their wedding but most of these items are thrown away right after the event. Imagine the waste that is caused by your wedding. Now imagine the waste that is caused by all weddings worldwide on your day and every other day
GOSH, what an awfully giant pile of stationary! Frightening!
Waiving Save the Dates is one easy way to help protecting our environment.
A modern and eco-friendly option of notifying your guests are emails.
These are some of the websites that allow you to create personalized E-cards, however they require a registration: The Knot, OurWeddingDay, Oriental Trading Company ( Firefox users must disable AdBlockPlus to enter the site)
Some people might say this is tacky*, i say it is tree-friendly, fast and free and serves the purpose.
* If there is an award for the english language similar to the "unword of the year" the word tacky should definately be considered for nomination.