Digital Save the Dates
So, most of you know that before I started SMP, I was a stationery designer. After working in a little boutique paperie in San Francisco, I fell hard for all things paper. And have since been a bit of a paper snob. Letterpress, perfectly engraved designs, thick, soft papers…it all really gets me going.
Which is why I am so surprised to really love this little video I spotted over on Design*Sponge. A digital save the date.
Save the Date_9/26/09 from Jason Harmon on Vimeo.
So what do you think? Can digital save the dates really take the place of paper perfections? Here is another one that one of our readers sent us. Just click on the image to watch the video for an engagement party…
Filmed and photographed by Sarah Baley
We have a ton of fun stuff on the way today, but in the meantime, I am dying to hear what you think about this new digital invitation trend!
Love it! But even being a Media Studies and Interactive Communications Major I still think paper is more personal. I look forward to finding new designs, and I myself love getting save the dates and invitations in paper. Its a personal reflection on the couple and a keep sake. However why not do both, send the paper and maybe add a digital video to your wedding website?
Love this idea!!! Its so clever and so this day and age...however i know some of the older generation may never open something like this. But i love it!
very fun & very creative! i love the idea; however i would be concerned about my grandparents and others who aren't very computer savvy. i am partial to paper as i also love all things paper and hand-make save-the-dates/invitations. Plus who doesn't love getting something fun in their mailbox the old fashioned way!
Too cute and creative!
Nothing beats paper! I have to stand by the physicality of all things paper-made in a world going increasingly digital. Hand-written notes are the epitome of civility and much prettier (in my opinion). I'd rather have a shoebox full of saved invitations, than a hard drive full of "e-vites".
I think they are great! These days weddings are more about the two people who are getting married so if they are computer savvy and love this idea then they should do it. You can't worry so much about who may or may not like it... As a wife of just two weeks, the only things I regret from my wedding are those that I let others change my mind on. If you love an idea, go for it! This day is about you!
Typically, my problem with digital stuff is that it is just too... involved.
However, this take on the the new digital save the date has got a certain amount of simplicity and just a touch of vintage flair! I love it!
I love this idea but I have to agree with Stephanie and Caroline, the older generation or people who are just too busy would probably prefer something in the mail. However, I do think you can do both to save some cash. Send the digital to your computer savvy friends and a handful to the...less savvy.
Digital is definitely better! Paper is too expensive, no matter how pretty it is.
I love these videos! I think they are great for Save the Date, engagement party...whatever leading up to the wedding invites. Then the paper snob in me comes out!
OMG love this! I agree that paper is beautiful, but most of us are on a budget, and doing without postage, envelopes, and printing are great ways to save! I want to do something like this! Hmmm...wonder where to start?
I have mixed feelings.
Pros:
100% sustainable, except the energy required to run it via computer
creative
instant delivery
personalized
cons:
slow computer connections = choppy quality = can't appreciate the work behind it
can't put it on your fridge (have to write it down)
non tech savy friends = confused
some of these videos can get a little pretentious. yes,the wedding is about the couple, but it's not ABOUT them, it's about their COMMITMENT for each other, which should be quite a humbling event, not necessarily a movie trailer.
but it's tough to say. i can't resist an innovative idea when it comes around.
We had an email save-the-date with a link to our website. (It was just an email, no crazy video.) I used a commercial service that made it very easy to make pretty HTML emails and I was able to check who opened them, who did not, and which ones got returned. The people who did not open them or who bounced back got phone calls from the appropriate inviting party (me, him, our parents...)
My mom was concerned because to her the main point of a save the date is to double check your addresses, but I used a mail-merge-like feature so that I could either say that I believed their address to be X, and could you please let me know if that's wrong? or a note that said I did not yet have their address and could they please send it?
I spent a grand total of $6 on the service and saved a ton of paper (the big motivator). We got great feedback from everyone and I would highly recommend it.
I love the idea of digital save the dates, but you have to put some thought in effort into making them fit the couple and be a little unique.
I still love paper and think that formal invitation should be paper and in the mail.
I do think e-vites are equally as personal as paper invites and have the capability to be as beautiful and creative as paper invites. I think the choice belongs to the couple. Are you tech savvy? Are the people you are inviting tech savvy? Are you eco-minded? Do you love to be original and creative? I do not think it has to be one or the other. You can send an e-vite to your tech savvy friends who will probably love it and a paper invite to your grandparents and ones who are not tech savvy. There is something about video that lets a couple's PERSONALITY and TASTE shine. There is something about paper invites that lets a couple's STYLE and TASTE shine. Which is more important to you? I think the style of invite also lends itself to the style of the wedding. Having a funky, quirky vintage wedding? Go e-vite. Having a luxe formal affair? Definitely, paper invite. This said, we have all seen beautiful wedding videos shot elegantly and extravagantly and there is no reason why an e-vite could not be shot in such a manner. I predict a new trend forming where videographers advertise e-vites as part of their services. Mark my words :)
I sit on the fence for this one because I love both mediums!
I think it is a great idea when done with style and when you can tell time and effort has been put into it. Where email invitations, etc are tacky for weddings, these you can tell had a lot of thought behind them. And the ability to resend through email as a reminder is so nice. Gathering all the email addresses would be key. Printed versions of the videos might be nice to send to some of the older guests.
I'm actually a video editor for a living, so I jumped at the chance to make my own video Save-the-Date. My fiance & I met in high school, so I used that as the concept for our video. It can be viewed here: http://10-11-2009.blogspot.com/
This is super cool! I think if you can pull this off then do it.
Hehe. I've been writing about this. Last week and this. Today is my final post on the topic. I think. I think online invites are the undeniable trend of the future. http://amidlifeofprivilege.blogspot.com .
Hi! I'm the happy newly engaged girl on the motorcycle. :) I have to say that I love paper too. However, this is not just any evite. We thought it had style, attitude, and was new and creative. We've gotten the most amazing response to it! Everyone just loves it! It was an easy, fast, affordable way to invite our friends to a party. We planned the party on Monday, did a photo shoot for an hour on Thursday, and emailed everyone on Saturday. For the wedding invitation, although we were tempted to go digital....we'll be going back to paper! Thank you so much to Sarah Baley for coming up with the idea and shooting this for us! Also, thanks to my very talented fiance for doing all the post work!
I think online STDs are fabulous, undeniably earth-friendly, and just plain easy. We did them as well though of course we only had a few months until the wedding anyway.
Of course, it's more difficult to have digital invitations with older generations. But I predict we'll see a lot more online STDs and even more digital invitations as well. In 20 years, it's practically inevitable that we'll see more digital stationary.
Funny! I just wrote about this for a local bridal magazine :) http://diva-productions.blogspot.com/2009/07/diva-productions-in-emerald-coast.html
Definitely fun and more affordable if you don' spend too much on the production... but I don't now... something about the physical and tangible save the date touches my heart. I love the idea of having your save the date on someone's fridge.... can't quite do that with a digital version.
I believe in paper wedding invitations, but that digital Save the Date was beyond AWESOME!
SO creative, fun, and green! LOVE!
[...] Digital Save the Dates July 21st. 2009 14 comments [...]
I have to say that I agree with some of the cons of the digital Save the Date or invite, but my recently engaged sister found a nice way around the problem (I think!)... we made a video (see it on vimeo here: http://vimeo.com/6513146 ) and then made it into DVDs. That way, there was still the package received in the mail, and on the casing we made it very clear that it was a *DVD* and not a *CD*. For those who still couldn't figure it out, or perhaps even those without a DVD player, they still understood the intent of the package. For those who did get to see it, not only are they super excited about the wedding, any of their worries about it being held in downtown Detroit (have to admit some people are a little scared of the downtown) were overwhelmed by the images of Ashley and Jonathan having a great time on a Saturday just months ago!
http://vimeo.com/6513146