Save the Save the Dates?

A reader wrote in to let us know she had received a save the date for a friend’s child’s first birthday party in the mail. It was a photo save the date with a picture of the baby, the date of the party (just under 3 months away), and that was it – no details on location, etc.

She is wondering….does a child’s first birthday really warrant a formal save the date, or should those be saved for occasions more like weddings? How “important” must an event be to be worthy of receiving a save the date in your mailbox?

flj

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think something like a child's birthday party really only needs an email save-the-date, if that!

Anonymous said...

Ridiculous. Ridiculous. Ridiculous. First of all, how does anyone with a 8 or 9 month old baby have time to send out "save the date" cards for a one year old's birthday! The party is for the mom, not the kid. I seriously hope this doesn't become a "normal" expectation.

Farrell and Lauren said...

While I clearly love receiving mail, especially invitations of any sort, this seems like an event where and email saying "be on the lookout for an invitation in the mail" would serve the purpose just fine!
f

Meg said...

I agree. Plus, a child's birthday party is the kind of thing where, if I know them well enough to definitely be going, I probably already know about it. If I don't know them that well, I'll probably assess whether I'm free or not when I receive the actual invitation.

Anonymous said...

I think it is a total "Look at me, look at me" move. Look at how perfect and organized and flush with disposable income I am.

But that is just me being cynical.

teaorwine said...

It seems "excessive" in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

People are abusing save the date cards. The only good thing about most is that they give you plenty of time to make other plans so you have a legitimate excuse not to attend! :)

Anonymous said...

People are abusing save the date cards. The only good thing about most is that they give you plenty of time to make other plans so you have a legitimate excuse not to attend! :)

Anonymous said...

I personally think save the date cards are useless and I find them annoying...even for weddings. As meg mentioned, your best friends will already know about the important dates in your life. Is it really necessary to have people plan for events 3-4 months in advance? Especially when one year previous they were probably receiving save the dates for your baby shower!?