Step 3: Save The Date Notices
6 to 4 months before your wedding
The first piece that you might mail to guests concerning your wedding is a Save The Date Notice. While this guide is focused on using your contact list to send the pieces out, the Bridal Track Overview Of Pieces can provide more in-depth details about the Save The Date Notices themselves.
The Save The Date Notice is sent four to six months before your wedding to people who will be sent invitations and will need to make travel accommodations to attend your wedding. This is where the organization of your contact list will begin to pay off.
If, on your list you designated which contacts will receive a Save The Date Notice, it will be easy to use your software to extract just those people. You will, in effect, have a sub-list that you can use to send out just the Save The Date Notices. If not laid out properly, you will have to spend time manually searching through your list and selecting the contacts who need to receive the notice.
When beginning a new task with your list, back it up. Copy it to a CD, E-mail it to yourself or just simply make a back up on your computer. The key is to not lose everything you have worked on thus far. This will be true for each of the next steps. Be sure to make a quick back up before working with your list, just in case.
Extract The Save The Date List
Most spreadsheets and databases have simple tools that let you enter criteria for a column and return all the rows that meet your criteria. Consult your software's help files for specific instructions on how to filter your data, but know that it is possible and simple. Once you are able to extract the people who have a "Yes" in the "Save The Date" field, save them as their own list. Be sure not to save it with the same file name as your original list or you will overwrite it and have to restore the main list from the backup you made.
Extract Save The Date contacts from your wedding's contact list
You can use this sub-list to send out your Save the Date notices. Since it is in a data file, you can create labels with a word processing program and merge the two files. With a properly configured contact list and knowledge of your software programs you can accomplish this in less than five minutes. Of course, each software program has its own features and you should consult the help files if you are unsure about merging or creating labels.
If you prefer to hand address your Save The Date Notices, you can simply use your computer screen to transcribe from or print out the data file to use as your guide for addressing them.
The key to this step is to know when your Save The Date Notices need to go out (four to six months prior to your wedding) and that your guest list can reduce the work needed on your part to get them out. As long as you designated who should receive them, you can simply use your software program to extract just those contacts from your list.
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