Saving the Date, Going Green

Having graduated from one of the top journalism schools in the nation, I'm constantly thinking about new media and how it can be used to advertise a wedding. I've thought about using different media for invitations, but I think having a paper invite is somewhat important (although I recently sent out paper invites for my birthday and nobody checks their mail regularly).

This week local Photographers The Leekers posted this video of one of their client's on their Twitter (theleekers).



I love the idea of sending out a digital save-the-date. Since save-the-date cards are a new concept and just a way of letting everyone you're inviting know what the date will be, a digital save the date would be appropriate. While I love what Dan and Tara did, another use of video was used this past year in Archrival's founder Clint! Runge's wedding to Kristen Keppeler. If you haven't seen this video, check it out (I promise it's worth following the link).

I love how they made up their own song and executed the whole thing. While not everyone has the creative aptitude, time, or equipment to execute something like Clint! and Kristen's video, I love the idea of branching out like that. Using a save the date to tell a little bit of your story is a great way to engage your guests and make them get excited about you forthcoming nuptials.

A Sound Impression has put together proposal videos for several brides and grooms. If you're lucky enough to have a groom who did this, a video proposal would be a great piece of footage to incorporate into a video save-the-date.

Proposal Video from Cali Hlavac on Vimeo.

Including footage from the engagement session is a fun idea. If you don't have footage from the actual proposal, the day of your engagement photos is the perfect day to film you each telling the story. These could be used for a Love Story video that could be shown at the wedding as well, but just the proposal story would make a great intro to a save-the-date video.

The best part of this idea is that it saves money on postage and it's good for the environment by cutting down on paper waste. Consider using a digital save the date and making it the home page of a wedding Web site that could house everything from RSVP's to registry and accommodation information.