Save the Date Magnets - Why Are They So Popular
You've seen them before. Or at least you have seen something similar...the familiar refrigerator magnet festooned with a company's logo, address and phone number. Businesses have learned to use them because they work! Studies have found that items on display in common areas of a home demand and get lots of attention. Don't you feel that a Save the Date magnet with your wedding date deserves at least the same prominence as that of the local pest control service? Sure, you're not trying to sell anything, but you do want the information about your special day to become indelibly etched into the minds of your family and friends. If you didn't, you wouldn't have sent one to them.
Not Only That...
One great advantage to sending Save the Date magnets can be demonstrated with the following scenario. Without telling anyone else, you and your beloved set a date 12 months in advance and begin making arrangements. "Oh, this is going to be such a surprise!" you chuckle to each other as you work out the details. After months go by, you are prepared to send your invitations announcing your wedding date. Just as you are ready to leave for the post office to mail the enormous stack of invitations you have addressed, stamped and sealed, you notice a letter in your mailbox. You open it up and see that it's a wedding invitation from your favorite cousin who lives in the adjoining city...and she has chosen the very same date as you did! Aaaaugh!
You should have sent Save the Date magnets soon after you decided on a wedding date so she would have realized the conflict and perhaps chosen an alternate day. Now you must begin changing all your plans. New invitations, coordinating with the church, the hall for the reception, all need to be changed. There is no way around it. She beat you to the date, fair and square. Do a favor for your friends, relatives and yourself by sending a Save the Date magnet to them.
Other Scheduling Conflicts
Most Save the Date magnets find their way to the refrigerator or other appliances in the kitchen while others take up residence on a filing cabinet or computer at work. Both locations let the folks see them as they are on the phone making appointments, vacations plans and various scheduling tasks. Nowadays, with so many activities in one's life, it's easy to let an important date slip by. Before they know it they have booked themselves to be at two places at the same time, and one of them could be your wedding. If you put a Save the Date magnet in front of them, they can avoid such awkward predicaments. So, please give the people who are important to you enough prior notice for their scheduling needs.
What Kind of Save the Date Magnet Should I Get?
The quick answer is: Good ones that are personalized. You can find a number of cheap sources of magnets, but you always get what you pay for. Some suppliers will even try to entice you into becoming one of their consumers by providing some to you for free. Trust me, businesses don't ever give products away unless there is a hook to it. I'm in the business...I ought to know. You should find a reputable company that has been in business for a while. Ask for a free sample of their magnets. If they don't provide examples of their wares, there might be a reason why they don't want you to see it until after you have given your hard earned cash to them. Second, you should be able to have your magnet customized to your own specifications. Some suppliers of Save the Date magnets have a narrow selection of designs, and that's all. You choose the one you think will be the best of the bunch, and they put your names and dates on it. They will look just like the magnets they sold to the person before you, but with a different name. How interesting. (yawn) Be aware of businesses that sell magnets that require you to assemble them. Yes...some suppliers actually send 'kits' to you that are made up of cards to which you must attach the magnets. You surely have better things to do while planning your wedding than to spend an evening or two playing with glue.
How Customized Can It Be?
Try to find a company that allows you to use a picture or graphic that you provide. They will normally require a certain size and format for it. They need a good quality image, so don't depend on your cell phone camera. Find a friend with a quality digital camera to take your photograph, or get a professional photographer to do it for you. Either way, you must communicate with the business to make sure that you have the correct size and format for the job once you have decided on the perfect picture. Not only will a respectable company let you customize the picture, they will do the same with the text, the color, and the arrangement of all the elements of your Save the Date magnet. If they won't, you should look around for someone else with which to do business. This is your wedding, and you shouldn't be obligated to have some stranger dictate the details. No doubt there will be times when the graphic artist will tell you that a particular request you make simply isn't possible. There are always limitations. Listen to the professionals and heed their advice because they have designed hundreds of them and know what works.
Speaking of Professionals.
The company I represent has their own staff of graphic artists. Do the other suppliers of Save the Date magnets have them? Perhaps. As you look for a suitable business, try to locate one with trained professionals to lend a hand with your design. Your wedding is too important to let it be designed by someone who has only recently figured out how to start up the graphics program. There is more to it than simply cropping a photo and rearranging some text. A professional will assure that all the elements needed for a great design are done right. Color, hue, contrast, saturation, levels, contrast and brightness are just a few of the details that a professional will tweak to perfection. Don't worry if you have no idea what those terms mean. The professionals can do the worrying for you. You tell them what you want and they can deal with things like 'threshold levels' and 'source channels.'
Bottom Line
Save the Date magnets are becoming more popular all the time. They give your friends and family, especially the out-of-towners, the time to make arrangements for motels and other details so they can come to your wedding. Save the Date magnets help eliminate conflicts with events that others in your family and circle of friends may be planning. It is a courtesy to all involved, and everyone appreciates that.
About the Au
Not Only That...
One great advantage to sending Save the Date magnets can be demonstrated with the following scenario. Without telling anyone else, you and your beloved set a date 12 months in advance and begin making arrangements. "Oh, this is going to be such a surprise!" you chuckle to each other as you work out the details. After months go by, you are prepared to send your invitations announcing your wedding date. Just as you are ready to leave for the post office to mail the enormous stack of invitations you have addressed, stamped and sealed, you notice a letter in your mailbox. You open it up and see that it's a wedding invitation from your favorite cousin who lives in the adjoining city...and she has chosen the very same date as you did! Aaaaugh!
You should have sent Save the Date magnets soon after you decided on a wedding date so she would have realized the conflict and perhaps chosen an alternate day. Now you must begin changing all your plans. New invitations, coordinating with the church, the hall for the reception, all need to be changed. There is no way around it. She beat you to the date, fair and square. Do a favor for your friends, relatives and yourself by sending a Save the Date magnet to them.
Other Scheduling Conflicts
Most Save the Date magnets find their way to the refrigerator or other appliances in the kitchen while others take up residence on a filing cabinet or computer at work. Both locations let the folks see them as they are on the phone making appointments, vacations plans and various scheduling tasks. Nowadays, with so many activities in one's life, it's easy to let an important date slip by. Before they know it they have booked themselves to be at two places at the same time, and one of them could be your wedding. If you put a Save the Date magnet in front of them, they can avoid such awkward predicaments. So, please give the people who are important to you enough prior notice for their scheduling needs.
What Kind of Save the Date Magnet Should I Get?
The quick answer is: Good ones that are personalized. You can find a number of cheap sources of magnets, but you always get what you pay for. Some suppliers will even try to entice you into becoming one of their consumers by providing some to you for free. Trust me, businesses don't ever give products away unless there is a hook to it. I'm in the business...I ought to know. You should find a reputable company that has been in business for a while. Ask for a free sample of their magnets. If they don't provide examples of their wares, there might be a reason why they don't want you to see it until after you have given your hard earned cash to them. Second, you should be able to have your magnet customized to your own specifications. Some suppliers of Save the Date magnets have a narrow selection of designs, and that's all. You choose the one you think will be the best of the bunch, and they put your names and dates on it. They will look just like the magnets they sold to the person before you, but with a different name. How interesting. (yawn) Be aware of businesses that sell magnets that require you to assemble them. Yes...some suppliers actually send 'kits' to you that are made up of cards to which you must attach the magnets. You surely have better things to do while planning your wedding than to spend an evening or two playing with glue.
How Customized Can It Be?
Try to find a company that allows you to use a picture or graphic that you provide. They will normally require a certain size and format for it. They need a good quality image, so don't depend on your cell phone camera. Find a friend with a quality digital camera to take your photograph, or get a professional photographer to do it for you. Either way, you must communicate with the business to make sure that you have the correct size and format for the job once you have decided on the perfect picture. Not only will a respectable company let you customize the picture, they will do the same with the text, the color, and the arrangement of all the elements of your Save the Date magnet. If they won't, you should look around for someone else with which to do business. This is your wedding, and you shouldn't be obligated to have some stranger dictate the details. No doubt there will be times when the graphic artist will tell you that a particular request you make simply isn't possible. There are always limitations. Listen to the professionals and heed their advice because they have designed hundreds of them and know what works.
Speaking of Professionals.
The company I represent has their own staff of graphic artists. Do the other suppliers of Save the Date magnets have them? Perhaps. As you look for a suitable business, try to locate one with trained professionals to lend a hand with your design. Your wedding is too important to let it be designed by someone who has only recently figured out how to start up the graphics program. There is more to it than simply cropping a photo and rearranging some text. A professional will assure that all the elements needed for a great design are done right. Color, hue, contrast, saturation, levels, contrast and brightness are just a few of the details that a professional will tweak to perfection. Don't worry if you have no idea what those terms mean. The professionals can do the worrying for you. You tell them what you want and they can deal with things like 'threshold levels' and 'source channels.'
Bottom Line
Save the Date magnets are becoming more popular all the time. They give your friends and family, especially the out-of-towners, the time to make arrangements for motels and other details so they can come to your wedding. Save the Date magnets help eliminate conflicts with events that others in your family and circle of friends may be planning. It is a courtesy to all involved, and everyone appreciates that.
About the Au
9:24 AM
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