Library themed Save the Dates

After searching Etsy and Pinterest for inspiration, the same library themed save the dates kept popping up. I wanted to do something different; something I hadn't seen before.

There's your check out card styled ones, that highlight important dates in your relationship:

I love the handwritten look of the last one. At first, I was considering do a save the date in that style.

Then, there are your bookmark save the dates:

All images found on Pinterest.

All super cute for a library themed wedding, but not unique enough for me. Then I saw Kelly Clarkson's save the date, that was similar to the bookmark style, and said "Bookmark the date," and a light bulb went off! Of course, "Bookmark the date!" I don't know how that didn't come to me sooner.

We had our engagement photo shoot right around the corner, so I envisioned me and the fiance, sitting on a bench, reading books that said, "bookmark the date" on one book, and "04.26.2014" on the other. A bonus would have been to have the dogs on the bench also (which didn't happen, of course). I wasn't sure my photographer was going to go for it, because she doesn't normally use props in her shoots, but she was totally on board!

So, I set out searching around the house for books that would be big enough to have the words on the outside that would be legible in a picture. I have 3" stencils from A.C. Moore that I use for all kinds of banners.

Here's the finished product.

And here's the full image.

Photos courtesy of the fabulous Ashley from Wide Eyed Studios

The dogs didn't completely cooperate, but I love how the pictures came out! 

I used the second image above for our save the date, and used PicMonkey to add words and a banner to a different image. Since I don't know how to use Photoshop, PicMonkey is my go to for photo editing. The site has lots of different features, even in the free version, including everything from different filters, fonts, banners, and different accessories. It is so easy to use!

Hope this helps to inspire other library brides out there!