Class Reunion Save-the-Date Postcards, Mailed for You

To send class reunion save-the-date postcards without addressing them yourself, paste your classmate list into ShipNote, write one message, pick a photo, and review every card. We print each postcard, put a real stamp on it, and mail it the next business day. It is $1.99 a card on 10 or more.

TL;DR

• Send the save-the-date 5 to 12 months out, the invitation 3 to 8 months out. Dated sources below.
• A postcard is the right format: no envelope, one glance, and it ends up on the fridge.
• Put on it: school, class, "reunion," date or month, city, where to get updates, "Details to follow."
• Mail what you have first. A card with a return address that cannot be delivered comes back to you, which tells you whose address is stale.
• 200 cards cost $398.00 on ShipNote, printing, stamp and mailing included. Print-only plus a stamp costs more.

Why is a postcard the right save-the-date for a reunion?

Because a reunion save-the-date has one job: get one date on 200 refrigerators, cheaply, with no steps in between. A postcard does that. There is no envelope to open or throw away, the date is readable from across the room, and it is a format some reunion committees already use.

It also fits the crowd. Your list is a mix: classmates who live on their phones, and classmates who check the mail and nothing else. An email reaches the first group and gets buried. A postcard in the mailbox reaches both, and it does not need an account or a link. One reunion guide says a printed save-the-date "arriving by post is now novel enough to be remembered" (Reunly, checked October 30, 2026).

And it is a keepsake. A card with the school colors or a senior-year photo is the kind of thing people stick on the fridge, which is exactly where you want the date to live for the next year.

When should you send class reunion save-the-dates?

Five to twelve months before the reunion, with the invitation three to eight months out. The three guides we checked each give a different number, which is useful: it tells you the window is wide.

Take the middle. If the reunion is next fall, a save-the-date in the next few weeks is not early, it is on time. People book weddings, trips and school-year calendars a year ahead, and a reunion that arrives after those are set loses people to conflicts you could have avoided.

Two practical points. Send the save-the-date even if the venue is not final: city and month are enough, and "Details to follow" covers the rest. And send it before you have a full address list, not after, because the cards you mail will tell you who is missing.

What goes on a class reunion save-the-date postcard?

The class, the occasion, the date, the place, and where to get news. That is it. Anything more belongs on the invitation.

The front carries the photo and the headline. On ShipNote's photo designs (Classic, Polaroid, Magazine, Split and Framed), you can type any headline up to 24 characters. "CLASS OF 2007 REUNION" is 21, so it fits. The headline suggestions for save-the-dates include SAVE THE DATE, SAVE OUR DATE, HOLD THE DATE and MARK YOUR CALENDAR. For the photo, use school colors, a senior-year group shot or the football field. A yearbook photo works as long as the file is at least 1200x1800 pixels.

The back is where the facts go. ShipNote's default save-the-date back is a name, a when, a where and "Invitation to follow," and you can edit all of it. For a reunion, something like this:

Lincoln High Class of 2007 20-Year Reunion Saturday, October 9, 2027, Austin, Texas Details to follow. Updates: lincoln2007.example

Questions or a new address? Reply to Dana at dana@example.com

Notes on that wording:

• Name the reunion year in the class line. People scan for "Class of."
• Give a real date if you have one. "Next fall" is fine if you do not, but a date is what gets written on a calendar.
• Give one place to get updates: a Facebook group, a page, an email. Do not give four.
• Ask for new addresses. It costs you one line and it is how the list gets better.

Every card also carries your return address, printed by ShipNote. Keep that in mind, because it matters for the next section.

How do you find classmates you have lost?

Mail what you have, and let the mail tell you the rest. Do not hold the whole batch while you hunt for 40 missing addresses.

Where addresses come from, roughly in order of payoff:

1. The alumni office or the school's own list. Many schools keep a class roster and will pass a message along.
2. A class Facebook group or group text. Post the date and ask people to send an address privately.
3. Classmates who stayed in touch. Send the draft list to three of them and ask who is missing.
4. Parents. A parent who still lives in town often knows where a classmate is now.
5. The cards themselves. A postcard to a 20-year-old address with your return address on it either arrives, is forwarded, or comes back.

That last one is worth understanding. USPS's Domestic Mail Manual says First-Class Mail that cannot be delivered as addressed is, with no endorsement, handled the same way as "Forwarding Service Requested." If a change-of-address order is on file, the piece is forwarded at no charge for the first 12 months, then returned to you with the new address attached during months 13 to 18. If no order is on file, or more than 18 months have passed, it comes back to the return address "with reason for nondelivery attached (no charge)" (USPS DMM 507, Exhibit 1.5.1, checked October 30, 2026). USPS's own help page says it will "use the return address on the mailpiece and try to return it to the sender" (USPS FAQ, same date).

So a returned postcard is information, not a failure: that address is stale, and you now know whom to chase before the invitation goes out. A classmate who filed a change of address gets the card forwarded, or returned with the new address on it, so a plain return means a dead address.

Inside ShipNote, an address that cannot be confirmed does not get lost either. Every address is checked against USPS data before you pay, and an unconfirmed one is shown by name so you can fix it or remove it.

What does it cost to mail 200 reunion postcards?

On ShipNote, $398.00. Printing, the stamp and the mailing are in that number. Here is the all-in cost beside printing the postcards somewhere else and mailing them yourself.

Zazzle sells class-reunion save-the-date postcards with no minimum quantity. The lowest list price among the five reunion-postcard listings we looked at was $1.71 a postcard, with the others up to $3.05 (Zazzle search for class reunion save the date postcards, list prices, checked October 30, 2026). The USPS postcard stamp is 65 cents (USPS Notice 123 price list, effective October 4, 2026). So print-only at Zazzle's lowest list price plus a stamp is $2.36 a card. Those are the single-card list prices the search page shows, and Zazzle's quantity discounts may bring a large run lower.

The right-hand column is the lowest list price among the five listings we looked at, and it still does not include the part that costs you: writing or labeling 200 addresses, buying and sticking 200 stamps, sorting, and a trip to the post office. For a volunteer who is also holding a job, those evenings are the real price. ShipNote's number is the whole job, and it comes with no account and no minimum order.

One more cost to count is mistakes. Typing 200 addresses by hand gets some of them wrong. Pasting the list lets us check each one against USPS data before you pay.

How do you send the cards in about 15 minutes?

Paste the list, pick a photo, write one message, review every card, pay. If your classmate list is in a spreadsheet, you are most of the way there already. You can paste it straight from a sheet, a group text or a document, or upload a CSV, an XLSX or an image, up to 5,000 rows and 10 MB.

Want it timed? At checkout, under Delivery, choose "Choose a later mail date," then "On a date I choose." Any weekday up to 90 days out works, so you can order tonight and have the cards mail the week you announced the date.

Can you send a second mailing later with the same list?

Yes, and it is the part that saves the most time. The save-the-date is the first of two or three mailings: the invitation 3 to 8 months out, maybe a last reminder. After you order, open your order page and reorder from it. Choose "Send this same card to more people", and the Send this card again page opens with the same photo and message. You paste the list again on the next step. The people whose cards went out are left out, so nobody gets a second card by accident, and the list you kept from the first mailing pastes in as it is.

For the invitation, change the message (the date, the venue, the RSVP link) and the headline. Update your spreadsheet first with any new addresses classmates sent after the first mailing, add the people you found, and paste it.

Frequently asked questions

When should you send class reunion save-the-dates?

The guides we checked put the save-the-date anywhere from 5 to 12 months before the reunion (one puts an emailed notice at 12 to 18), with the invitation 3 to 8 months out. Send it as soon as you have a date and a city.

What should a class reunion save-the-date say?

The class and school, the word reunion, the date (or month and year if the date is not final), the city or venue, and where to get updates. Add "Details to follow" so nobody thinks it is the invitation.

How do you find classmates whose addresses you do not have?

Start with the alumni office, the class's Facebook group, classmates who stayed in touch, and their parents. Mail what you have first. A postcard with a return address that cannot be delivered comes back to you, which tells you whose address is stale.

Can I send a class reunion postcard without an envelope?

Yes. A postcard travels First-Class without an envelope, and some reunion committees mail one. The message is on the back, so nothing has to be opened to be read.

How much does it cost to mail 200 reunion save-the-dates?

On ShipNote, 200 cards are $398.00 at $1.99 a card on 10 or more, with printing, the stamp and mailing included. Printing elsewhere and mailing yourself adds the stamp, which is 65 cents as of October 2026, plus your evenings.

Can I use the same list for the invitation later?

Yes. From your order page, choose 'Send this same card to more people': the card opens with the same photo and message, and you paste the list again on the next step. The people whose cards went out are left out on purpose, so nobody gets a second card by mistake. Change the message and headline for the invitation.

Do I need an account or a minimum order?

No account, and no minimum order. One card is $2.49, and $1.99 a card on 10 or more is the rate for a batch.

Related reading

• Save the date postcards: spend less, land on the fridge: the general case for a postcard save-the-date.
• Save the date magnets vs postcards: which one wins the fridge.
• Don't have everyone's address? Send the cards you can: mail the batch you can address today and ask for the rest.