A wedding produces a lot of paper. The save-the-date goes into a drawer once the invitation arrives, and the thank-you note is read once and filed. A photo magnet is one of the few pieces of wedding stationery with somewhere to go afterwards: the fridge door, where a date or a face is seen every day.
This guide uses one real shop as its worked example: Sticky Moments, a small online shop for custom photo magnets printed from your own photos. Its wedding page names three jobs for wedding photo magnets (save-the-date, favor and thank-you) and recommends the 2x3 rectangle for save-the-dates.
The takeaway: decide the job before you choose the photo. Each of the three jobs changes the size, the picture and how many magnets you need. Count households rather than guests, work back from the day you need the magnets in your hands, and be honest about scale. The packs top out at 15, so photo magnets suit a small wedding, the family households or the people who helped far better than a large reception.
What Sticky Moments sells and how an order works
Sticky Moments is a small photo magnet shop with buying guides, founded in 2025. It lists four sizes in three shapes, each sold in packs of 6, 9, 12 or 15:
- a 2 x 2 inch square, the smallest size, for one face or a pet;
- a 2.5 x 2.5 inch square, with room for two faces or a little background;
- a 2x3-inch rectangle, which keeps groups and landscapes whole and prints either way up, so each magnet can be portrait or landscape;
- a 2.25-inch circle, which frames one subject cleanly.
Every magnet in a pack can carry a different photo, and each one is a glossy photo print on a magnetic back.
Ordering happens in two places. You pick a size and a pack on Sticky Moments, and the order button opens Fresh Magnets, where you upload your photos and check out. That print partner prints and ships the order, and Sticky Moments' shipping page says each order is printed to order in the USA.
Three jobs for wedding photo magnets
Settle which job each magnet does before you choose a photo. The sizes below are a starting point, not a rule.
| Save-the-date | Favor | Thank-you gift | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who gets one | each invited household | each guest, or each household at a table | the people who helped, plus the parents |
| When you need them | in hand before your mail date | a few days before the wedding | after the wedding, once the photos are back |
| Size to start with | 2x3 rectangle | 2.25-inch circle or 2x2 square | 2x3 rectangle for a group photo |
| The photo | an engagement photo, names and date readable | one clear image, the same look on every table | a favorite photo from the day |
| How big the count gets | middle (addresses) | largest (people) | smallest (helpers) |
Save-the-date magnets: the 2x3 rectangle and a plain design
Sticky Moments' wedding page recommends the 2x3 rectangle because it sits close to a small card, and its design advice is short: "Keep the design plain: the couple's names and the date legible."
Take that advice literally. A magnet a few inches across is read from across a kitchen, so the names and the date need to be large, and anything more competes for very little space. If you want names and a date on the magnet, the simplest route is to add them to the picture on your phone or computer before you upload it. Then print a copy at 2 by 3 inches on plain paper; if you can read it at arm's length, it should read on a fridge.
The rectangle also suits engagement photos in either direction. Because each magnet prints either way up, a tall portrait of the two of you and a wide shot of the venue can each be printed the right way round.
At the time of writing, Sticky Moments lists the 2x3 rectangle from $21.99 for a 6-pack up to $38.99 for a 15-pack.
Favors: one subject and one look across the tables
The favor is where the count climbs fastest, and where the honest limit matters. A favor goes to every guest, or at least to every household at a table, and a pack tops out at 15. For sets beyond Sticky Moments' packs, its print partner Fresh Magnets makes them to order, but the site states no price, quantity or lead time for that route, so treat it as an open question rather than a plan for a large reception.
Wedding favor magnets fit the smaller table: an intimate dinner, a family-only lunch the day after, or the head table. For a favor, a single subject reads better than a crowd, and the round magnet page describes the circle as framing one subject cleanly. At the time of writing, Sticky Moments lists the round 2.25-inch circle from $18.99 for a 6-pack up to $33.99 for a 15-pack.
Every magnet in a pack can carry a different photo, so you can give each table its own picture or repeat one image so the room looks deliberate. Favors are handed out on the day, so the photos have to exist beforehand: the venue at dusk, the rings on a table or the place you met all work without anyone needing to recognize a face.
Our guide to party favors kids actually use puts one question to every favor: would anyone pick it up again on an ordinary Tuesday? A magnet with a photo that means something to the couple has a better chance than most, because it has somewhere to go once it is home.
Wedding thank-you gifts: the shortest list and the easiest fit
The thank-you list is often the one that fits a pack without any trimming. It is the wedding party, both sets of parents, the friend who did the flowers, the neighbor who lent the garden. Sticky Moments' wedding page names the thank-you gift as the third job, and it is the most forgiving of the three: there is no mail deadline, and you can wait until the photos from the day are back.
A group shot of the people you are thanking is the obvious choice, and the 2x3 rectangle keeps groups whole. Because each magnet can carry its own photo, each helper can get a picture of their own moment.
As photo magnet gifts, they land better with a few handwritten words. Pair each magnet with a short card, and if the words will not come, our formula for what to write in a card gives you four parts: a greeting, the reason, one specific detail and a warm close.
Count households, not guests: a worked example
Save-the-dates go to addresses, not people, and that one change in counting decides whether a pack fits. Here is an illustrative example; the numbers are invented to show the method.
Take a guest list of 32 people: eight couples, three families of four and four single guests.
- Save-the-dates. For example, eight couples, three families and four single guests make 15 households, so one 15-pack covers every address, with none spare. At the listed $38.99 for a 2x3 15-pack, that works out at about $2.60 per household before shipping (illustrative arithmetic, not a quote).
- Favors. Counted per person, 32 favors is more than one pack holds. Either give one magnet per household at the table (15 again) or keep magnets for the family table and choose a different favor for everyone else.
- Thank-yous. For example, 9 helpers means one 9-pack. At the listed $25.99 for a 2x3 9-pack, that is about $2.89 each (illustrative).
Timing: work back from the day you need them
Sticky Moments' shipping page says printing takes one to three business days after your photos arrive, and up to about five in busy seasons. Standard delivery then takes three to seven business days, so most orders arrive one to two weeks after ordering, its shipping page says. The same page says packs travel by tracked mail within the United States, with the shipping cost calculated at checkout.
A short checklist, working backwards:
- [ ] Fix the date first. Sticky Moments' refunds page says that, as custom items, packs are not returnable for a change of mind; its reprint or refund is for faults, so a magnet printed with a date that later moves cannot go back.
- [ ] Name the day you need them in hand: your mail date for save-the-dates, a few days before the wedding for favors, any time after the wedding for thank-yous.
- [ ] Count back the one to two weeks the shipping page gives for most orders, and more in busy seasons.
- [ ] Add your own margin for a fault. The same refunds page offers a reprint or refund if an order arrives damaged, misprinted or missing items, with fault claims within 14 days of delivery, and a reprint needs time of its own.
- [ ] Finish the photos before you order: names and date added, crops checked at actual size. The refunds page says problems from the supplied photo, such as a blurry original or a low-resolution file, are not covered.
- [ ] Open the pack the day it arrives and check every magnet while the claim window is open.
Mailing a magnet save-the-date
A magnet in an envelope can change how a letter is handled. The USPS Domestic Mail Manual treats a letter that is too rigid or unevenly thick as nonmachinable, which adds a surcharge. A magnet makes an envelope thicker in one spot, which is the kind of unevenness those criteria describe, so assume a magnet save-the-date may cost more to mail until the post office tells you otherwise.
Sticky Moments' round magnet page says a six or nine pack of its rounds slips into a card envelope and posts without a box, so a round pack is the easy one to post to family far away. Whatever you post, assemble one finished envelope, take it to the post office and check postage before you buy stamps for the whole list.
FAQ
Are photo magnets practical for a large guest list?
For every guest at a large reception, usually not. The packs top out at 15, and the site says larger sets beyond its packs are made to order by its print partner, with no price, quantity or lead time stated. Magnets suit the small counts: save-the-dates for the family households, favors for one table, or thank-you gifts for the people who helped.
Can we return the magnets if the wedding date changes?
No. Sticky Moments' refunds page says that, as custom items, packs are not returnable for a change of mind; it offers a reprint or refund if an order arrives damaged, misprinted or missing items, with fault claims within 14 days of delivery. Order once the date is fixed.
Can names and a date go on the magnet?
The site describes ordering as choosing a size and a pack on Sticky Moments, then uploading your photos and checking out. If you want names and a date on a save-the-date, the simplest route is to put them into the picture before you upload it and check them at actual size.
How far ahead should we order?
Sticky Moments' shipping page says most orders arrive one to two weeks after ordering, counting printing and standard delivery. Add a margin for a possible reprint on top of that, and more in busy seasons.
Give each magnet one job
A wedding photo magnet earns its place when it has a clear job: a date to remember, a favor that goes home, or a thank-you that stays on someone's fridge. Settle the job, count the households, fix the date and finish the photos, then compare the four sizes on Sticky Moments and pick the pack that fits the list you actually have.