Tag Archives: save the date cards

How Late is Too Late to Send Wedding Save the Dates?

Sending “save the dates” for weddings has become standard these days. Sent before the formal wedding invitation, this card serves as advance notice of the big day. It gives guests ample time to book the day off work or arrange childcare before all the little details are finalised on the invitation itself.

Save the dates also give guests a tease of what the wedding will be like, as you’ll choose a save the date card which reflects your wedding theme, colour scheme and overall vibe.
Because save the dates serve a practical purpose as well as a decorative one, it’s crucial that you send them out at the right time. Send your save the dates too early, and your recipients may forget all about it. But send them too late, and there’s a chance that some of your invitees will already have made plans for your wedding day.

In this guide, we’ll talk you through the perfect time to send save the dates, and what qualifies as too early vs. too late. We’ll also share some general tips for how best to word save the dates, and

When Is the Right Time to Send Wedding Save the Dates?

More than choosing the design of the save the date itself, it’s very important to decide on the right time to send them to make sure that they serve their purpose.
Most wedding experts would tell you to send out your save the dates around 6 months before the wedding, and we’d agree.

6 months’ notice is usually more than enough time for your recipients to:

1) Decide whether they’d like to come to your wedding
2) Book the day or the weekend off work
3) Organise childcare for the day, if they aren’t bringing their little ones along
4) Arrange transport to the wedding, or figure out the best driving and parking options
5) Buy a new wedding outfit, if necessary
6) Mark the date in their diaries so they don’t accidentally double-book themselves

This will also give you plenty of time to answer any questions your invitees may have about your wedding, before you send out your formal invitations later on.
If you have a wedding website, we’d recommend setting it up before you send out your save the dates. Including a link to your website on your save the dates will help drive more traffic towards it, so you can get important information to your guests that will be useful during your planning process.

As you finalise details about your big day, you can update the site in real time. You can also add a Frequently Asked Questions section if you find that your invitees all have similar queries.

Local vs. Destination Weddings

The 6-month rule for save the dates is a very general one, and may not apply to all weddings equally. Depending on where you’re getting married, and who you’re inviting, you might send out your save the dates anywhere between 4 months and 12 months before the big day.

If you’re getting married in your hometown, and most of your guests live nearby, you can get away with sending out your wedding save the dates closer to your wedding day (4 months in advance). This is for the simple reason that your guests won’t have to travel, or book accommodation. They’ll also only need one day off work for the wedding.
But if your guests will need to travel for your wedding, it’s best to send your save the dates out earlier than you usually would.

For UK weddings where your guests will need to travel for more than an hour each way, we’d recommend sending them 6-8 months in advance.
For international weddings, where your guests will need to fly abroad, it’s best to give everyone 8-12 months’ notice. It can take quite some time to plan a trip to a foreign country, and they’ll need plenty of notice to book at least a few days off work, if not a whole week.

Is There Such Thing as Sending Save the Dates Too Early?

With wedding save the dates, it’s best to stick with the ideal timeline of 4 to 6 months for a local wedding and 6 to 8 months for a destination wedding.
You may believe that there can’t be anything wrong with sending your save the dates too early. Surely, the more notice you give your invitees, the better? What would be wrong with asking them to save the date more than a year in advance?
Sadly, sending your save the dates more than 12 months in advance creates two big problems.

1) Your recipients may take one look at the date and say “that’s ages away, I don’t have to worry about that yet.” They’ll then file the card away and forget about it. When the wedding invitation turns up, they’ll realise they already made plans.
2) Most people won’t be able to book the day off work as soon as the save the date arrives. They’ll have to wait until the year of the wedding in order to access the holiday rota. This means they may completely forget to do it at all.

Another important point to make is that you must book your venue before you send out save the dates. If you rush into things and send save the dates before you’ve got a venue finalised, you may have to change the date. Then the whole thing will have been for nothing.

You also need to have fully finalised your wedding guest list before you send save the dates. Once you send them out, there’s no turning back: every single person that received a save the date must also receive a formal invitation. So if you aren’t completely sure yet who you’re going to invite, hold off until you are.

When Is It Too Late to Send Save the Dates?

On the contrary, sending save the dates too late is also a bad idea. It creates a massive problem in and of itself.
First and foremost, a save the date is supposed to be advanced notice. If you wait until 2 or 3 months before the wedding to send them out, there’s a very good chance that a lot of your invitees won’t be able to make it. They may already be busy that day, or may not be able to book the day off work.

Even if they aren’t busy on that day, they may decide not to come anyway because they haven’t been given enough notice. Attending a wedding, even as a regular guest, is quite a big deal. Sending out your save the dates too close to the day may not give your guests enough time to plan their travel, save up for a new outfit or arrange childcare.
Not only would sending save the dates too late render them useless, but it could also cause confusion among your guests. They may mistake it for the wedding invitation, and wonder why some of the details are missing.

So, as soon as you have the basic details of your wedding figured out, it’s best to start thinking about designing your wedding save the dates and ordering them from a trusted supplier.

What Do I Do If I Miss the Deadline?

If you completely forgot to send wedding save the dates, and you’ve now realised that it’s too late, don’t panic.
The best thing to do is to just try and get your formal wedding invitations sent out earlier than you usually would, so that your guests have as much notice as possible.
Normally, you’d send save the dates 6 months in advance, and then the wedding invitations would go out around 6-8 weeks before the wedding.
But if you haven’t sent save the date cards, simply send out your invitations as soon as possible – ideally at least 3-4 months before your wedding. You can include a link to your wedding website that you can update with extra bits of information if you haven’t got it all sorted out yet.

Now that you know when you should be sending them, let’s go over a brief list of what you should include on the wedding save the date.
Don’t confuse your wedding save the date with your wedding invitation. Remember that the purpose of this card is to let your guests know of your wedding date and location so they can start planning their schedule around it. Leave the more intricate details for your wedding invitation.

On a wedding save the date card, you should include:
1) The names of the couple getting married
2) The words “save the date” and “invitation to follow”, so it’s clear what the card is for
3) Your wedding date, including the year
4) The name of your venue and which city it’s in
5) A link to your wedding website, if you have one

You don’t need to include things like the food menu, the ceremony start time, the gift list, or the dress code.
An RSVP card isn’t also necessary at this point since you’re still several months away from your wedding. You don’t need to know the final headcount or any dietary restrictions just yet.

Order Your Wedding Save the Dates Today from 123Print

Wedding save the date cards are essential for keeping your guests in the loop for your upcoming wedding. It is also your chance to set the right tone and mood for your wedding, so it’s very important to do it right.

If you’re looking for a trusted wedding stationer to guide you in designing your very own wedding save the dates, look no further than 123Print. With over 100 years’ experience printing professional-quality stationery as part of our parent company, CCA occasions, you can trust us to make everything perfect for the biggest day of your life.

You can choose from a range of pocket-sized save the date cards, medium postcards, large postcards, and even vinyl save the date magnets. Head to our website today to browse our wonderful selection of templates, and start the easy personalisation process! With our 100% satisfaction guarantee, there’s nothing to lose.

Save the Dates vs. Wedding Invitations: What’s the Difference and Do You Need Both?

If you’ve recently got engaged, you’re probably being hounded by friends and relatives asking you questions like “have you picked a date yet?” and “when are you going to send out save the dates?”
If you’ve not been invited to many weddings before, you’re probably wondering: what exactly is a “save the date”, and is it the same thing as a wedding invitation? Are they both necessary?

A save the date is a standalone (and very important) piece of wedding stationery which is completely separate to a wedding invitation. It’s sent out several months before the invitation, and its sole purpose is to inform your future wedding guests of the wedding date. It doesn’t contain any other details about your wedding day celebration, and it’s not meant to be replied to. Formal invitations are then sent out closer to the big day, along with a reply card.

This guide will further explain exactly what the difference is between a save the date and a wedding invitation, what information you should include on each, and whether you truly need to send out both.

What Is a Save the Date?

A wedding save the date is, essentially, like a formal “heads up” about your upcoming wedding. Its purpose is to act as an engagement announcement, and let your potential guests know when the wedding date will be. That’s it!

A save the date is not the same thing as an invitation (there’s no reply card, so the recipients aren’t expected to RSVP at this stage). However, anyone who receives a save the date should receive an invitation eventually. So, only send them out once you’ve decided exactly who you want to invite, and confirmed that the venue will be big enough to hold them all (if everyone says yes).

The purpose of a save the date is to inform your invitees of the wedding date well in advance, so that they can book time off work and avoid making any other arrangements on the day in question.
Once you’ve organised all the little details, such as what food you’ll be serving and what time the ceremony will start, then you can send out the formal invitations.

What Information Goes On a Save the Date?

A traditional wedding save the date contains the following information:
1) The names of who’s invited (usually on the outer envelope, not on the card itself)
2) The names of the couple getting married
3) The wedding date

You don’t need to include the wedding venue. However, if you’re tying the knot more than an hour away from where your invitees live, it’s a good idea to include the name of the town at least. This will give your invitees some forewarning that they’ll need to travel.
A save the date usually ends with “invitation to follow”, to let guests know to expect a formal invite later on.

How Far In Advance Do You Send Save the Dates?

Because the only purpose of a save the date is to spread word of your wedding date, you can send them out practically as early as you’d like. The only thing you need to do before sending save the dates is to book your venue. You don’t need to have finalised any other details.

Save the dates are usually sent out 4-6 months before the wedding. You can go earlier than this for destination weddings.
However, we wouldn’t recommend sending them any earlier 12 months out. Otherwise, you run the risk of the recipient thinking “that’s ages away – I’ll deal with this later” and then completely forgetting about it.

What Is a Wedding Invitation?

A save the date isn’t the same thing as a formal wedding invitation – although everyone who receives a save the date must also receive an invitation, according to traditional wedding etiquette.

Think of the save the date card as a pre-invitation – something that tells the recipient that they will soon be invited to a wedding, and to keep the date free. The formal invitation is what actually invites them. Wedding invitations are typically bigger than save the dates, and may be folded, or come with several inserts containing all the important details.

The key difference between a save the date and an invitation is that you have to reply to an invitation, whereas you don’t have to respond to a save the date. Invitations come with reply cards to fill out and send back to the host.

What Information Goes On a Wedding Invitation?

Unlike a save the date, whose only purpose is to inform the invitee of the date of the wedding, there are many parts to a wedding invitation. The invitation is sent once you’ve finalised all the details of the big day, and need to communicate these details with your guests.

As well as the date, your wedding invitation should include:
1) The wedding date
2) Name and address of the ceremony venue (and reception venue, if it’s different)
3) Directions to the venue(s)
4) The ceremony start time (and reception start time, if it’s being held at a different location)
5) Accommodation details for guests that need to stay overnight (names and numbers of local hotels)
6) Menu card (if you’re allowing your guests to choose between different meal options)
7) Some way for the guests to RSVP (such as a reply card or an e-mail address)
8) The RSVP deadline

If you have a wedding website, you can use this to provide additional details (such as nearby parking, public transport routes, and gift registry information). Include a link to your wedding website on the paper invitation.

How Far In Advance Do You Send Wedding Invitations?

If you’ve sent save the dates, your invitees will already know the date of your wedding long before they receive the invitation. This means they’ll already have had a chance to book time off work, or make other necessary arrangements so that they can attend your wedding.

You can send your invitations out anywhere between 6 and 12 weeks before the wedding. This will give your guests ample time to organise travel arrangements, return the RSVP card, and inform you of any dietary requirements (if applicable).

Do You Have to Send Save the Dates and Invitations?

Sending both save the dates and wedding invitations is the “done thing”. It’s part of traditional wedding etiquette, and therefore it’s what your wedding guests will be expecting you to do. Not sending save the dates may cause some confusion.

There are two main reasons why it’s useful to send save the dates.

1) They give guests a heads-up on when the wedding will be, long before you’ve sorted out the fine details that you’ll need to put on the wedding invitation.
2) Guests will know for sure that they’re going to be invited. Even if they’ve heard the date of your wedding through the grapevine, they might not know whether they’ll be included.

Receiving a save the date will put their minds at ease.
Save the dates give guests the go-ahead to book time off work, childcare, and so on. But if you’re willing to send your wedding invitations early, you don’t strictly need to send save the dates.

When Save the Dates Might Not Be Necessary

Depending on what kind of wedding you’re having, it doesn’t always make sense to send save the dates. Save the dates may not be necessary if you are:

1) Having a very small wedding, and you’ve told your guests the date personally (via phone call, for instance)
2) Spreading word of your wedding date another way e.g. through Facebook
3) Having an impromptu wedding that has been arranged at the last minute
4) Working with a small budget, and can’t afford to send both save the dates and wedding invitations

If you aren’t sending save the dates, you must send your invitations well in advance of the big day. We’d recommending posting your invitations 4-6 months out – around the same time that you would normally send save the dates. Otherwise, by the time the invitations arrive, you may find that your invitees have already made plans, or can’t book the time off work.

Of course, this does mean that you’ll need to finalise all of the little details of your wedding much earlier than you’d have to if you sent save the dates. This can be stressful. We’d still recommend sending save the dates, if possible – then you’ll have more time to put together your invitations.