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.