When to Send Save the Date Cards

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Destination weddings require a bit more notice for your guests than the average at home I do. If you’re getting out of town but you want as many guests as possible to do the same, then be sure to give your loved ones plenty of notice!

A save the date is typically a single card or announcement that the wedding date has been set and the invitations are to follow later in the year. This gives your guests time to block off the travel days on their calendar, ask for time off work, take the kids out of school, and look for any great flight and travel deals ahead of time. The save the date should also alert guests to your wedding website where you can share more travel tips and information and if you’ve set up any hotel room blocks, now is the time to share that information.

Guests who do anticipate attending the wedding will want to book hotel rooms at this stage, even though they won’t have officially RSVP’ed for the event until the invitation arrives.

Save the dates can be sent via snail mail or even email in today’s modern wedding world! It can be themed to your event, it can match your invitations, your wedding website, or it can be completely unique and styled to your location or the two of you!

So when should you send save the date cards? Typically six to nine months before the wedding date. However, if you have your date and location locked in, you can send these up to a year in advance. The farther you need your guests to travel, the more notice they should get.

But be sure to have that guest list finalized before the save the date cards go out! Anyone that receives a save the date needs to also receive a wedding invitation in the months that follow.

Did you know that we design invitations and save the dates too? It’s a service we offer our wedding planning clients only, in an effort to provide a more well-rounded overall experience for couples we work with. Learn more about our Richard’s Notebook division here. If you’re ready to save the date, give us a ring!

Image by Tamara Gruner Photography.

Published by Emily Campbell

I am an event planner located in Breckenridge, CO. I absolutely love my job and am amazed on a daily basis by the interesting work. Things I love. . . a job well done, Billy Collins poetry, discussing politics with my dad, reading historical fiction, listening to my children giggle, having martinis with my amazing girlfriends, trail running, simply being with my mom in any capacity, walking the streets of New York City and Paris, taking a full afternoon without interruption to prepare a dinner party, world music, John Coltrane, a bud vase of fresh flowers on my desk, telling stories with my huge family, listening to Neil Young around a campfire, going to concerts at Red Rocks, traveling to new places and always visiting at least one art gallery, going to the theatre, Broadway musicals are my favorite, being near a river and thinking, naps. . . being with my husband.

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