When to send save the dates and invitations
The full countdown: save the dates, invitations, RSVP deadline and final counts, with the two rules that decide each date.
Save the dates go out six to eight months ahead (eight to twelve for a destination wedding). Invitations go out six to eight weeks ahead (three months for a destination wedding). Set the RSVP deadline three to four weeks before the day, and put the link to your wedding website on both.
The timeline, in one pass
Every date below counts backwards from the wedding. If two of them collide because you booked late, keep the invitation date and drop the save the date rather than squeezing both into the same month.
12 to 8 months out: save the dates for travel weddings
Destination weddings, holiday weekends, and any date that asks guests to take time off work. People are budgeting flights and leave here, and the earlier note is the whole point.
8 to 6 months out: save the dates for local weddings
Send once the date and the venue are both signed. A save the date with a city and no venue is fine; a save the date with a date you might still move is not.
4 to 3 months out: website live, details filling in
Hotel blocks, travel notes, and the schedule belong here. Guests who got a save the date will check the link long before the invitation arrives, so give them something to find.
3 months out: invitations for destination weddings
Guests crossing a border need the formal details early enough to book flights at a sane price.
8 to 6 weeks out: invitations for local weddings
Earlier and they get set aside; later and you are competing with other weekend plans. Six weeks is the floor, eight is the comfortable version.
4 to 3 weeks out: RSVP deadline
Work backwards from your caterer. Most need final counts fourteen days out. A deadline three to four weeks before the wedding leaves you one clean week to chase the quiet ones.
2 weeks out: final counts and the last website update
Seating, meal counts, and transport all lock now. Update the schedule page the same afternoon so guests checking their phone on the way see the version you gave the venue.
The rules underneath the dates
A save the date is a promise. Everyone who gets one gets an invitation, without exception. Which means the save the date list is the short, certain list: the people you would be upset to marry without.
The B-list waits for the invitation stage. Send the first wave of invitations eight weeks out with a four-week RSVP window, then send the second wave as declines come in. Nobody can see the wave they were in.
Postage doubles your lead time. International mail can take three weeks. If half your list is overseas, either add three weeks or send those households digitally and post the rest.
What goes on each one
A save the date needs four things: your names, the date, the city, and the website link. Nothing else. Not the venue if it might change, not the schedule, not the dress code. Examples by tone are in save the date wording.
An invitation needs the hosts, the request line, the names, the date and time, the venue, and the RSVP instruction. Everything else (parking, hotels, dress code, kids, the shuttle schedule) lives on your website, where you can correct it later. Our invitation wording guide has the exact lines for each host arrangement.
Paper, email, or both
Most couples we work with post the invitation and send the save the date digitally. It is the cheaper half to digitise, it arrives the same day, and a link is easier to tap than to type off a card. If you are sending either one by email or text, read how to send digital wedding invitations first: the two-wave method there is what keeps deliverability honest.
FAQ
When should you send save the dates?
Six to eight months before a local wedding, and eight to twelve months before a destination wedding or a holiday weekend. Send them only once your date and venue are both confirmed.
When should you send wedding invitations?
Six to eight weeks before the wedding for a local celebration, and three months before for a destination wedding. Set the RSVP deadline three to four weeks before the day.
Do you send save the dates and invitations to the same people?
Yes. Anyone who receives a save the date must receive an invitation. A save the date is a commitment. Keep your B-list off the save the date entirely.
How far in advance should the RSVP deadline be?
Three to four weeks before the wedding. Your caterer usually needs final counts two weeks out, which leaves you a week to chase the guests who have not replied.
Is it too late to send save the dates three months out?
Skip them and send the invitations early instead, around ten to twelve weeks out. A save the date that arrives close to the invitation only creates confusion.
Do you need save the dates if you have a wedding website?
The website replaces the detail, not the nudge. Send a short save the date (even by email or text) that carries the date, the city, and the link.
A Simplyweds site gives you one link that works on the save the date, the invitation, and every text you send after, with RSVPs, deadlines, and reminders in the same place. See what it costs.