YOU’RE ENGAGED!!! You’re as giddy as can be and you can’t wait to share the news with the world! But making it “Facebook Official” isn’t quite the recommended way to notify everyone. Not everyone in the older generations has a social media account and some people have even decided to forego it altogether. And what if your electronic Save the Date gets sent to their Spam folder and they never see it? That’s where sending out your Save the Dates comes in.
You’ve got that gorgeous ring! 🗸
You’ve had your Engagement Session 🗸 (pretty pictures of you two newly engaged lovebirds are a must!)
You’ve made a tentative Guest List 🗸
But… when should you send out your Save the Dates to everyone? Well, there are a few things to consider:
When Should You Send Your Save the Dates?
Will you be inviting family members that live a big distance from where the wedding will be? If you do, they need plenty of notice to make travel arrangements and will have to ask for more time-off from work. Taking care of those two things can take a bit more time than if they just lived 30 minutes down the road. In the case of friends and family that are traveling larger distances, you should send out your Save the Dates about 8 to 10 months before the wedding. In the case of a destination wedding (very far away, possibly out of the country) I would send out Save the Dates at least 12 months in advance.
Lucky enough to have everyone within an hour or two radius of the festivities? Well, you can procrastinate sending out your Save the Dates a little longer then. Giving friends and family a 4 to 6 months notice should be more than sufficient. But with all of the things on your epic To Do List for wedding planning, don’t hold off too long in printing them or even addressing them! The closer it comes to your Wedding Day the more final decisions you have to make and the more stressful things can get. Go ahead and get the big tasks like printing and gathering mailing addresses out of the way early on.
What if you have less than 6 months between your engagement and your chosen wedding date? Then send out your Save the Dates as soon as possible. The less notice you give your guests the higher the probability that they won’t be able to attend due to a previous commitment.
Special Consideration
Does the time you plan on sending out your Save the Dates line up with a big postal-oriented holiday like Christmas? Well, the last thing you want is for all of those Save the Dates to get lost in the chaos of the biggest mailing season of the year. In this case, making phone calls to your VIP guests and sending texts to everyone else would be extremely considerate of you. And BONUS, you can’t lose a phone call! Then, once the local post offices have a moment to breathe, send out those Save the Dates for everyone to put on the fridge. 🙂
About 2 months before your actual wedding date is a great time to send out your official wedding invitations giving your guests specific details like your exact ceremony address and start time along with asking for entree choices, if they’re bringing a guest, etc.
Want to find more wedding planning and wedding photography tips? Check out the Client Education section of my blog!
Looking for where to order Save the Dates from? There are tons of great online options like Minted, Zola, and Artifact Uprising just to name a few!
