When is it too early to send save the dates?
Mailing save the dates too far in advance risks guests misplacing them or ignoring them because the event feels too distant. Conversely, waiting too long compresses the timeline until invites go out, leaving some to consider skipping save the dates entirely to save money and effort.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Sending save the dates a full year in advanceDid this help you?
- 2Following general advice of 6 to 8 months for local guests and 9 to 12 months for out of town guestsDid this help you?
- 3Skipping save-the-dates entirely and sending wedding invitations earlier than typicalDid this help you?
- 4Giving a verbal heads-up to the most important guests while relying on normal invitation timelinesDid this help you?
- 5Sending digital or online save-the-dates instead of traditional printed onesDid this help you?
- 6Sending full invitations and wedding websites immediately with a reminder message laterDid this help you?
- 7Sending save-the-dates with limited travel info and opening up the full website and RSVPs laterDid this help you?
- 8Sending save-the-dates with the full website details other than RSVPDid this help you?
- 9Sending save the dates 6 to 8 months in advance for local guestsDid this help you?
- 10Sending save the dates 8 to 12 months ahead to account for holiday mail delays and traveling guestsDid this help you?
- 11sending them nowDid this help you?
- 12sending them as soon as they are readyDid this help you?
- 13sending them as long as the month has passed to avoid year confusionDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I have looked at so many threads and articles about this, I know its like beating a dead horse.”source ↗
“Our wedding is beginning of August 2027, we will have several invites being sent to people who live across the world and its right in the middle of summer vacations so we would like to get something sent out sooner than later.”source ↗
“I'm just not sure if there is an actual reason for why theres a standard way.”source ↗
“My wedding is August 21st, 2027. When should I send out our Save the Dates?”source ↗
“Our wedding is at the end of June in 2027, and I was thinking we'd mail our save the dates next week, Sep 19th. Is this too early?”source ↗
“I don't want to send out the Save the Dates too early in case they get misplaced or it feels too far away for people to pay attention to”source ↗
“I have only been to 3 weddings and I'm not the most well-versed on wedding etiquette, norms, etc. Would you suggest waiting, or sending them now?”source ↗
“Because of the short timeline, our save the dates and invites would be going out within two months of each other. Seems like we could cut the save the dates and just do invites, and save some money and effort.”source ↗
“Following since I’m in a similar situation - late July engagement and March 2027 wedding. Our current plan is to skip save the dates, and then send out invites 3 months before the wedding”source ↗
“Our wedding is September 2027, 40% of people will be flying across the country most have children and will need to plan childcare since we’re not inviting kids. Seeing conflicting suggestions on timeline, thanks!”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3How to coordinate a DIY wedding save the date suite
- 3Should we do wedding speeches at the reception or rehearsal dinner?
- 5How to uninvite someone after sending a save the date
- 4When is the right time to set your wedding RSVP deadline?
- 2How formal do rehearsal dinner invitations need to be?
- 2How to change wedding ceremony times after sending invitations