10 Things You Need to Know Before Sending Save the Dates

22 Jan

As 2022 and 2023 start to look like two very busy years for weddings, it’s no surprise that so many are keen to get their Save the Dates sent out well in advance, to ensure their favourite people can attend their special day.

So with that in mind, we’ve listed out all the key things you need to remember when sending your Save the Dates.

1. They’re a really important part of wedding planning

Whilst a Save the Date could be regarded as something fairly optional, from our perspective it’s a really crucial part of the wedding planning process to help ensure all your chosen guests can attend. It’s especially important for weddings that run over a full weekend or if you’re planning a destination wedding, to give all your guests enough notice to save up, book accommodation and make sure there are no clashes. The only real exclusion to this is if you’re having a short engagement and the wedding is only 6-8 months away, in which case going straight to sending the invitation makes more sense.

2. Ensure they’re sent out at the right time

In regular non-Covid times, you should usually let people know around 6-8 months before the ceremony itself. However, given the current circumstances and the chances that a lot of 2020 and 2021 weddings have or could likely end up moving into 2022 and 2023, we recommend getting them out around 1 year before the date so you can be confident it’s in everyone’s diaries as a priority.

Sending them between this 6-12 months out point also means it will give guests enough time to book their accommodation and figure out logistics for the evening or weekend. Don’t panic or hold off because you don’t have the precise venue and plans nailed, all the Save the Date needs to feature is your names, a solid date, and a general location if a venue address isn’t yet available.

3. Only send them to people you definitely want to attend

Once they’re sent, there’s no real going back and things can get a little awkward if you choose to un-invite someone. With this in mind, make sure you go through your list careful and check both you and your partner are happy with everyone on the list before sending them out.

4. Evening guests shouldn’t really need a Save the Date

As they won’t require as much preplanning for the event, typically evening guests don’t receive a Save the Date and instead get an invitation specifying they are invited for the evening, or it could even be a verbal invitation depending on how formal you’d like to be. It’s also best to avoid sending Save the Dates to evening guests as they might assume that they’re invited to the whole day and be disappointed when they find out they are not.

5. Don’t be afraid to get creative with the design

Whether you’re someone who’s already decided on the tone and style of your wedding day or haven’t got a clue just yet, don’t worry too much about the design of the Save the Date. It’s a great opportunity to experiment and get across your personality as a couple, so you can use a design that’s completely different to the rest of your day. If you’re super organised and have already picked your style or stationery design, give your guests a taster of what your day might be like with the first piece of the puzzle.

6. Paperless Save the Dates are lovely but can get lost in spam

We love the concept of paperless post invites and Save the Dates, but there’s a strong risk of them ending up in someone’s spam folder and it never being received or the date saved in the diary. With this in mind, we recommend going with posted Save the Dates and if you’d like to do paperless post, save it for the invite. That way, as someone has to RSVP to your wedding invite, you’ll be able to see who’s not RSVP-ed and just double check the email hasn’t got lost in the airways or in the spam folder.

7. Be clear on who exactly is invited in a household

Whilst we love invitations that are classically addressed to say ‘The Turner Household’, this can often be a little confusing as to who is being invited to the wedding. If you’re planning on just inviting the adults within a family, make sure you only put their names on the envelope or if you are inviting the children, ensure they’re listed on the envelope too. This also gives parents plenty of time to organise childcare and book accommodation for the correct number of people coming. Additionally if you’re giving that person a plus one, it’s sometimes worth mentioning that on the envelope but this bit comes down to personal preference.

8. Don’t include gift list information

With the details listed on a Save the Date typically being simple and concise, it’s considered bad taste to include the details of your gift registry on your Save the Date before any further information that will appear later on the wedding invitation. Therefore, save this information for your invitations or wedding website and communicate it there.

9. Verbal heads up are worth doing too

For people within your wedding party, very close friends or people travelling from really far away, there’s no harm in giving them a verbal heads up on the proposed wedding date, perhaps before you’ve even booked a place to give you the peace of mind that they’ve popped it in their diaries and will be available.

10. The location of the wedding can dictate how soon you need to let people know

If you’re planning to get married in a location that typically attracts a lot of tourism over the month that you’re due to get married there, then it makes sense to give your guests a good amount of notice between 8-12 months, to ensure they can book affordable accommodation and also actually get accommodation before it all gets booked up.

Do you have any more Save the Date etiquette or bugbears you’d like to share with us? If you do, we’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

Pete Baker