When to Send Save-the-Dates: Timing and Etiquette

TLDR: Send save the dates 6 to 8 months before your wedding, or 8 to 12 months for destination and holiday-weekend dates. Keep them simple: your names, the date, the city and state, the words 'invitation to follow,' and your wedding website. They are an announcement, not the full invitation, and once you send one, that guest must be invited.

Save the dates are the first piece of stationery your guests receive, so they set the tone before a single invitation goes out. Their one job is to lock your date on calendars early, especially for anyone who needs to book travel. Below, ThePerfectWedding.com covers exactly when to send them, what to include, paper versus digital, and the etiquette traps to avoid. For the formal piece that follows, pair this with our invitation wording guide.

What Is a Save the Date?

A save the date is a short, early announcement that asks guests to reserve your wedding date before the formal invitation arrives. It carries only the essentials, because most of the details are not finalized yet. Think of it as a heads-up that protects your date on busy calendars, not a substitute for the invitation. It is also the moment guests first learn your date and rough location, which is exactly why getting it into their hands early, before competing plans take hold, is the whole point of sending one.

Because it is the first impression of your wedding, the save the date is also where your colors, font, and style debut. Carry that look through to your invitation and your wedding website so the whole celebration feels cohesive from the very first card.

When Should You Send Save the Dates?

Timing depends on travel. For a local or regional guest list, 6 to 8 months before the wedding is the sweet spot. If a meaningful share of guests will fly and book hotels, lean toward 8 months. Destination weddings need 8 to 12 months, and international destinations like a villa in Tuscany call for the full 12.

Holiday-weekend and peak-season dates are the exception, and they need 10 to 12 months, because guests are competing for flights and rooms. To hit your window, start the ordering process about a month before you want cards in hands. A short engagement is fine too: send save the dates as soon as your date and general location are confirmed.

If your engagement is long, resist sending too early. More than a year out, guests can misplace the card or forget the details before the invitation arrives, outside of international destination and holiday-weekend dates where the extra notice genuinely helps.

Wedding type	Send save the dates	Then mail invitations
Local or regional	6 to 8 months before	6 to 8 weeks before
Most guests traveling	8 months before	6 to 8 weeks before
Holiday weekend or peak season	10 to 12 months before	6 to 8 weeks before
Destination, domestic	8 to 10 months before	3 to 4 months before
Destination, international	12 months before	3 to 4 months before

Plan the full sequence alongside our invitation timeline guide and our 12-month planning checklist, so the save the date, the invitation, and the RSVP deadline all line up cleanly.

What Should a Save the Date Include?

Keep it short. A save the date needs only a few specifics, and the rest waits for the invitation. Including too much detail is the most common mistake, because plans often change between the save the date and the invitation.

• Your names: full names for a formal tone, or first names for a casual one.
• The date: the single most important element, written out or in numerals. A general date is fine if the exact day is not locked.
• The location: city and state are enough. You do not need the venue address yet.
• 'Invitation to follow': a short line so guests know the formal details are coming.
• Your wedding website: the URL where travel, lodging, and updates will live.

Optional extras include an engagement photo, which makes the card more likely to land on the fridge, and a hotel block once it is secured. Build the website early so the link is live from the first card, using our wedding website guide.

Paper or Digital Save the Dates?

Both work, and the choice mirrors the wider paper versus digital question. Printed cards carry keepsake weight and live on the fridge as a daily reminder, but they need a longer lead time for design, printing, and mailing. Digital save the dates send the same day, cost nothing per guest, and are easy to update, though they can get lost in a busy inbox.

A popular hybrid is to send a digital save the date first to lock the date, then follow with a printed card a couple of months later, or to send printed cards to close family and the wedding party and digital to everyone else. Magnets are a popular printed format precisely because they stay stuck to the fridge for months. Cost is the other factor: digital save the dates are essentially free to send, while printed cards add design, printing, and postage, so a large guest list often sends digital and saves the paper budget for the formal invitation. Either way, the formal invitation that follows can be browsed on our wedding invitations hub.

What Are the Save the Date Etiquette Rules?

Two rules matter most. First, only send save the dates after your guest list is final, because once a guest receives one, you are committed to inviting them. There is no graceful way to walk that back. Second, send to everyone you intend to invite, addressed by household, and keep the wording inclusive of who is actually invited.

Save the dates are not required for every wedding. Intimate, fully local weddings can skip them, though they still help when guests need to travel or book time off. When you do send them, proofread carefully, since a typo on the first card sets the wrong tone. Order a buffer of extra cards too, for last-minute additions and for your own keepsake box. For who-gets-a-plus-one questions, see our RSVP and plus one guidance.

Who Should Receive a Save-the-Date?

Send save-the-dates only to guests you are certain to invite, because a save-the-date is a commitment: anyone who gets one must receive a formal invitation later. Make sure your guest list is close to final first, and prioritise out-of-town and destination guests who need the most lead time to book travel. You can send digital save-the-dates to trim cost and reserve printed pieces for the formal invitation. Our invitation timeline maps the full mailing schedule, and our guide to sending wedding invitations covers the next step.

Once your save-the-dates are out, turn your attention to the formal suite. Explore stationers and styles in the wedding stationery section on ThePerfectWedding.com to keep the look consistent from the first mailing to the last.

“The one rule I never bend: do not send a save the date to anyone you are not certain you will invite. A save the date is a promise. It is far easier to send a save the date a little late to a finalized list than to explain to someone why the formal invitation never came. Lock the list first, then send.”

Sarah Glasbergen, Founder ThePerfectWedding.com

• When should you send save the dates?

  Send them 6 to 8 months before a local wedding, 8 to 12 months for a destination wedding, and 10 to 12 months for a holiday weekend or peak-season date. Order printed cards about a month before you want them mailed.

• What should a save the date include?

  Your names, the date, the city and state, a line saying 'invitation to follow,' and your wedding website. Keep it simple and leave the full details for the invitation.

• Do save the dates need the venue address?

  No. A general location, city and state, is enough. The venue address belongs on the formal invitation, and your website can hold travel details in the meantime.

• Are save the dates necessary?

  Not for every wedding. They are most useful when guests need to travel, take time off, or plan around a holiday weekend. Small, fully local weddings can skip them.

• Can I send digital save the dates?

  Yes. Digital save the dates send instantly and cost nothing per guest. Many couples send a digital save the date to lock the date, then follow with a printed card, or mix printed for close family and digital for everyone else.

• How early is too early for save the dates?

  More than a year out risks guests losing the card or forgetting the details. Outside of international destination and holiday-weekend dates, 6 to 8 months is plenty for a local wedding.