Save the dates

[bardos]

Are save the dates needed? We have booked the venue so know the date and time of the wedding. We have 14 months till the wedding, shall we send save the dates or just normal invites?

Also, when do both get sent. I was thinking of sending the invites about 6 months before, is that too far ahead?

TIA

Hi
Congratulations !!
Our wedding is 18 months away .
To be fair I think with e mail/ social networking / text etc save the dates are more traditional / extras than really required .
I sent them because

1. I am super excited and wanted something to do !
2. a lot of our family live abroad and will be booking summer holidays 2023 already so need a heads up 3 ) DP side of the family are quite old fashioned amd will probably like them So if you have the spare cash go for it If your saving this is a an opportunity

Actual invites we will send out 6 months prior x

No, just invites.

Save the dates are not needed. Really.
Never used to have them, not sure why they started being a thing over here tbh.

If the wedding is 14 months away that's way too early to send invitations. They'll get lost or people just won't rsvp until closer to the time or forget if they have or not. Far better to send a save the date now (say invitation to follow) and then follow up with the invitation 4-6months before. Save the dates are really important if you have any overseas guests or for anyone who will need to make significant arrangements to attend.

Just make sure you keep a record of who you sent save the dates too and make sure they do get an invitation. If you're having evening guests don't send them a save the date (they'll assume they're invited to the whole day and then it will be awkward). Only all day guests should get save the dates.

We're getting married just less than a year after getting engaged; we didn't send save the dates, just told the most important people (wedding party, closest friends and family) the date and then sent invitations a bit less than 6 months before. We'd have sent them later but the wedding is in half-term and on the Jubilee weekend so we knew that some people would likely be looking at going away.

We sent email save the dates because it was in the school holidays and we live in a tourist location, so wanted to make sure people were able to get accommodation.

If everyone is local and it’s just a random weekend, then just letting those who you desperately want there know personally is enough.

Thanks everyone. I think I'll just send the invites a few months before then and leave the save the dates. Pretty much all the day guests have already been told already and the majority live local

I kinda think save the dates are pointless for most weddings BUT they are also really handy.

Almost all of my friends do save the dates . My friends are dotted around the globe and destination weddings are common in our friend group . Save the dates are a good way to give an official heads up with travel costs etc . It can even be electronic to save cost .

We once had an awkward situation where we were told by mouth that we were invited to someone’s wedding and in the end we weren’t . An official save the date at least clears that up early on .

We did save the dates, as we booked around 18 months before the wedding. Personally, I think that’s way too early for invitations. In that time some couples had separated, babies were born, dietary requirements had changed. But still we wanted to advise people on when the date was so they could plan around it if they wanted to.

Save the dates are just another way of getting money out of the couple.

All you need to do is ask the important people in your lives to save that date. You can do this for free
in person
by phoning them
in WhatsApp
by e-mail
by video calling
getting your families to tell them (eg, your Mum might speak to her sister each week, so that is one less phone call you need to make)
by any other social media you usually use - FB, snapchat, Messenger etc.

Actually writing out (or ordering) commercially produced cards then posting them out to people just seems a waste of money and time to me.

We did save the dates but by email. We chose a really popular month for weddings (one groomsmen already had 2 other weddings that day). We had our save the dates designed by the person doing our invites and then just sent them out by email.

I sent save the dates but only because our date was in the summer holiday and I wanted to give people a heads up. Some are DH's friends and I don't have them in my social media, so I posted out cards.

STDs only go to that subset guests who you would really miss if they were not there, and who you think would want to arrange holidays round you.

Or in other words, people you're really close to, and are talking to anyhow. Just tell them next time you are talking or writing to them.

Use your wedding budget for things other than excess stationery.

I'm always worried you will want to change your wedding guest list between save the dates and invites and be left inviting people who don't want there as much as others

"Savd the date" messages are needed if you have fixed the date but don't know the details of timings or venues or meal choices so can't send out the full invites yet. They are also useful if someone else in the family might be planning to wet their own wedding date soon!

If there's no danger of any guest getting double booked or if you already know all the details for the invitations then no need to bother with StD.

If you're having a summer wedding or on a bank holiday, I would send save the dates (even if they're just text/emails) to people who you really want to be there. Otherwise you run the risk of someone having booked a holiday and not being able to come.

Normally invites are sent out about 3 months ahead. Many people book their holiday a year or so ahead.