When should you send save-the-dates?

Save-the-dates exist for one reason: guests who need to plan. Six to eight months before is enough time to request time off, price a flight, and pencil the weekend in — without being so far ahead that the card gets buried on a fridge and forgotten.

For a destination wedding, or a wedding during peak travel weekends (holidays, big graduations, popular summer weekends), send eight to twelve months out. The extra runway is a gift to anyone flying with kids, coordinating passports, or asking a boss for a full week off.

Only send save-the-dates to guests you're certain to invite. A save-the-date is a small promise — the actual invitation must follow. If your guest list is still fluid, wait. It's much kinder to send only invitations than to un-invite someone later.

If you're inside the six-month window and haven't sent them, skip the save-the-date entirely and go straight to the invitation. Anything less than 3 months out, a personal text or email works better than a printed card. What matters is that guests know — the format is far less important than the notice.

Include the essentials only: names, wedding date, city, and the phrase "invitation to follow." Add your wedding-website URL if you have one. Save the finer details — dress code, hotel block, timeline — for the invitation suite that follows six to eight weeks before the wedding.