A save the date is the shortest letter you will ever send about your wedding. It carries three facts and one feeling. The facts: your names, the date, the place. The feeling: we want you there. Everything else waits for the invitation.
I have set thousands of these. The ones that read best are the ones that resist the urge to explain. Here is how to write yours, and twenty lines to borrow.
The three things it must say
- Your names. First names are enough on a save the date. Full names belong on the invitation.
- The date. Written out if the tone is formal ("the fourth of October"), in numbers if it is relaxed ("October 4, 2026").
- The place. City and state are plenty. The venue can wait, and often it is not booked yet anyway.
Formal
Please save the date. Eleanor and William are getting married on the fourth of October, two thousand twenty-six, in Savannah, Georgia. Invitation to follow.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hale invite you to save the date for the wedding of their daughter Eleanor to William Carter. Saturday, October 4, 2026. Savannah, Georgia.
Eleanor Hale & William Carter. October 4, 2026. Savannah. Formal invitation to follow.
Warm
Save the date. Eleanor & William are getting married. October 4, 2026, Savannah, Georgia. We would love you to be there. Invitation to follow.
We picked a date. October 4, 2026, in Savannah. Save it for us; the invitation is on its way. Eleanor & William.
Nine years, two cities, one question. Save the date: Eleanor & William, October 4, 2026, Savannah, Georgia.
Playful
We are doing it. October 4, 2026. Savannah. Details soon. Eleanor & William.
Clear your calendar and pack a nice outfit. Eleanor & William are getting married on October 4, 2026, in Savannah, Georgia. Invitation to follow.
Save the date. Eleanor said yes, William is still smiling. October 4, 2026, Savannah, Georgia.
Destination and travel
When guests need to book flights, the save the date does more work. Give the dates as a range and say the city clearly. Hotels and travel notes can wait for the invitation, but the country cannot.
Save the dates. Eleanor & William are getting married in Amalfi, Italy. June 12 to 14, 2027. Travel details and the invitation to follow.
Save the weekend of October 3 and 4, 2026. Eleanor & William are getting married in Savannah, Georgia, and there will be a welcome drink the night before.
Second marriages, blended families, and quiet weddings
Eleanor and William, together with their children, invite you to save the date. October 4, 2026, Savannah, Georgia. Invitation to follow.
We are marrying in a small ceremony this spring. Save the date for the celebration: October 4, 2026, Savannah, Georgia. Invitation to follow.
We eloped. Now we would like to have dinner with you. Save the date: October 4, 2026, Savannah, Georgia.
What to leave off
The registry. The dress code. The schedule. The hotel block. All of these belong on the invitation, where the guest is ready to read them. A save the date with a registry line on it reads like a bill.
One exception: if you are not inviting children, some couples say so on the save the date, quietly, so families can plan. "We are keeping our celebration adults only" is enough, and it is kinder here than as a surprise later.
When to send it
Six to eight months before the wedding is the usual window. Nine to twelve months for a destination wedding or a holiday weekend. Any earlier and it starts to feel abstract; any later and the flights are already expensive. The invitation itself follows about two months before the day. There is a longer note on timing in when to send wedding invitations.
Paper or a link
A save the date is the natural place for a link. It goes out early, to everyone at once, and guests keep it on the phone they will use to book the hotel. The Digital Envelope sends a digital save the date as an animated page for $29.99, in the same design your invitation will use later, so the two arrive as a matched pair. Nothing to print, nothing to post, and when the invitation follows, the date is already in their calendar.
We make digital wedding invitations, and a save the date comes in any of the thirty designs: sealed in its envelope, holding the date until the invitation arrives.
See the designsQuestions people ask
- Do I put the venue on a save the date?
- Only if it is booked and it matters to travel. City and state are the usual choice. The venue name goes on the invitation.
- Should a save the date include the registry?
- No. It reads as asking before you have invited. The registry belongs on the invitation's details page, low down, where guests look for it.
- Do we send save the dates to everyone?
- To everyone you are sure you will invite. A save the date is a promise; the invitation cannot uninvite. If the list is not settled, wait, or send to the certain half only.
- How far ahead do we send it?
- Six to eight months for most weddings. If you are marrying over a holiday weekend or abroad, lean toward nine to twelve; rooms go first.
- Can a digital save the date match the invitation?
- Yes. At The Digital Envelope the save the date uses the same design as the invitation, so the two arrive as a pair, and the invitation later carries the reply on the page.