When to send wedding invitations

The standard timeline

For a wedding where most guests live within a few hours of the venue:

• Save the date: six to eight months before the wedding.
• Invitation: six to eight weeks before.
• Reply by: three to four weeks before.
• Final numbers to the venue: usually two weeks before. Check your contract.

Destination and holiday weddings

When guests will fly, or the date falls on a holiday weekend, move everything earlier. Save the dates go out nine to twelve months ahead, invitations twelve weeks ahead, and the reply date sits five to six weeks before the wedding. The extra time is for flights and hotels, not for you.

What the save the date is for

A save the date does one job: it puts your date on the calendar before anything else lands there. It needs your names, the date, the city, and the words "invitation to follow". It does not need the venue, the time or the dress code; those come with the invitation.

It is also the moment guests start asking about hotels. If you already have a room block, say so; if not, "details to follow" is enough.

What changes when the invitation is a link

A digital invitation removes the part of the timeline that was really about printing and post. There is no proof, no print run and no week in the mail: the invitation goes out the moment you send it, and it arrives the same minute.

That does not mean sending it later. Guests still need the same notice to plan. What it does mean is that a change of time or venue reaches everyone at once, because the link never changes and always shows the current version. And the reply comes back on the page, so you watch the numbers fill in instead of opening envelopes.

A gentle reminder

A week before the reply date, a short message to the households that have not answered is normal and welcome. Keep it light: "We are finalizing numbers this week and would love to know if you can join us." Most people simply forgot, and most reply within the hour.