When do we send out our invitations?
Planning a wedding is already such a stressful event. Couples know that if they don’t send out their invitations at the right time, they may miss out on having some of their guests attend.
If you are engaged and hoping to get on top of the curve, so your invitations are ready to go when the ideal time comes, GREAT! You are going to find that will save a lot of stress in the long run.
Should you be in the other camp who is realizing that time is running short, and a hand is hovering over the “panic button”, let’s figure a few things out first!
While there is certainly no “one size fits all” answer to the age-old question, we believe that when the invitations will be sent out is determined by a combination of the stationer, the couple and the overall concept of the wedding.
With the more intricate the weddings, the requirements for the caterers for meal selections and dietary restriction information, the etiquette of thirty years ago no longer works in most situations.
When the baby boomers got married, sending out invitations 6-8 weeks prior to the actual wedding day was not really a problem. It was not uncommon for guests to RSVP the week before or even the day before the big day. A scenario that I’m sure makes the stress level for many brides reading this rise already!
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So, what works now?
The longest timeline would be required for destination weddings, where guests will need to know well in advance to make vacation and travel arrangements. Providing guests as much time as possible in this case can be very helpful, and influence the number of people who can attend the wedding.
Save-the-date
In the case of weddings that require travel plans for the majority of guests or set the following year, we would recommend sending out save-the-dates as soon as the wedding date and the city is known. These are the main details required for booking flights, so don’t put times or venue locations here. The locations and times may unexpectedly change prior to sending out finalized information on the invitations, causing confusion.
Invitations
Invitations should be sent out 4-6 months prior to the wedding. This allows for 3-5 months for guests to reply, and still leaves one month to round up outstanding replies, provide the caterer with final numbers and dietary concerns, and provide the stationer with details for day-of stationery.
This means that your invitations should be on hand and ready to send out by that minimum 4-month mark. You will have to work backwards in time with your stationer to determine the best time to start production based on your design and printing method.
Finding yourself a bit stressed about timelines and getting your invitations ready for your 2020 wedding? Give us an email, and we will do our best to pull hands away from panic buttons!
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