A Guide to Online Save the Dates

The date is set and the planning has started ramping up, we can totally understand how some wedding planning couples start feeling a little overwhelmed at this point. There’s your guest list to finalise, wedding vendors to contact, fittings to attend etc etc. But when it comes to inviting your guests to your big day there is an easy timeline to follow.

Today we’re diving into wedding save the dates. Why you need them, when to send them and some helpful tips about what to do once they’re out there. Our guide to online save the dates has got your back!

Your save the date is literally a short but sweet note to your guests to let them know when and where the wedding is taking place and for them to literally save the date. Whilst they don't need to know all of the ins and outs of your wedding at this point it’s simply there to ensure your guests don’t book a holiday during that time, or RSVP to another event. You understandably want as many of your nearest and dearest there on the day which is why the save the date is a super important part of the correspondence between yourselves and your guests in the run up to the main event.

What should you include on your online save the dates?

There’s really no need to overcomplicate your save the dates. All they need to include is your names, the date of your wedding and the details of the venue / location if it’s all booked and confirmed. If you have a wedding website, it’s always a great idea to include this on your save the dates too (more on this later). And finally, it’s courteous and helpful to include a small note such as ‘formal invitation to follow’ to let your guests know that the official invitation will be with them in due course.

When to send your online save the dates

This really depends on how long it is until you get married but we would always recommend sending them as soon as you have a date. We all lead such busy lives these days that there’s really no down side to sending them out promptly. Generally they can be sent between 6-12 months before the wedding but if you’re having a destination wedding we would recommend giving your guests a little more time to prepare and save up so in this instance send your save the dates out between 9-12 months beforehand.

Your wedding website

Designing and creating your own personalised wedding website can happen at any point during your wedding planning journey but having it up and running in time for the save the dates to go out is perfect! This way you can keep everything in one place and your guests have somewhere official to head, where they can find out more information if they feel they want to. You’ve already said an official invitation is on its way but having a wedding website as a handy wedding planning resource from the very start is a great way for your guests to get to know you better and find out a little more about the kind of wedding they’re going to be attending.

It's worth noting that save the dates are entirely optional. You might not have a need for them and that’s totally ok. But if you do end up sending them just remember to include only the necessary information and only send them out when your guest list is absolutely finalised. No one likes to retract an invitation once it’s out in the wild!