If you think that your guests need to make significant travel plans or other arrangements to be able to attend your wedding, Save the Dates are a great way to give them that little extra time to do so. It is important to make sure you’ve included all of the information your guests will need on your Save the date. Given enough notice, you may be surprised by the distance that family and friends will come from to be able to attend!

Looking for more wording suggestions? Be sure to read our other articles on wording:

Wedding Invitation Wording
Wording 'Adults Only' Wedding Invitations
Addressing your Wedding Invitations
Gift Card Wording
Thank You Card Wording

Your Request

The first wording to include on your Save the date is your request for guests to take part - this is where you ask them to Save your date! The word ‘please’ is optional in the phrase.

Your Event

This is where you let your guests know the event that they are invited to - for example ‘For the wedding of’ - this will make it clear to guests what they are saving the date for. If your wedding is extending over multiple days or there are several events planned, be sure to include this information on your Save the date as well.

Your Names

There are options for how you can write your names. You can include just your first names for example, which is perfectly acceptable on Save the dates (which are generally less formal). First names can then be extended to full names (or not) on the invitation itself. If you are having a very formal wedding full names might be more appropriate, depending as well on the design style that you have selected. We recommend using the name combination that feels right for your event.

Your Wedding Date

Perhaps the most important piece of information on your Save the date is the date itself. This lets guests know what date or dates they are reserving in their calendar. There are options for how you write your date and you can choose the formality of the date format.

Your Location

As a general rule, your Save the date should include just the city and state (and country if applicable) that your wedding will be held. Unless the venue is important for accommodation purposes, reveal your venue details on your Invitations.

What's next

Optionally you can let guests know a formal invitation will also be sent - otherwise guests may be mistaken in thinking that your Save the date is the invitation itself. Something simple such as ‘formal invitation to follow’ is usually used.

Your Wedding Website

It is becoming more common for couples to include website details on their Save the date. This allows them to share more details with guests - such as accommodation suggestions - before the invitations are sent out.

Wording examples

Download our Save the date wording suggestions for wording examples, and be sure to visit our other information pages on Wording & Etiquette for more tips and suggestions.

When to order and send your Save the Dates

We recommend sending Save the Dates from 8 to up to 14 months prior to your wedding. You should also allow another 3 weeks for us to print and deliver your Save the dates and envelopes, and another 2 to 3 weeks to create and proof your design. For more information on timeframes including turnarounds for letterpress printing, please see our Turnarounds information page.

Need more tips and or specific advice for your circumstances? Get in touch - we'd love to work with you!