When should I post my wedding invites?
It’s one of the questions I get asked most, so I wanted to create a guide for when each stationery element should ideally be posted. This will allow you ample time to think of your aesthetic, find your designer and get the ball rolling on everything so you can be as stress-free as possible! At the bottom of the post, you’ll see a handy grid for when you should organise each part based on your wedding month.
Save the dates
If you’re planning celebrations that are:
abroad for some of your guests and/or
taking place in over 18 months time and/or
are taking place across a whole weekend
then I recommend you save the date with your guests. You can do this a number of ways. You might choose a digital approach and just use email or text messages. If you want to have some sort of visual brand established for this, you’ll want to engage a designer as soon as you know your date, and ideally a year before the wedding.
Equally, if you’re wanting printed save the dates, get these sorted as soon as possible. There’s nothing more annoying than having guests turn down their invitation because they’re already booked elsewhere!
I also get asked a lot if you should send out save the dates to evening reception guests who aren’t going to be invited to the day time ceremony and meal. My answer is, it’s up to you! If you can’t see your day without them in it, and any of the above list still applies, then I would recommend you send a ‘save the evening’ card to avoid disappointment or confusion later on. Your designer can use the same design with different info on it to keep everything looking tip-top.
The save the dates are merely a stop-gap to make sure that all your favourite people keep your date free to come along to your celebrations. You should include your names, the wedding date, and you can add in the city, town or venue too if you’d like.
Wedding invitations (and website links)
This is the point where your guests get the full details of what to expect at your celebrations, plus how to get there, where to stay, your policy on children attending and info on gifts. You can include as much detail as you like, but at a minimum I would advise including key timings, addresses, and who is actually invited unless they get to being a plus one of their choice.
Some couples like to have one card that they post out, with a QR code or address to a website where guests can find out much deeper and fuller information. You can find out more about a custom wedding website here.
Other couples want this invitation to be an experience to open, and opt to post information grouped in a series of cards, held together with a bellyband, ribbon or clip, inside envelope or boxes lined with elements of their design. You can read more about what information to write on your invites here.
Whichever method you prefer, you should be inviting your guests to your wedding at least six months before the day, so they can book days off work, their travel options and any accommodation.
It’s also an opportunity to gather some information from your guests. Obviously you’ll want to know if they can attend, but you might also need to ascertain their dietary and sensory requirements, if they need help with booking accommodation or flights and if you want them to suggest a song for the dancefloor. You should set an RSVP response date that is a minimum of 6 weeks before your wedding. This will allow you to inform the venue of numbers, caterers of meal choices and your ever-faithful stationery designer of the guest names for your place settings, table plan and menus!
On the day wedding stationery
This covers welcome signs, orders of service, order of the day signs, table plans, menus, place cards and all other paper goods you might want to see on the day. I personally like these to be ready to go to print 6 weeks before the day, which allows me to reprint anything that isn’t perfect, craft it all, wrap it and deliver it all with time to spare. This means the design is signed off and all names, timings and text is spell-checked and approved ahead of this deadline.
In terms of place cards, I always provide some blanks in case there are last-minute drop outs and changes. I also insure the posted packages in case - heaven forbid - things get lost in transit. Leaving it any shorter than this makes things more tense, which is the last thing you need in the lead up to your wedding!
Summary
A good designer will create a consistent look and feel that will roll out across all of your stationery elements, and so booking the right one early on in your wedding planning process will mean you can see what your whole suite will look like right from the get-go. Some couples see wedding stationery as a finer detail that they get to later along the line, but my recommendation is to book your designer as soon as you know your wedding date so you can start building your style and vibe around the designs they create for you. Your stationery is the first point of interaction your guests have with your celebrations, so it’s awesome for it to be well-considered, beautifully designed and masterfully crafted. Just sayin’ 😉
Below is a handy little guide for when to organise each stationery element based on the month of your wedding. Remember that each element needs to be designed, approved, printed and sent to you before you can post them out to your guests, so you will need to factor in an extra 4 weeks for this process. For example, if you’re getting married in August 2026, you’ll need to get the design process underway by December 2025 to make sure you have the invites to post out by February 2026. Any questions, just ask!
