When to Send Save the Dates & Wedding Invitations
Hi Friends!
On todays blog, I will discuss a timeline to help you establish when to send out all your wedding paper & stationary! This is something we get asked a lot as a wedding planner because every single bride's timeline for when they should send out their wedding paper is completely different. Also, this is typically a part of the wedding planning process that gets put on the back burner and often procrastinated, unless you have a wedding planner. I hope this blog post will help you with staying on track in wedding planning & will help you establish a good wedding stationary timeline for your wedding day!
The first wedding stationary item that gets sent out are your Save the Dates! Now remember, Save the Dates are the first impression your guests will have on what is to come for your wedding day, so keep this in mind when designing them! The fun thing about Save the Dates is that you can make them as casual and simple, or as fancy & detailed as you want! As far as timing for Save the Dates, I typically suggest sending them out in the mail at least 6-8 months before your wedding day! However, there are so many back ups and delays with shipping and the post office recently. That is why, I have been more recently suggesting that it is best to send your Save the Dates out in the mail around the 8 month mark before your wedding day, if at all possible! With that being said, it is the same thing as far as ordering your Save the Dates so make sure you are ordering them as soon as you have finished designing them and have finalized your guest list.
And of course, the next wedding stationary item that should be ordered and sent out in the mail are your Wedding Invitations or Invitation Suites! Your wedding invitations are incredibly important when it comes to making the best first impression and giving a little sneak peak of what is to come on your wedding day! As far as timing of your wedding invitations, we always suggest designing and ordering them at around the same time as you send out your save the dates. It is always way better to have your invitations in your hands as early as possible because I promise, it will give you such a peace of mind! Now, as far as sending your wedding invitations out in the mail, our rule of thumb is typically to send them out at least 2 months before your wedding day. However, like we said before, shipping and delays have been crazy lately so it can never hurt to send them out a little earlier. I would say 2-3 months before your wedding day is your best bet! Remember also, it is very important to give your guests enough time to be able to RSVP to your wedding, which comes with sending out your invitations. When it comes to RSVP's, we suggest giving your guests at least 4 weeks as a deadline to have their RSVPs in by. 4 weeks is also the perfect amount of time for all final head counts to be calculated and also, for all seating charts to be created.
PRO TIP: When it comes to sending out any of your wedding stationary in the mail, ALWAYS remember to "Hand Cancel" your Save the Dates and Invitations before sending them out in the mail with USPS. This is critical, especially if your invitations have any intricate details, ribbon, or wax seals. If you don't know what hand canceling is, it is a specific stamp that you ask for at the post office that will signify to handle your envelopes with care, and avoid all the USPS processing machines. If you don't handle cancel them, then you put your envelopes at risk of going through all the processing machines, and possibly ripping off all your wax seals or leaving ugly track marks across them. I certainly do not want that to happen to your beautifully designed invitations!
We hope this stationary timeline will help you set the perfect schedule for you and your wedding stationary! If you have any questions at all or need help establishing your wedding stationary timeline or design, please reach out! We are always here for you, sweet brides! You can reach Lauryn E. Weddings via email, website, or Instagram!
Lastly, I have a special treat for any bride who is using or wants to use Minted for their Save the Dates, Invitations, or any other wedding stationary! I have a special code for you to use! Go to Minted Weddings & use code: WEDPLLAURYNE to receive 35% off all Save the Dates, and 25% off all other wedding stationary products! Enjoy!