When should we send out our wedding invitations?

Traditionally, the actual wedding invitations were sent out 6-8 weeks before the wedding day which should haven given your guests plenty of time to get things organised. But lets face it, things have changed dramatically in the whole world of wedding planning. There is no written rule as to when your wedding invitations have to be sent, it really does depend on you and your circumstances. Every wedding is unique and different. So here's a few factors to consider which will help you decide when it is best for you to send your wedding invitations out to your guests.

 

It might be very obvious but it's not uncommon for this to be totally overlooked! Make sure you have booked your venue (Or in some cases venues) along with registrars and anything else that's a priority to you BEFORE you send out any save the dates or wedding invites to your guests. The last thing you want to have to do is send out everything again because someone / something was not available for your intended wedding date.

 If you have set the date during a really busy period such as peak holiday season, (August here in the UK) it's advisable to send out your wedding invites (Or at least the save the dates) sooner than the traditional 6-8 weeks. You don't want your maid of honour on a beach in the Caribbean when she should be helping you put on your wedding dress! As a minimum we'd advise to send out save the dates 8-12 months in advance in this situation, followed by the wedding invitations at a later date.

Don't forget that choosing a date around Christmas or New Year may give you a similar dilemma too. With lots of people travelling to see family and it also being a very expensive time of year, it may be advisable to give your intended guests a little bit more notice.

Whilst it's important to inform your guests about the wedding, don't be too eager to invite them more than 12 months in advance. As well as there being every possibility of the save the dates getting lost, there's a whole lot of things that can change in that time too. Friendships change and the last thing you want is to invite people so early on that as you get close to your wedding day you wish you'd invited others instead!

Whilst it used to be a tradition for brides to get married in their local village church, things have now progressed quite a bit further! Engaged couples often choose their wedding venue a lot further afield with the destination wedding abroad becoming more and more popular. If guests need to book flights, hotels, sort childcare or take annual leave from work in order to attend your wedding, make sure you allow them enough time to prepare.

Don't forget to remind guests to check that their passports are valid if you are going overseas to tie the knot! Flights are normally cheaper when they are first released so Informing your guests 12 months in advance may possibly allow them to bag themselves a good flight deal too!

 

Once you have booked your date, check with the wedding venue when they need to know final numbers by. Normally for catering requirements, they will need to know exact guest numbers at least two weeks before your wedding date. Make sure you allow yourself enough time to get those RSVP's back in order to meet the wedding venue's deadline.

Whilst the majority of your guests will respond without chasing, it's not uncommon for you to have to prompt a few for responses, and some might not even respond at all! We recommend sending out wedding invites allowing enough time for people to RSVP and for you to chase the late or non responders too.

So as you can see there's no real "One size fits all " answer here as there are lots of things to consider. But just to give you an idea, here's a typical example of when to send out your wedding invitations: