When to Send Save the Dates: The Complete Timing Guide

For a typical wedding — local guests, no travel required, mid-sized — send save the dates 6 months before the wedding date.

This gives guests enough time to put it in the calendar and book any necessary time off, without being so far ahead that they file the card away and forget. By the time the invitation arrives 8-10 weeks before the wedding, the date is already mentally locked in.

If you're getting married abroad, on an island, in a hard-to-reach venue, or asking guests to fly internationally — send save the dates 8-12 months out. Guests need time to:

• Book flights (international flights are cheapest 6-8 months ahead)
• Arrange longer time off work
• Coordinate with childcare, partners, etc.
• Book accommodation if it's not provided

For destination weddings, your save the date should already include the location and ideally a hotel suggestion. Include a wedding website link with full travel details.

Weddings in May, June, July, August, and September in Germany are peak season. Guests often have other weddings, holidays, and family events booked around that time. Send save the dates 7-9 months out to claim the date before someone else does.

Saturdays in late June and early September are particularly competitive — many couples on your guest list might also be invited to other weddings.

If you're having a wedding under 30 guests, especially with mostly local family, you can send save the dates 4-6 months out, or skip them entirely and go straight to invitations.

For very small elopements, save the dates often aren't needed — a phone call or a personal message to each guest carries more warmth.

Keep it minimal. The save the date is a placeholder, not the formal invitation.

Essential:
• Both your names (or initials, if you're going for a monogram)
• "Save the date" (or "Save our date" / "Mark your calendars")
• The wedding date
• The city or general location
• "Formal invitation to follow"

Optional but recommended:
• A photo of the two of you
• Your wedding website URL
• A note about accommodation if it's a destination wedding

Don't include: ceremony time, RSVP details, dress code, or any logistics. Those go on the invitation.

Photo save the dates have a higher emotional response — guests notice them, talk about them, and stick them on the fridge. Non-photo save the dates are more elegant and cheaper to print and post.

Our most-bought save the date is the Photo Calendar Save the Date — it shows the date in calendar form with a circled wedding date and a portrait photo of the couple. Most guests put it on the fridge.

Both work. Some couples send a digital save the date via email or a service like Paperless Post for environmental reasons. Printed cards still feel more special and physical — they end up on the fridge, on the family pinboard, and in the keepsake box.

Our recommendation: printed for guests over 40, optional digital for younger guests. Or just send everyone the printed version — it's a small cost relative to the wedding, and it's a real piece of stationery your guests will keep.