When to Send Save the Dates

Traditionally, lots of couples send out save-the-date cards to their guest list long before they send out their formal wedding invites. A save-the-date card acts as an early heads-up for your guests-to-be, which is ideally mailed out as soon as you’ve set the date for your wedding.

There’s no real need to send out save-the-dates to your very nearest and dearest, (the friends and family you see all the time,) since they’ll already assume that they’re invited to your wedding! (Unless, of course, they'd like a nice souvenir of your upcoming day.) Instead, send save-the-dates to the people on your formal guest list. Recipients may reply to your save-the-date, or maybe not – but they’ll definitely expect a formal wedding invitation closer to the big day.

Save-the-dates are often less formal than wedding invitations. Really, they exist just to give people a clue that you’re getting married, and when. You can then fill in all the details for your guests afterwards, as and when you know them – either by directing folks to your wedding website or social media page… or by saving the suspense until you send out your official wedding invites.

That’s entirely up to you! But honestly, having printed regular save-the-dates and foil-printed save-the-dates, we can confidently say that our customers have even better things to say about our foil-printed versions.

In our opinion as a printing company, the ability of metallic foil to catch the light (and truly grab wedding guests’ attention) genuinely makes it a more effective tool for wedding invitations and save-the-dates.

In terms of luxury stationery for weddings and big events, we believe that it’s well worth going that extra mile to create a truly beautiful piece of print. Gleaming foil print undoubtedly gets noticed, and leaves a lasting impression on the people you care about. It’s the first glimpse your friends and family will have of the big day itself… so really, why not go all-out for that perfect day, and create the perfect wedding stationery to match?

When designing save-the-dates, you’ll want to make things nice and clear. Start with “Save the Date” in a nice large font (ideally foil-printed to grab attention), and include your wedding date, the location if you know it, and your personalized design on the front of your card.

For an added touch, you could fill the reverse side of your save-the-date with a brief story of how the happy couple met – followed by wording such as “formal invitation to follow”. This is also the place to include any logo or monogram you might have created for the wedding, along with a hashtag if you’d like to come up with one. It’s also a good idea to include a website address here too (if you’re creating one.) This is a great way to keep your guests updated with further details about your big day, as and when you know them.

Save-the-date designs can range from floral and botanical motifs to photo strips of the happy couple together, and really every kind of design in between. We’re always happy to help if you’d like some advice on a custom design, or we can even create your design for you. Just get in touch if you’d like some expert tips from our designers.