When Should You Send Save the Dates, Wedding Invitations & Thank You Notes?
Whether you have a couple months or a couple years to plan a wedding, brides that have been through the process will tell you that the time will go by faster than you anticipated. The best way to avoid missing things when time slips by without you even knowing is to make a schedule for your most important tasks.
Even the people who are the most excited to be there could forget when your wedding is if life gets busy. Sending save the dates and invitations at the right time can help with that problem. So, when should you send your most important wedding stationery out?
Save the Dates
These should be sent 6-12 months before your wedding day. Plenty of notice means that people with especially tight schedules will have time to rearrange and be sure they can make it to your special day.
Sometimes getting people to save your date can prove more difficult than anticipated. To help with that problem, we recommend sending these out as save the date magnets that can be attached to the fridge. Nobody can go six months without looking at their fridge, so it’s a great place to put important reminders.
Invitations
You should formally invite your guests about 1-2 months before your wedding. Any longer than that means you’ll risk guests losing their invitations and forgetting.
Although you’ve already informed everyone of the date, an invitation serves as a reminder that gives more details and requests a response so you know whether or not they’ll be attending. If you send a magnet as a save the date, this is also a reminder to pay attention to that again if it blends into their fridge display at some point.
RSVP cards are typically included with the invitation, but if you’re looking for an online wedding guest list manager, we highly recommend TheKnot.com/gs/Guest-List.
Thank You Notes
There is no hard rule for when to send these, but it’s a good idea to do them sooner rather than later. We recommend not going past a month so that the events and gifts to thank guests for are fresher in your mind.
When you open your wedding gifts and cards, have someone write down what was gifted by who to make sending your thanks a much quicker process. It’s perfectly fine to print out a thank you message that you send to all guests, but if they gave you a gift, a card, their time to help set up/clean up, or helped you make a specific memory of that day, be sure to include a personal note about it.
Getting ready for your wedding is an exciting time! We also know that you have tons to do and so many decisions to make, so we’re here to help you in any way we can! Feel free to reach out to us with any questions on Facebook, Instagram or our website. If you’re still looking for a wedding venue in Cedar Rapids, you can find more info about our space here.