Mail wedding invitations six to eight weeks before the wedding, or ten to twelve weeks for a destination wedding. Save the dates go out six to eight months ahead, and the RSVP date falls three to four weeks before the day. Enter your date below and the calculator works out each one.
Dates work back from your wedding day and from the day your caterer needs the final count. Mailing dates move off weekends and postal holidays, and holiday weekends are spotted for you.
Ask how each guest spells their name and which title they use while you're at it.
Add your wedding website first, so its QR code can print on the back.
Only to people you are sure you will invite: everyone who gets one gets an invitation.
Agree the wording with whoever is hosting, and gather the details card: hotels, travel, dress code.
Print one sheet on plain paper and check it first. Leave time to reprint a sheet.
Have one complete suite weighed at the post office, then buy stamps for the envelopes and the replies.
Mail anything going overseas first, and put one in the mail to yourself to see how it arrives.
The date that prints on the RSVP card. Record replies and meal choices as they arrive.
A short call or text. Most late replies are simply forgotten cards.
Check your contract for the exact date; this is the number you entered.
Late changes are easier once the count is final.
Sooner for gifts that arrived before the wedding.
On the RSVP card: “The favour of a reply is requested by the eighth of May” on a formal design, or “Please reply by May 8” on a modern one.
Enter your wedding date to turn on the checklist and calendar downloads.
| What | Most weddings | Destination, or many guests flying |
|---|---|---|
| Save the dates | 6 to 8 months before | 8 to 12 months before |
| Invitations | 6 to 8 weeks before | 10 to 12 weeks before |
| Invitations, no save the date sent | 10 to 12 weeks before | 10 to 12 weeks before |
| RSVP date | 3 to 4 weeks before | 3 to 4 weeks before, or earlier if a resort needs its count sooner |
| Final count to the caterer | About 2 weeks before | Whatever your contract says |
Wedding mail goes out in two waves: the save the date, which only asks guests to hold the day, and the invitation, which asks for a reply. The timing comes down to giving guests enough notice to travel, and giving yourselves enough time to count heads.
Six to eight months before the wedding is the common window. It gives guests time to request days off and watch for fares without arriving so early that the card gets lost on the refrigerator.
For a destination wedding, or one where most guests will fly, many couples send them eight to twelve months ahead so people can plan a trip around it.
Six to eight weeks before the wedding is the usual timing. That is close enough that guests know their plans, and far enough out that they can reply by your deadline without feeling rushed.
A holiday weekend calls for about eight to ten weeks, and a destination wedding, or one where many guests fly, for ten to twelve. Otherwise, guests who received a save the date already have the date, so the invitation can follow the normal schedule.
Three to four weeks before the wedding is typical. Work backward from the date your caterer and venue need a final count, then add a few days for the replies that arrive late.
In the maker the reply-by date prints on the RSVP card, in the same style as the rest of the suite: "The favour of a reply is requested by the fifteenth of May" on a formal design, or "Please reply by May 22" on a modern one.
Yes. A save the date is a promise that an invitation will follow, which is why many of the designs print "Formal invitation to follow" on the back. Only send save the dates to people you are sure you will invite, so finish the guest list first.
Ten to twelve weeks before the wedding, because guests need time to book flights and rooms, with the save the dates going out eight to twelve months ahead. If you have a room block, put its deadline on the details card and make sure the invitations land well before it.
Ten to twelve weeks before the wedding. The invitation is doing two jobs, so it needs to reach people before they fill the weekend. A short message to close family and anyone traveling far helps too.
Eight to ten weeks before, about two weeks earlier than usual. Flights, rooms and family plans fill up early around Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. The calculator spots these weekends for you.
As soon as a decline frees a place, and no later than about four weeks before the wedding, so nobody can count the days. Give those guests a realistic reply date, and leave the RSVP card's printed date off or write in a new one by hand.
Many hosts send them three to four weeks before the wedding, after the wedding invitations have gone out. They come from whoever is hosting the dinner, and they go in their own envelope or by phone or email.
Assemble one complete invitation first, with every card and the stamped reply envelope inside, and have it weighed at the post office before you buy stamps. Weight and shape set the postage, so a guess can bring a stack back to you.
A 5 x 7 invitation in an A7 envelope is a standard rectangle. Square envelopes, rigid ones, and anything lumpy with a wax seal or ribbon go through by hand, and the Postal Service adds a nonmachinable surcharge even under one ounce. Many couples ask for hand canceling at the counter, which keeps envelopes out of the sorting machines; availability varies.
Mail overseas invitations first, since they take longest and need international postage. Mail one to yourself too, so you can see how it arrives and when.
