A Save the Date card may not be as formal as the actual wedding invitation which comes later, but there are still some basic rules of etiquette to follow when mailing them out to friends and family members.
Save the Date
A Save the Date card is an in-the-mail heads-up to your wedding guests that you have set the date for your wedding. This gives your guests ample time to save the date, even when you are still in the planning stages of the wedding ceremony and wedding reception.
Typically a Save the Date card includes the date of the wedding and the location. The Save the Date card does not need to be as formal as the actual wedding invitation, but there are some basic rules of etiquette that should be followed.
Save the Date Wedding Invitation Etiquette
1. Keep the Mailing List the Same
All of the guests on your wedding invitation list should also receive a Save the date card, and vice versa. If you think of someone else who needs to be invited to the wedding while you are addressing the Save the Date cards, be sure to also include that person’s name on your wedding invitation list.
2. Use Titles
The Save the Date Card may include less information about the wedding than the actual invitation will, but it should be completely casual. The Save the Date card will be the first written communication about the wedding, and for some it may be the first time they are hearing about your wedding day plans.
Set the tone for the wedding day be using formal titles on the Save the Date cards. If you don’t know if someone should be addressed as Dr., or Ms., find out. In addition to being proper etiquette, this will also help you when it’s time to send out the more formal invitations.
This is useful information to have in advance, before you are ready for the formal wedding invitations.
3. Invitation to Follow
To avoid confusing the wedding day guests, be sure to state on the Save the Date cards that a the “Invitation will follow” or that the “Formal Invitation to Follow.” This will help minimize confusion and extra phone calls.
Part of proper etiquette in written correspondence includes making the recipient feel at ease, and informed. Leaving the wedding guest confused would defeat the purpose of sending the Save the Date card.
4. Keep It Simple
Save the Date cards do not have to have the same elaborate wording as the actual wedding invitation. If you find yourself stuck for something clever to say, go for simple instead.
Announce the names of the bride and groom and the date and location when they will marry. Simple is best.
5. When to Send
Send the Save the Date cards as far in advance as you can. If you are planning a beach wedding at a get-away destination, or are inviting mostly guests from out-of-state, try to send the Save the Date cards about a year in advance.
For local weddings with mostly local guests, six months should be sufficient.
Remember, just because a Save the Date card is less formal than a wedding invitation, that is no reason to cast etiquette into the wind like a worn garter.
