When Should I send out wedding invitations?
The Complete Wedding Invitation Timeline
Planning a wedding comes with a million logistics to juggle, and it is easy for things to slip through the cracks. The last thing you want is to realize your wedding day is sneaking up and no one has been invited! Let’s get the key dates for your wedding invitations marked in your calendar and crossed off your to-do list.
Research Invitation styles and sources
Begin ASAP!
Even if you don’t have a venue or date picked, it’s never too early to get on Pinterest and start looking at the possibilities. Deciding early if you want to go custom with a designer, order from a template site, or DIY your invitations will inform how much advance planning you need to do. Custom, hand-printed letterpress invitations will take more production time than ordering from a big template company, and DIY projects always take more time than you’d expect (ask me how I know).
For custom letterpress invitations from B&H, I recommend getting in touch at minimum 3-4 months before you’d like your invitations in hand—the sooner the better! Email me to discuss availability for a rush job if your deadline is creeping up.
Want to know more about the custom design process? Read all of the details here.
Preparing for mailing
Build in 2+ weeks between receiving invites and target mailing date
Be kind to your future self and schedule a lot of buffer time for stuffing, addressing, and posting your invitations! Things to consider before your invites are in hand to streamline the process:
How many helpers do you have available for assembly, addressing, and mailing?
Do you have all of your guest addresses gathered and organized?
Do you know how you would like to format the names and honorifics of your guests on your envelopes?
Do you plan to write addresses by hand, use labels, or print? Do you have all of the materials you need to do so?
Do you have a preference for what design you want on your stamps? Have you checked what is currently available with the USPS?
Save the Dates
Destination wedding: Mail 9-12 Months Out
Local Wedding: Mail 6-8 Months Out
If your wedding will require a significant amount of your guests to travel, give them as much advance warning as possible. If your wedding is local for the majority of your guest list, you can trim a few months off of that timeline.
Invitations
Mail 6-8 Weeks Before Your Wedding Date
Plan your timing on factors like out-0f-town guests making travel arrangements. If your wedding date is a major holiday like Christmas or New Years, build in more time to increase the chances of guests not already having alternative plans. If you opted not to send Save the Dates, definitely err on the side of earlier.
RSVP Deadline: 2-4 Weeks Before Your Wedding Date
Your wedding vendors will need a final count from you as the wedding day grows closer - typically about 2 weeks out from your big day. Make sure to mail out invitations with enough time to give your guests a generous RSVP window (and plan to have to chase down people who haven’t responded after the RSVP due date passes—there will always be someone!) before your final counts are due and with enough time for you to arrange final details like seating charts.
3 weeks before the wedding is often a safe RSVP deadline, but check your contracts with your vendors to make sure.
Day-Of Paper
If you would like to commission custom Day-Of paper from your wedding stationer like programs or menus, get in touch with time to spare. You will have enough on your plate when the wedding is days away to want to deal with going back and forth over menu design details! Let your designer know early in the invitation design process you would also like Day-Of paper so they can plan ahead. Many will be happy to work on the designs ahead of time and plug in details as they are finalized closer to the big day.
Interested in getting the ball rolling on custom letterpress invitations, save the dates, and day-of paper with Betzer & Head?