What is a Wedding Save the Date Card?

Words by Utterly Printable

Sending a Save the Date Card for a Wedding: When and who?

You’ve got the engagement ring on your finger, the deposit down on your dream location and a countdown on your phone. Now it’s time to give your nearest and dearest a heads up so they can clear their calendars. Typically, personalised save the date cards are sent out six to eight months before the big day, although if you’re planning on a destination wedding then we recommend sending them out as soon as you’ve confirmed your venue, that way your guests can start to plan and save for the trip as early as possible. The key objective to sending out a save the date card is to ensure your guests keep that day (or week!) free, and once sent they can’t be retracted. So, for those people you’re ‘umming’ and ‘ahhing’ about, it’s best to hold off on the save the date until you’ve finalised your guest list.

Floral save the date online template

How do you send out Save the Dates?

A few years ago you were almost guaranteed to receive your save the date through the post, but today you’ll find that traditions are changing, couples are becoming more budget conscious and technology is playing a greater part in our communication than ever before. We can’t guarantee that your grandparents won’t raise an eyebrow at receiving a WhatsApp save the date card, but we can guarantee that no matter what method you choose, our designs will look vibrant, stylish, and beautiful to your guests. Our full range of classic printed save the dates can be found here. And our digital save the dates for mobile can be found here.

Digital save the date card for WhatsApp

What do you write on a wedding save the date?

The save the date card is your chance to experiment with different styles. Unlike your formal wedding invitation, your save the date doesn’t need to be representative of your wedding theme or colour scheme so many couples use it as an opportunity to be a bit more creative with colours and patterns. In particular, many couples opt for a custom photo save the date design as a chance to share a gorgeous personal photograph from the engagement. It also doesn’t need to include too much information beyond the date (obviously) and a rough location such as ‘London, England’. For those super organised couples, it can also be useful to include your wedding website if you’ve created one and, of course, don’t forget to put a line at the bottom informing guests that a formal invitation will follow. Finally, and possibly most importantly, make sure you write the exact names of the guests in that household that you’re inviting. This tells your guests exactly who is (and isn’t) invited, and whilst your second cousin will probably still ask to bring their new boyfriend, it should hopefully keep these irritating requests at a minimum.

What doesn’t need to be said…yet

Being this early on in your wedding planning nobody will expect you to include exact details, such as time, dress code or specific locations. Etiquette also dictates that YOU ABSOLUTELY SHOULDN’T include details of your wedding registry yet either. There will be plenty of opportunity in the later stages to inform guests where you’re registered so use this as an opportunity to design a beautiful invitation which isn’t overcrowded with details.

Budget-friendly wedding invitation printing

We hope this helps you get off to a good start with your save the date cards. When you eventually get everything sorted with your venue and gift list, check back in with us as we have a great range of personalised wedding invitations for you to browse through. Best of luck!