When to send save the dates, and what to put on them

Send your save the dates once the date and the town are fixed, usually six to twelve months before the wedding, and sooner if guests must fly, ask for leave or find a room on a bank holiday weekend. Keep them short: your names, the date, the place, and a line to say that the invitation will follow.

Those windows are our own suggestion, and other guides give different numbers. The day that matters is the day you sign for the venue, because that is when your guests can start to plan.

Do you need a save the date at all?

Not always. A save the date earns its place when guests have to do something early: book flights, ask for leave or reserve a room before a small town fills up. Send one if any of these is true:

• The wedding is abroad, or a long way from where most of your guests live.
• It falls on a bank holiday weekend or in the school summer holidays.
• It runs over more than one day.
• Your invitation will not be ready for some months.

You can usually skip it for a small local wedding when the invitation goes out in good time, or when the wedding is only a few months away. Send the invitation instead, and telephone the people you cannot do without.

How far ahead should you send save the dates?

For most UK weddings, six to twelve months ahead. For a wedding abroad, a bank holiday or a weekend of events, send them as soon as the date and the venue are fixed, because hotel rooms, trains and annual leave go first. Your guests’ travel matters more than any number in the table below.

What do other wedding guides say?

They agree on the shape, if not on the numbers: the further your guests travel, the earlier they need the date. As of October 2026, Bridebook’s UK planning timeline suggests nine to twelve months ahead, and twelve to fifteen months for a wedding abroad or on a bank holiday weekend. The Knot, writing for US couples, suggests six to eight months.

The invitation follows later: we suggest about 12 weeks before a wedding in the UK, and four to six months before one abroad. Our guide to when to send wedding invitations in the UK explains how to set the reply date as well.

What should a save the date say?

Your names, the date, the town and “Invitation to follow” are enough. A save the date has one job, and the job is done once the date is in the diary. Name the venue only once you have signed for it, and leave the reply date, the gift list and the menu for the invitation.

Five lines to copy and adjust:

• Classic: “Save the date. Amira and Tom are getting married on Saturday 5 June 2027 in Bath. Invitation to follow.”
• Abroad: “Save the date. Sofia and James, Saturday 18 September 2027, Ravello, Italy. Invitation and travel details to follow.”
• A bank holiday weekend: “Keep the August bank holiday weekend free. Meera and Josh are getting married on Saturday 28 August 2027 in the Cotswolds. Invitation to follow.”
• A weekend of events: “Save the weekend. Hana and Leo are getting married in Edinburgh, and we would love you with us from Friday 9 July to Sunday 11 July 2027. Details to follow.”
• Short and warm: “We are getting married. Saturday 8 May 2027, London. Please save the date, and we will send the rest soon.”

For a wedding abroad, name the nearest airport only if you are sure of it. A wrong airport is harder to correct than a missing one, and somebody will have booked a flight to it by lunchtime.

Can you send a digital save the date?

Yes, and for guests spread across the country or abroad it is often the better choice. A link reaches every guest on the same day, with no hunt for postal addresses, and many digital save the dates carry a short reply, so you hear early who expects to come.

Paper has its own charm, and a fridge door to live on. It also has postage: at Royal Mail’s first class price of £1.80 a letter from April 2026, fifty save the dates cost £90 in stamps alone, or £45.50 second class at 91p (our calculation). Neither is wrong. Choose the one your guests will keep in view.

How does a save the date lead to the invitation?

Treat the save the date as the first page of your guest list, and keep three habits.

Send it only to people you will invite. A save the date is a promise of an invitation, and anyone who receives one must receive the other.

Keep the facts identical. The names, the spelling of the town and the date must read the same on both. If anything changes, tell guests directly, by message or telephone, before the invitation arrives.

Collect contact details as you go. Each save the date you send by WhatsApp, text message or email tests the number or address you hold. Our guide to sending wedding invitations by WhatsApp covers the message that goes with the link.

Sign for the venue, write your line and send it that week. When it has gone, our checklist of what to include on a wedding invitation is the next page to open.