HELP! How many save-the-dates to send out??

I made a guest list and sent out save the dates to those people on my guest list. Do not send out more save the dates than your venue can hold.

I was told that everyone who gets a save the date must get an invitation, but not everyone who gets an invitation needs to have gotten a save the date. If that helps at all.

^ and the girl who thinks she doesnʻt fit in, nails it

I'm a little confused by your question. Are you asking how many people should be on your guest list if you want a certain number of people actually at the wedding?

A great rule of thumb is to ALWAYS plan on 100% attendance. Meaning, don't invite more people than your venue can hold and/or you can afford to have there. For example, our guest list is right at 318. Many are from out of town so I'm expecting more like 225-250, but if all 318 show up? Great! Our venue can hold it and we can afford it. Any declines are just extra money in our pocket.

Also, any person who gets a save the date must be invited (like Larissa said). I'm going through this right now. You don't HAVE to send everyone on your guest list a save the date. We're first only sending them to people who are out of town (and we're 100% absolutely sure we want to invite) and our families. People like my mom's friends, who are in town and I'm just inviting because my mom wants to, don't need to get one. Or we may send them when it gets closer. So just don't send one to anyone you're not sure you're going to end up inviting, and you're set!

Also remember you only need one per household, same with invitations. My FH had a mini-heart attack because he thought we had to order 300+ save the dates. We only need 150 (everyone invited is in a couple/gets a guest, so we divided it by two--it would be even less if you're inviting families). I have an Excel spreadsheet that's organized by couple so I can track how many save the dates/invitations to order.

You'll only need 1 STD and 1 invitation per household/couple (not one for each person).

Save the dates and invitations are completely different. Anyone you send a save the date to however needs to get an invitation. You most likely won't hear back from the majority of the people you send STDs to, they aren't a call to action, just an fyi.

Got it. Thanks so much for the great tips! Super helpful!

Everyone who receives a STD MUST be sent an invitation as well.

STD = invite. If you aren't sure if you can invite them, don't send them an STD.

I would advise sending STDs to ONLY those guest that you absolutely KNOW you will be able to invite. I would not send them to people that you THINK you might invite but, if it came down to it, you could see yourself scratching off the guest list.

If you get further in the planning process and determine you can invite more people, you can send out more invites than you did STDs.

If you are 100% sure that you are going to invite someone, send them an STD. If you are on the fence, don't send it. You can always send them an invitation later. They don't have to have received an STD in order to be invited, but if you send them an STD, they better be getting an invite.

Do not send out enough for 350 people in hopes that 100 won't come. That is not a good idea.

We are sending 1 per household.

Your wedding is still a bit far away I would only send STD to the people you are 100% sure about like the ones you want at your wedding for sure. Remember if you send a STD you are obligated to send that person an invitation, please don't be like some brides who send save the dates and then cut the guest list leaving those people without invitations. If your venue holds 250 you should only send 250 STD I mean why would you have any more than that if your venue will not be able to accommodate them that makes no sense, also you don't want to be crammed up its not worth it.