Question on when is the right time to send out Wedding Invitations?

I think 3 months would be fine, i am sending mine out 4 months ... i know that is early but my caterer needs a count 3 weeks before the wedding and everything i am buying im only doing 200 of, so if i get more people then that i have to order more of well everything haha

I am doing the same thing and sending them out 3-4 months ahead of time. Most of my guest will have to travel and we want to get an accurate count sooner than later.

Ya I want to do it so that I can try and see how many people will not be able to make it so that I can maybe invite others on my Maybe List.

I did the exact opposite i invited EVERYONE lol all 340ish people hoping i get like 200 - 250 yes's, i figured a lot of family is out of state so i should be ok.

I am probably going to send mine out 3 months prior as well

In theory, it is 6-8 wks ahead of time. You can send out invites a little earlier if a DW, but you run the risk of NOT getting as many RSVP's back because people have too much time and forget...you will have to chase RSVP's regardless

Also don't give guests too long after they receive the invite to RSVP. You want to give at least two weeks since people may need to make arrangements, but not more than a month. Too long and people forget about it. Right as the RSVPs are due, send out a reminder email to anyone who hasn't responded. People need poking.

The more out of town guests you have, probably the earlier you want to send. I sent mine out 5 months in advance. They will get a reminder poke in January. I have no vendors besides my venue, so if there are a couple cancellations 3 weeks prior, I don't really care. I just wanted to get the definite nos taken care of in advance (and the majority of guests are traveling).

I'm following what the Wedding Checklist says on here LOL it's really helpful with keeping me on track

Sending ours out 4 months before because we have a lot of out of state guests.

We're doing our out of country invites 6 months in advance. despite sending STDs many of them still keep asking us if they're invited. I guess the whole STD concept hasn't caught on yet in Ireland so they don't realize that if you got an STD you're invited. FH's mom said people won't make arrangements until they have the invites in hand. Go figure.

We're sending ours 8 weeks in advance, right after the New Year. We figure if we send them any earlier, they'll get lost in the holiday shuffle.

I think 6-8 weeks is what's considered the norm. I can understand wanting to give your guests time to plan but you also run the risk of the invitation getting put aside since its so far from the date of the wedding and people forgetting or misplacing the RSVP. You can talk to your out of town guests (by phone or e-mail) months in advance to let them know when your wedding is and that you will be sending them an invite closer to the wedding, but letting them know in advance so that if they want to come, they can start making the travel arrangements.

If anything, sending them out too early is likely to screw with your RSVP count, for reasons listed above. Except in exceptional circumstances of people who don't understand what a STD is for, the STD is what goes out super early so that people can make arrangements. Invitations are supposed to go out 6-8 weeks in advance.

If you had such an early date from a caterer, you would send them out 8 weeks in advance with a 2-3 week deadline--then you'd have the RSVPs 5-6 weeks ahead of time, with 2-3 weeks left to chase the inevitable no responses before giving a count to the caterer.

Sending invites too early can cause just as many issues, if not more. Unless we're talking about international guests or a destination wedding, I think 8 weeks is perfect with an RSVP date a month or so before the wedding. For the RSVP date, figure out when the caterer needs the final head count (usually 1-2 weeks) and then add 2 weeks for late RSVPs to trickle in and the inevitable chasing down of guests who forget to respond.

I am planning on about 8 weeks. My goal is to have them out by my birthday, which is 3/16 and wedding is 5/14.

My wedding is a few days over 2 months away & sent out out of state invites the end of last week, out of town guests were sent early this week & sending the rest out by Friday for local guests. I was dreading the whole "holiday" shuffle of mail but my out of state guests have already said they got them I'm only giving until a month before wed date to rsvp, that gives me a little over a week to follow up w/ people who don't rsvp. That way I have my headcount at the 2 week mark they are needed. I think sending them out too soon, people forget or lose them unfortunately.

Yes i agree with everyone with stating if you send them out way to early you will have problems, but at the same time i aslo wanna make sure they have plenty of time to rsvp. i have family members whom arent so smart if you know what i mean..so i shall to send them out 3 months i hope thats good..

Here in India, if is an Indian wedding invitation it is normally sent 2 months prior to the wedding date. Since its not only the friends/relative living in nearby but also people who are suppose to come in from far distance.