Save the date vs Invitation

Save the dates and invitations is most common, so yes, that would make sense. If you want to save money and aren’t having a destination wedding, skip the save the dates, they’re not a necessity.

View Quoted Comment Noted, thank you!

Well technically the point of a save the date is to inform people that 1) they’re invited and 2) they need to pencil you in on a certain date.


If you’re wanting to save money on it maybe just do an announcement via social media or text/email a save the date out to everyone? They have templates on Etsy

I would skip the save the dates.

the other thing you can do is just do electronic invites if you want to save more money.

Save The Dates are optional. If you're looking to save money, you can skip those and just send out invitations. Otherwise, you can definitely send both out, many people send both Save The Dates and invitations!

View Quoted Comment Yes, we’ve already informed family & friends of the date so I’m just curious if it’ll be smart to still send “save the date” cards or just go ahead with the invitation/details etc.

View Quoted Comment Ah, electronic invites? Never thought of that idea 🤯 thank you!!!

View Quoted Comment If everyone is 100% aware then I think it would be fine to just do the invitations

View Quoted Comment Got it, thank you!

Save the dates and invitations are the two most commonly sent items. Save the dates are sent x number of months in advance to let your guests know when your wedding will be so they can plan accordingly. Whereas your invitations are generally sent 8-6 weeks prior to your wedding so that you can formally invite your guests. They will then rsvp so that you can provide a headcount to your venue and caterer. Save the dates are generally optional unless you are having a destination wedding or a wedding on a popular day like a holiday when guests might otherwise have other plans.

Save the Dates are a new invention to replace telling or calling or emailing people information for long distance travel, or things that need planning in advance. If most of your people are local, and you have told most people, then there is no need to get saves. Invitations are worth doing. Without a written invitation, people tend to think it is something they maybe wanna do if they feel like it. You want people to take it as a commitment. At this day and time I will be there.

View Quoted Comment I see, thanks so much Judith! The only person traveling to us (from out of state) is my dad but he was one of the first to know lol. My fiancé’s family & the rest of my family are local so that’s a plus for us.

Invitations definitely, save the dates are optional.

Save the dates are optional and many people skip them, but if you are having a 2021 wedding or destination or around a major holiday, they are helpful to give guests advance notice. You can get them on a huge sale that Vistaprint has all the time. Magnets are less likely to get lost.


You can get nice invites cheap at Costco.com or annsbridalbargains.com

You can skip save the dates! You can always make one and text or email it to people if you really want to have one but don’t want to spend the money. They aren’t a necessity. I would say that if you have guests traveling from far away, you might want to give them a heads up about the date. That doesn’t require mailing anything, though! My fiancé’s sister lives in another country, so we messaged her the date as soon as it was booked since she’ll have to fly in for it.

View Quoted Comment Awesome, thank you!

View Quoted Comment That sounds more reasonable. My fiancé has a sibling that stays in Hawaii & my dad lives in California but we have them the date already. I think electronic notification is what we’ll go with- for save the date Thanks so much!

We sent STD’s - bought them off of Etsy for around $40 for 75. Would have been cheaper but we had them print the names & addresses.

View Quoted Comment Hmmm, having them pre-printed isn’t such a bad idea. We’ll keep that in mind once we get a better idea of attendees thank you!

Save the dates are optional. My fiance thought it was the funniest thing that I got save the dates. He's literally calling them an invitation to get an invitation lol But if you do want save the dates I got magnet save the dates that came out really nice for really cheap at annsbridalbargains.com