Save the dates- destination

I have a destination wedding. Year and a half is too much time. Give them a heads up (date & place) and about 8 months before, send the save the dates. Believe me. A friend did what you’re thinking and half of the people had already forgotten about the wedding (I was one of them). By the time she actually told us about it, there was no time to save for reservations and plane tickets.

I would tell your VIPs as soon as you have the date (text, phone call, in person) so they’ll be able to plan and take time off etc. I would then send the physical save the date around a year out. Our wedding is a destination wedding for about 1/3 of our guests (they’re coming from out of the country) so we told them to mark their calendars once we had a date so they could decide if it would be able to work with their budgets and other plans for 2019. This was notice enough, the save the date around 10 months prior provided our website info so they begin booking flights and hotels.

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I agree that two to 1.5 years in advance is too much. I would say you could go up to a year in advance and no less than 8 months. You can also go ahead and set up your wedding website and if people ask direct them there.

Yes! Create your website and direct them to it. Mine is a destination wedding for us and 10 more people. They were the first to know date and place. Always kept them on the loop. A yr before, gave them a reminder. Gave them save the dates 8 months before. By that time, all of them had plane tickets and hotel reservations.
Build the website and keep it updated.

I’m having an international destination wedding. 1.5-2years will probably be TOO much time.

We sent out save the dates a year in advance. And invites 8 months in advance. International travel should be booked 6 months ahead of time so it gave our guests enough for planing and saving without forgetting about it.

2 years is generous but as a guest, i would ‘forget’ the date as i don’t even have a planner that far ahead of time and the save the date would likely get buried on the fridge.

Thank you everyone for your input! Truly appreciated!

A few years ago we received an STD that was at least 18 months before the wedding date and thought it was crazy. Like, "thanks for the heads up, but I'm not sure what we're doing this summer, so never mind about 18 months from now." (Also, the couple broke up about 6-8 weeks after sending the STDs, but the bride was so embarrassed, they never officially told people the wedding was off. SO MUCH AWKWARDNESS....) I'd definitely wait. A year is MORE than enough. You can tell your VIPs informally as you lock in your plans, but I'd wait on the STDs.

A year in advance is fine for a destination wedding. Anything over is excessive.

That seems way to early to send them out. I would send them out at a year. The earlier you send them out may give some people the heads up but most people will forget about the save the date

I sent emails out 21/2 years out for our destination wedding to give the heads up, I will give Save the dates out a year out as a reminder. My family has already booked their rooms. I've also sent group texts out every couple months as a reminder, just to keep it on the mind of those invited. Please don't be disappointed or discouraged by those that don't respond or seem excited because I've gone through that. You cant please everyone and at the end of it, its about you and your fiance. This process has been an eye opener for me.

I think it honestly depends on where your wedding is and how much you know about your guests. We're getting married June 2020 in Puerto Rico. My friends and family are either in academia, military, or more financially strained. We are mailing Save the Dates this week. My colleagues and I plan events for a year out (conferences/fellowships) so this is not a big deal for us. It's also a big heads up for some family members/friends who may be tight with money and know they need to start getting their sh** together. I would consider your guests but think around the one year mark is fair. I think 2 to 1.5 is a tad too far.

We sent ours a year out, then had to change the date and sent the change the dates out ASAP. We are sending invites out here shortly with 5 months left until the wedding. Making sure everyone has adequate time. The wedding website was on everything, so if anyone had questions they had to see on the wedding website. A year should be plenty of time!

I think anything more than a year is unnecessary. You can't book flights even a year out, so people can budget with 1 year notice. Anymore than that and I wouldn't even think about it until way closer. We have over 100 guests flying in and all were fine with 10 months notice.