Save the dates vs invitations

You don’t need paper invites but you should still send email invites so they could be directed to your website and RSVP there

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Great idea!! Thanks!!

There are tons of ways to save money in wedding planning, but the actual act of inviting people shouldn't be one of them. Invitations are a necessity. If you're having an extremely casual backyard BBQ style wedding, I suppose online invitations would be fine, but I would avoid them.

I would not do online invitations. They will go to a lot of people's spam folders, or not get delivered at all.

You will need to send invites. You can, however, have your guests RSVP online to save on paper RSVP's and postage. You can forego save the dates, but you can't forego invitations.

Save the Dates are optional but Invites are pretty much required. I'd do online Save the Dates and send out paper invites with an online RSVP.

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I guess I'm confused as to why it is such a big deal to not send paper ones? why send sooo many reminders? Everyone has a smart phone now and i hate to waste the money/paper if people are already planning to come. It just seems like an extra expense.

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Save the dates are the extra expense that you should not have spent. Online/digital invitations are fine for something like your kids birthday party or a super bowl party, but unless your wedding is a backyard BBQ, they are tacky. They are also more likely to get lost int he shuffle of junk/spam emails.

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It's not a big deal. No matter what everyone on here says, it's YOUR wedding. Only you know your crowd. Send evites if you want.

View Quoted Comment Huh guess you didnt read the whole discussion before getting super snarky. The only thing online would be the rsvps. Too much info for the invites anyway. Guess we'll send out invites to people who dont know how to use the internet. I bet my "tacky" wedding is gonna be awesome. Thanks for the discouragement.

View Quoted Comment That last comment wasnt for you, thanks for the encouragement lady. Its hard being on a super tight budget and planning all this myself.

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And I guess you didn't read my original response. Online RSVP's are fine. Your question was regarding skipping invites entirely. No, you shouldn't do that. And regarding digital invites, those aren't ideal. Happy planning

You can do whatever is deal for you and your guests. If not doing paper invites is best go with that!

I guess i figured the save the dates would serve both pursposes since they have the website on them and say "for more info and to RSVP" right on them. You do make a good point of not skipping entirely, perhaps i will send them out to people who dont RSVP online by a certain time. I am definitely against doing more than sending a reminder online since emails do get lost in the shuffle. This whole thing has been verrrrry stressful

I think that you should do invites. We sent out over 80 invites for only about 50$ it really is important and doesn’t cost that much money to break the bank I think you should send them out even if it’s just email form.

I literally missed a wedding because they only sent online invites.

They were sent from the bride's mom's email (I'm friends with the groom) and it went straight to spam. I also missed the invite to the wedding website that came before that. Definitely on the couple a bit, as they didn't follow up with everyone and assumed people who didn't respond just weren't coming (they over-invited for the venue capacity, too. ALSO a terrible idea) but still, it is so. easily. missed. when it's just an email.

I'd never leave something as important as a invite to my wedding up to spam filters. Definitely true that physical invites can also get lost (which is why you always follow up with people who haven't responded) but a physical invite stuck on the fridge is so much better a reminder than something sitting in your (likely already overloaded) email inbox.

Hi date twin! I think it's a know your crowd kind of thing!

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Yeah i think I didn't explain what we are sending out clearly enough because they are sold as save-the-dates and are completely customizable. Ours say "we're getting married, you're invited" with our website info etc AND a wooden save the date magnet with our names/date/location/website on it. Ya'll think that, along with follow up invites (snail mail, dont worry lol) for RSVPs not recieved should suffice?

I feel like if you send a physical STD in the mail people are going to expect a physical invite in the mail. If you don't send one people might assume plans changed or they are no longer invited. I would not rely on just a physical STD as the only way of "inviting" people to your wedding.

We did email STDs (to save money/paper) with our wedding website on them but are sending a physical invite in the mail. I feel like people like having at least one thing that is tangible. This way guests can put something on their fridge as a daily reminder, we'll have something to photograph for our detail shots, and I usually bring invites with me to weddings just so I don't forget details (or in case I lose cell service and cannot look up an address or time). We are having our guests RSVP online so there will be no insert cards at all. The only physical paper our guests will get is the invite itself and then a thank you card after, so that saves us quite a bit on paper and postage but still makes it feel formal enough for a wedding.

I think as long as your save the dates indicate the should look to your website for info and to RSVP, that's fine! Absolutely no one is going to say "the wedding was great but how weird is it that they did e-vites!" One paper "invite" is plenty. You don't owe your guests that and frankly 90% will throw it away almost right away. Save the money but definitely make sure your guests know they won't receive a paper invite but should go to website instead. Plus, almost all of our guests are close family or younger people so they're assumed to be invited and/or have no issue getting online and going to the website to RSVP and get all the info.