Save the dates

Many people skip save the dates with no issues. In fact, it's really only a new thing in the last couple years. People have gotten married for ages without them and people who want to attend will do everything they can to make it possible. You really only need them for an overseas destination wedding or around a major holiday.

You could always send electronic save the dates (think paperless post or evite) to save money and do the real deal with the invitations

The problem with sending invitations early is invitations require a reply and you don’t need a reply until closer to the wedding. So what happens is people set the invitation aside because it’s still months away and they forget to RSVP and you have to track people down to get a reply. If most of your guests are local save the dates aren’t necessary and you can send the invitations out 2-3 months before the wedding.

Invitations are sent out regardless 6-8 weeks before the wedding day. Hardly anyone sends them 3-6 months prior.

I wouldn’t pay for STD right now. Tell the most important people or everyone if you want. And speaking from experience, I would print invites until last minute. I think guests will be on a wait and see mode and will wait to last minute to RSVP.

I'm not sure what your budget is, but we're also being very budget friendly and used zazzle for our STDs and did postcards (we're having a smaller / intimate wedding). We ordered 30 - 40 postcards and along with postage we paid about $40 in total. With all the Covid stuff, our engagement pictures were postponed. We ended up using a picture of the beach / ocean where we are getting married for our STDs. I loved the simplicity of the look and essentially a preview to the view our guests will enjoy at our wedding.

Save the dates are not required. You can skip them and send your invitations at the 6-8 week mark as you normally would.

If you are interested in going the electronic route, I was able to send email save the dates for free using Mail Merge for Gmail, an add-in that was pretty easy to set up. I just attached a picture with the date/location and a short message, then used the add in with google spreadsheets to personalize names and send to each email.

View Quoted Comment Hey guys! Thanks so much for the information. I think I’ll just send save the dates to guests out of town so they have time to prepare.

Save the dates definitely aren’t needed. You could also make an electronic on and send via text or email.
I personally made the decision to send save the dates. My best friends made them for me. I gave her ideas of what I wanted. All I had to do go to Office Depot and print them out. Cost me about 25$ for 40. But you also have to factor in envelopes and stamps.