Send save the dates first , book the venue later?

You can’t send save the dates first because if nothing is booked you don’t have a date, technically. Also people don’t RSVP to save the dates so you still wouldn’t know. Book a venue that fits your budget and can accommodate your guest list at 100% acceptance.

You can't actually send the save the dates without a venue. The venue is what determines the date based on what they have available. If you would send save the dates then you are locked into a specific date that venues might not have available. Also save the dates are only meant to let the guests know when the wedding is going to be not for you get a guest count. Guests won't be able to tell you this far in advance if they want to attend. Invites are what guests reply to and those usually go out 8-10 weeks before the wedding.

Agree with PP. Booking venue comes before sending save the dates because without a venue, you don't have a date! Also, people don't RSVP to save the dates so you won't know who will be coming until the invitations go out.

That’s definitely not going to work. You don’t have a date until you have a venue, or even a city to put on the save the date. I’m also not sure how you think save the dates would give you a more accurate guest count anyway since people don’t RSVP to save the dates.

You make a guest list first along with budget then book your venue. Most require a year out if they are popular. Save the dates are not sent until the guest list is set in stone 6 months before the wedding because they cannot be revoked. Guests rsvp to the actual invites sent at 6 weeks before the wedding.

Save the Dates don’t give you any realistic sense of who can attend, it just gives your guests a heads up so they can mark it on the calendar. Guests don’t officially RSVP until 1-2 months before the actual wedding date. Anything earlier than that, you run a huge risk of people changing their minds, schedule conflicts, etc., especially with COVID right now. That will just send you spinning later on! Secure your venue first for the guest count you expect and can afford; sounds like you have a rough estimate already and venues are very used to that this early on.

I definitely hoped that some of my more long distance guests would contact me after save the dates with an idea of their attendance (there's some I'm almost positive will be a no). But absolutely no one reached out. So definitely don't think you'll get a guest count from that!

Sending saves commits people to nothing. And while you can talk to people and ask, many need to know exact date and place to say yes or no . Which they cannot do until you have a venue. Hmmm.

I wouldn't recommend sending save the dates until you booked a venue.

Totally agree with everyone- unless you book that venue, you don’t have that date. The STD’s don’t commit anyone to o anything.

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Technically i do have the date already that I want...Im not worrying about booking a specific venue, it the date and whomever has available I will work with them , not the other way around. All of the venues I have reached out to are available, so for me it is very contigent upon guest count.

View Quoted Comment But the save the dates still aren’t going to give you any information as to who will attend. You’d be better off just calling your possible guests and talking to them about their likelihood of attending. But you need to understand that this still won’t give you a definite guest count. Things change and people that thought they would absolutely attend today may not be able to when your invites go out.
It’s still best to plan your wedding based on who you want and can afford to host and expecting 100% attendance.

I kinda sorta did this...Only difference was that i booked my venue about a week after i sent my SAVE THE DATES. lol We both actually have LARGE families so our guest list hit the 150 MARKER due to COVID or it would have been 200 plus. My venue is very helpful and we did a round about estimate for catering. Which we can add or subtract aleast a month in advance. I hope everything works out for you with the planning process.