Wedding website - Save the Date or Formal Invitation

I waited to send mine until I had my wedding website ready with hotel and travel info. As a guest I like having a wedding website with the save the date so I can start looking at prices for travel.

I prefer websites, personally. But I think it's a "know your crowd" type of thing. I visit wedding websites all the time so I think it's easier then keeping track of cards and invites.

If a lot of people are traveling, I think the importance of the save the date is to provide that very information about hotels and travel and such. We didn’t complete our whole website for save the dates but made sure to complete all the accommodation and travel info , so that people could start to plan. A website itself isn’t super necessary, but to me, communicating the travel info is.

Thanks for your advice!

A follow up question - what do you think is the absolute latest I could send a save the date for a wedding that most people are traveling? The wedding date: May 31, 2020 ... so about 10 months out right now.

View Quoted Comment We sent save the dates 7 months out with almost our entire guest list traveling.

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Thank you! Seems like I have a little bit of time to book the hotels before rushing to send the save the dates so quickly. Can I ask when you sent your formal invite following your save the date?

As a guest who often has to travel for weddings, I definitely like to have a website listed on the save the date! I think you have a few options:

1) Send the save the dates now without a website, and then you can email/text the website later to people who will be traveling.

2) Make a shell website now that has some basic information on there (accommodations can say "Coming soon - check back later for more information!"), and include it on your save the dates. Then add the hotel information to the website as soon as you can after the save the dates go out - that way they can at least check the link in the coming months before you send invitations.

3) Wait to send the save the dates until you have more information - but I would try to send them within the next few months because so many people are traveling. Ideally I wouldn't send them any later than October.

View Quoted Comment It depends on your area, in my city hotels book up super quickly! We contacted some hotels a year out that were already completely booked. And our wedding was October 6, we sent save the dates at the end of February/beginning of March and sent formal invites mid to end of July.

View Quoted Comment Thank you! Super helpful.