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Updated Oct 14, 2024Wondering When to Send Wedding Invitations? Keep Scrolling
We've nailed down the perfect time frame for you.
Design: Tiana Crispino
Most of the decisions you make while wedding planning are completely up to you—there's no set rule for which flowers to choose or what your color palette should be. That said, there are a few tasks that have guidelines, including when to send wedding invitations. Sending out your invites after selecting a stationery design you love is one of the most exciting steps in your planning process. As guests get their mail and the RSVPs flow in, expect your celebration to start feeling very real. Now, you're likely wondering how far in advance to send wedding invitations, right? Find out below—we have expert insight from Diane Gottsman, a nationally renowned etiquette expert and the owner of The Protocol School of Texas. If you're still in search of the perfect wedding stationery, visit The Knot Invitations for over 400 customizable designs. And YES, they all have matching wedding website designs (ah!).
In this article: When to Send Wedding Invitations | When to Order Invitations for a Wedding | When Is It Too Late to Send Wedding Invitations? | Why the Wedding Invitation Timeline Is Important
When to Send Wedding Invitations
Design: Tiana Crispino
Six to eight weeks before the wedding is best when it comes to when to mail wedding invitations. Abiding by this wedding invite timeline gives your guests lots of time to clear their schedules and also means that you can set your RSVP due date in line with proper wedding invitation etiquette. If you announce your wedding too early, like over 12 weeks, you risk folks not knowing their final schedules and having to change their RSVP status at the last minute. The six-to-eight-week sweet spot will allow you to get a final head count, invite B-list wedding guests if needed and complete your seating charts before the week-of-the-wedding crunch.
So the sweet spot of when to send out wedding invitations falls around two months, but if the question: "Is three months too early to send out wedding invitations?" is knocking around in your head, the answer is no, it's not too early in certain circumstances according to Gottsman. "The proper timeline is between six and eight weeks," the etiquette expert says. "When it's around a major holiday, like Christmas, I suggest more time because people need to plan in advance." At the very latest, guests should receive formal invitations around a month and a half (six weeks) in advance, and you should request responses around three weeks to one month before the celebration (depending on exactly how long before your wedding you send invitations). Wondering: "When do you send out wedding invitations with a paper RSVP attached?" Go for the more expanded timeline to build in time for the cards to make their way back to you. You can condense your timeline if you opt for wedding invitations with QR codes or another means to facilitate digital RSVPs.
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When to Send Wedding Invitations Without Save-the-Dates
If the thought of when to send save-the-dates isn't on your radar, but you're still going for the standard engagement length (that's 16 months, according to our data), you should send wedding invitations around six months in advance. When do you mail out wedding invitations if you're adding another ring to your stack in just a few months? Couples with shorter engagements should send wedding invitations three months before the celebration to give guests a timely heads-up. In this case, the difference between save-the-dates versus wedding invitations is null and void. Your wedding invite does the work of both pieces of stationery and the truncated timeline allows this to work.
When to Send Wedding Invitations to Out-of-Town Guests
If you're mailing wedding invitations to out-of-town or out-of-state guests, it's customary to send out wedding invitations around eight weeks before the RSVP deadline. Though, we do advise that you mail all of your invites at the same time, regardless of how many guests live out of town. Eight weeks before the wedding is still typical timing when it comes to how far out to send wedding invites, so it makes sense to keep things simple and send them all at once.
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How long before the wedding should invitations be sent to guests from outside the US? It's an exception—around nine to 10 weeks in advance is a good time to mail those particular invitations. (Though, Gottsman says you can go up to a year in advance.) An extra week or two will allow for the extended shipping and delivery time needed to get those invites safely into your overseas loved ones' hands. Keep in mind: Exactly how early to send wedding invites is calculated to account for the right amount of RSVP time. Give international guests the option to RSVP digitally via our free online RSVP tool so you're not waiting for their responses to travel through the mail. PS: You can also use the Guest List Tool to easily gather addresses for all invitees, near and far.
When to Send Wedding Invitations Digitally
When should you send out wedding invitations if you're going paperless? While digital wedding invitations do get to your guests faster, Gottsman says that it's still wise to keep with the traditional six-to-eight-week wedding invitation timeline. A wedding invitation is still a formal bid and a big commitment, so you should give potential attendees ample time to RSVP.
When to Order Invitations for a Wedding
To stay in the sweet spot of when wedding invitations should be sent, you'll also need to consider when to order wedding invitations. You must have them in your hands, ready to be slid into envelopes adorned with the super-cute wedding stamps you found, well ahead of the mailing deadline. If you're using a professional stationery designer, their thoughtful design process begins and ends months in advance. For pre-designed online wedding invitations, the best time to order is around 12–14 weeks ahead of your wedding to account for shipping delays or reprints. Regardless of whether you're going the designer route or online ordering path, aim to have your invitations with you and ready to mail at least 10 weeks before the wedding, no matter your decision on where to buy wedding invitations.
If you're opting to order invitations online and are cutting it close, the speedy turnaround of The Knot Invitations can help you get back on track. You can choose a design, personalize it (using our free design assistance or not) and order it within a day. The printing process takes just four business days, then the stationery is on its way to you. By the way, we also offer free guest address printing (collect them easily with The Knot Guest List Tool) to save you hours of trying to write legibly on a hundred envelopes.
When Is It Too Late to Send Wedding Invitations?
Any time after six weeks is, by etiquette and practicality standards, too late to send wedding invitations. If you do find yourself in a bind and are beyond the polite time frame of when wedding invitations go out, we suggest opting for digital RSVPs and skipping the traditional cards in regard to what to include in your wedding invitation suite to shorten your turnaround time. But truly, do all you can to avoid sending invitations late and stay mindful of how long you can wait to send invites before your wedding.
Why the Wedding Invitation Timeline Is Important
Knowing the answer to the, "How far in advance do you send wedding invitations?" question is a lot more important than you might think. "Everyone has busy calendars and it's important to get the invitation out at the right time so the date will be secure," says Gottsman. "People make plans weeks and months in advance."
If you mail your bids too late, you run the risk of not giving your loved ones enough notice to take time off work, book accommodations or make travel arrangements. Sending your invites out too early might mean that your wedding isn't at the top of guests' minds as the day draws closer. You want to hit that sweet spot in between, giving everyone plenty of time to make plans but not enough time to lose track of that all-important date. Also important: giving them enough time to let you know if they're attending, whether it's by mail-in RSVP or online RSVP. Creating a wedding website can help you easily collect and track RSVPs too, so it's easy to get that final headcount and send thank-you notes when the time comes.
