Sending save the date cards is a good way to ensure the friends and family who you want at your wedding can attend, especially if you're marrying abroad, on a work day or during peak wedding season.
Unlike your wedding invitations, which can include lots of in-depth detail about timings, location and accommodation, the save the dates should be quick and to the point. All you need to include are the date (crucial!), your names, and the location (particularly if it's abroad).
We recommend sending these out around a year in advance, although you can get away with a shorter time frame if you're getting married on a weekend in low season - if you're looking at six months or less though, you might as well just send invitations ASAP.
Whatever you do, be sure to have your wedding guest list 100% sorted before sending out your save the dates, because there's nothing worse than having to call someone who received a save the date to tell them they won't be receiving an invitation due to budget or venue restrictions!
Although it's nice to match your save the dates to your wedding theme and colour scheme, you may not have these things finalised, so keeping it simple is often a good idea. Including a photo of the two of you (perhaps from your engagement shoot or a photo booth) is a nice way to personalise a basic save the date.
If you want something a little different, there are plenty of fun save the date ideas out there - why not try something like cookies, puzzles or tea towels?
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