When planning your wedding, there are many timelines to consider, and one of the most important is when to send out your wedding invitations. While it might seem like something you can tackle closer to your wedding day, there’s actually quite a bit of prep involved, so it’s important to start earlier than you think. Here’s the timeline I recommend to my couples to keep their wedding invitations on track:

6 months before the wedding – Finalize your guest list.

5-6 months before the wedding – Begin looking at invitation designs and narrowing down your favorites. This is also a great time to make sure you have your guests’ addresses. If you plan to have the addresses printed on the envelopes, organize this list in a spreadsheet or another format that your printer requires.

4 months before the wedding – Make your final decision on the invitation design and wording, and place your order.

3-4 months before the wedding – It’s time to assemble all of the invitation suites!

3 months before the wedding – Take one complete invitation suite to the post office to have it weighed so you can be sure you’re using the correct postage for the outer envelope. While you’re there, buy the stamps you’ll need for both the outer and response card envelopes.

10-12 weeks before the wedding – Mail out the invitations (yay!).

5-6 weeks before the wedding – This is when RSVP cards should be due back to you.

If you’re working with a custom designer, be sure to add at least 8 weeks to the beginning of this timeline to allow for design time, samples, and edits. If you’re using a calligrapher to address your envelopes, add an extra 4-6 weeks to the addressing portion to ensure they have enough time to properly address everything.

As for Save The Dates, we typically recommend sending them out 8-12 months before your wedding. If your wedding falls on a holiday weekend or is a longer celebration (like one of our Destination Upstate weddings), aim for the longer end of that window. And remember to avoid sending Save The Dates and wedding invitations between Thanksgiving and New Year’s to ensure they don’t get lost among the holiday cards.

This timeline will help ensure everything runs smoothly and that your guests have plenty of time to prepare for your big day!

Xoxo,
The WPP Team

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