Save the Date vs Wedding Invitations: Do You Need Both?

The save the date is an early heads-up. The invitation is the real request to attend. Every guest gets an invitation, but only some guests need a save the date. Able to send only one? Send the invitation.

A save the date asks guests to hold a day. An invitation asks them to come.

Job: save the date vs wedding invitation

A save the date tells guests a wedding is coming and when. Its whole job is to stop people from booking something else that weekend. Guests who travel use it to plan flights, rooms and time off.

An invitation is the formal request. It names who is hosting, the time, the ceremony venue and what follows. It also asks for a reply, so you get the head count for your caterer.

Think of the save the date as optional and the invitation as required. A wedding without save the dates is normal. A wedding without invitations leaves guests with no time, no address and no way to reply.

Timing: save the date vs wedding invitation

The two cards go out months apart. The Emily Post Institute's guide to 21st century wedding trends says to mail save the dates as soon as the wedding date is known. Invitations come much later. Its 1 to 3 months planning checklist says to assemble and mail your wedding invitations six to eight weeks before the wedding date.

How early your save the date goes out depends on how far guests travel. A local wedding needs less notice than a wedding abroad. The article on when to send save the dates for a wedding gives the months by type of wedding. The invitation's own mailing date is worked out in when to send wedding invitations.

What each card says: save the date vs invitation

A save the date carries five things at most. Your names, the date, the city, "invitation to follow" and, if it's live, your wedding website. Leave the venue and the time off. They may still change.

Your invitation carries the full picture. That means the hosts, the request line, both full names, the date and time written out, and the ceremony venue with city and state. A reception line follows if there is one.

For the exact lines, see save the date cards for a wedding and wedding invitation wording.

Guest list: save the date vs invitation

Everyone who gets a save the date must get an invitation. Emily Post's wedding trends guide states it plainly. So the save the date list is a smaller, safer version of your guest list.

The invitation list is everyone. It includes guests you were unsure of when the save the dates went out, guests you add later, and guests who live around the corner. Nobody has to get a save the date to be invited.

RSVP and website: save the date vs invitation

The RSVP belongs to the invitation. The Emily Post Institute's guide to wedding invitations explains that reply cards are included with an invitation to give you an accurate guest count for the reception. Your save the date can't do that job. Guests don't know the time or place yet.

Your wedding website belongs on the save the date. Emily Post's wedding website tips say to have the site ready before you send your save the date if you can. The same tips say not to list your website on the invitation itself. Print it on the response card or another enclosure instead. Our article on wedding RSVP cards covers the reply wording and the reply-by date.

Paper or email: save the date vs invitation

Email is fine for a save the date. Etiquette advice in the Emily Post Institute's wedding email dos and don'ts calls email a great way to send an informal note asking friends and relatives to put the date aside. Write to each guest by name.

Printed invitations are held to a higher bar. The same page says it is preferable to send each guest a printed invitation unless it is a highly unusual circumstance. Email works for a last-minute or informal wedding. For most weddings, plan to mail the invitation on paper.

Many couples split the two cards by format. Save the dates go out as an image by text or email to friends, and as a card to older relatives. Invitations go out on paper to everyone.

Postage and cost: save the date vs wedding invitation

The invitation costs more to mail. Each save the date is one card in one envelope. USPS First-Class Mail prices start at $0.82 for a standard rectangular envelope and $1.31 for a square one. Most invitation envelopes hold an RSVP card with its own stamped reply envelope, plus a details card.

For 75 households at the $0.82 starting price, postage works out like this.

The $123 is a floor. Extra cards add weight. The Emily Post Institute's guide to addressing and sending invitations says to take one assembled invitation to the post office and have it weighed before you buy stamps.

Design: matching save the date and wedding invitations

No rule says they must match. The Emily Post Institute's wedding trends guide says it's not necessary for save the dates to match your other wedding stationery. That makes the save the date a place to have some fun.

Matching still helps in one way. The save the date is the first card guests see, so a matching invitation looks like part of the same wedding. It also means you choose one design once and stop thinking about it.

Matching is easy when both come from one design. Our full wedding stationery suite with the save the date and the invitation holds both in Olive Grove, Meridian, Copperplate or Wild Pampas, plus the RSVP card, the details card and the day-of pieces. You type your names and date once in one personalizer. If you buy the save the date now and the invitation later in the same design, the personalizer's Save backup file carries your details from one to the other.

When skipping the save the date is fine

Skip the save the date when it can't do its job. That's when the wedding is under three months away. At that point the invitation itself is the early notice. Skip it, too, for a small wedding where you can phone every guest.

Don't skip it when guests fly, need passports or the date falls on a holiday weekend. Those guests need months, not weeks. A late save the date sent as an image still beats no notice at all.

There are cases where our suite is the wrong buy. If you only need invitations, the full suite gives you more pieces than you'll use. Our invitation suite at $15 or the $8 invitation alone fits better. Want a photo on your save the date? Our templates take no photo upload, so a photo card from a print shop suits you better.

Save the date vs wedding invitations: the side-by-side table

For both cards and the day-of paper in one look, our save the date, invitation and 11 more pieces in one design come as one download. Print at Actual size (100%) on 80 to 110 lb cover cardstock and cut on the crop marks.