The first major milestones in any wedding planning journey are when you pick your date and secure your venue (presumably with the help of our “Picking Your Wedding Date” and “Say Yes to the Address” articles). Having achieved both of those – and congratulations are in order if you have – the next step is to announce that news to the world!
There are two pieces of wedding stationery typically used to communicate this information: Save the Dates and wedding invitations. But knowing which to use, and when to send them, can be tricky for the uninitiated (especially with RSVP cards, enclosure cards, and a ream of other stationery to organize). To help you work past another watershed moment in your wedding planning timeline, then, we’ve put together a comparison of both stationery types. Time for a matrimonial-themed game of ‘Spot the Difference’!
Purpose: What Are Save the Dates, and How Are They Different From Wedding Invitations?
According to The Knot, Save the Dates are “exactly what they sound like – a heads-up to your guests so they can mark their calendars.” There’s no need to go dress shopping or buying wedding cards just yet, but guests can make preliminary checks, such as planning air travel or penciling in their vacation time. On the other hand, wedding invitations are a detailed, finalized notice about your upcoming wedding, and recipients can proceed from there to make any outstanding arrangements.
Wording: What Should I Write in a Save the Date vs. a Wedding Invitation?
The details can be relatively sparse on a Save the Date. In fact, by listing nothing other than the approximate location and date, you can build suspense: think of it as a teaser or TV spot that increases anticipation for the full reveal! Focus on your names and an eye-catching photo of you both, since a Save the Date also functions as an engagement announcement. Meanwhile, wedding invitations shouldn’t leave anything to the imagination: be exact about the time and location, and provide information about how to RSVP and reach the venue.
Timing: When Should I Send My Save the Dates and Wedding Invitations?
Save the Dates can be sent as soon as you decide on a venue and date: short of a sudden, Zazzle Ideas-inspired elopement, these particulars are unlikely to change and attendees will appreciate ample notice. In general, that means couples send them out 8-12 months before the big day. For wedding invitations and the chance to gather those RSVPs, 2-3 months prior to the date will suffice: a complete address or precise time of day isn’t necessary to know a year in advance! Be generous with your timeframe for both if you’re traveling to an exotic location, of course: that’s one of our “Tips and Tricks for Planning a Destination Wedding.”
Tone: What Style or Vibe Should I Adopt for My Save the Dates and Wedding Invitations?
Save the Dates have gained popularity in recent decades: born out of people’s hectic, twenty-first-century schedules, they tend to be modern and minimalist rather than traditional and ornate. Even the wedding envelope in which a Save the Date arrives will be slight: a single card without the trimmings of an invitation suite. By contrast, the tone and style of a wedding invite is formal and traditional: because it contains everything guests need to know before they attend, it’s a comprehensive piece. Feel free to adapt this approach as you see fit, but by and large, Save the Dates are casual and wedding invitations are ‘official-looking.’
Guests: Who Should I Send Save the Dates and Wedding Invitations To, and Should They Respond?
You shouldn’t expect guests to respond to a Save the Date as they may not know exactly where they will be in 8-12 months’ time. Save the Dates allow attendees some flexibility to consider the logistics and juggle commitments without having to deliver a definitive answer right away. With a wedding invitation, however, a response is requested: through the return of an RSVP card or by a submission on your wedding website. Ensure you send an invitation to everyone that gets a Save the Date: promising an invite that you later renege on might not go down too well (as will firing a last-minute wedding invitation, without a prior Save the Date, out of the wild blue yonder).
Examples: What Would the Text in a Save the Date and Wedding Invitation Look Like?
Bearing the above advice in mind, and taking inspiration from our Independent Creators, we can now construct a brief example of how the message in both a Save the Date and wedding invitation would look. Remember, Save the Dates are a preview: confirmation that the recipient “[is] on the guest list and a formal invitation is forthcoming.” As such, a Save the Date should only include the couple’s first names and a date, punctuated by a few formalities:
Save the Date
for the wedding of
Fred and Jack
September 25, 2026
Cork, Ireland
formal invitation to follow
Meanwhile, a wedding invitation is usually more elaborate and includes both partners’ parents. For a line-by-line breakdown of each element in this text, see our “Top Tips for Wedding Invitation Wording & Invitation Etiquette“:
MR. & MRS. JOHN RAMIREZ
REQUEST THE HONOR OF YOUR COMPANY
at the wedding of their daughter
CORINNE
Claire Ramirez
to
WILLIAM
James Peterson
SON OF MR. AND MRS. KEVIN PETERSON
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2026
FOUR O’CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON
The Sunset Resort
72871 BEDFORD STREET, NEW YORK CITY, NY
Reception to follow
For more information and to RSVP, please visit us online at: www.ourwedding.com. Please respond by August 30.
Now that you can tell a Save the Date from a wedding invitation with some degree of accuracy, you may be ready to design your own! To get you started, do a Save the Date deep dive with our articles on “Essential Wording Tips & Etiquette for Your Save the Date Cards” and “Post-Proposal Planning: Ideas and Tips for Your Wedding Save the Dates.” We don’t expect an invite, but do let us know in the comments below if you have a wedding planned for next year – we’d love to hear about it!
Eoin is a Content Specialist at Zazzle in Cork. He’s recently bought a house with his fiancée, and thus most of his time these days is spent trying to keep the walls from caving in and the wolves from the door. Still, he’s always open to book, game, and movie recommendations, so if you have some, let him know: he’ll add them to a very, very long list.
