Are save the dates necessary?

We didn't do save the dates, we have about 60 guests so we just told everyone when it is and to expect an invitation in the mail about 3-4 months before. We're also not doing RSVP cards, using a website for that.

It is so much postage when you add all those things up and we're trying to stay within our budget, so we didn't really see a point. I honestly don't think it is necessary, I have been to 4 weddings and not once have I received a save the date.

They aren't necessary but are nice if you have people coming from out of town as it lets them start planning things out. We sent ours via e-mail as we didn't want to waste paper and postage.

Absolutely not necessary. They can be helpful, and they can be very cute, but they are not a requirement. You can always spread the info by word of mouth to anyone who will be traveling to attend.

Depends on your family and how organized they are. Both sides can be a hot mess sometimes and will never remember on their own. Even reading the instructions on the save the date cards turned out to be a major chore .

Either way, get ready to be constantly doing follow up , follow up , follow up

There's lots of people who don't do Save the Dates, so no it is definitely not necessary.

If you do not send out Save the Dates, then send out your invites a little bit earlier. So, if most people send their invites between 3 - 4 months.. send yours 4 - 5 months ahead.

It's definitely not necessary. We are doing but only because it will be easier for all our guests. The wedding is about an hour or so out of where majority of our guests live so we want to give them all plenty of time to work it into their schedule. We have a small guest list and would like if at least 95% of the invited actually show up so we want to give them all notice and more time than what just the invitation will give them. But it is definitely not necessary to do at all, lots of people choose to skip this or just send out a save the date email or save the date by just telling people.

I'm really only doing it as I get all my invitations free through work. However not postage. I am planning on hand delivering most of the save the dates with my fiance and those who are out of town/country we will likely just mail them the official invite.

I am setting up a website though for the RSVP again to save on costs! And if there are any who aren't able to do the online RSVP I'm sure we'll just hear word of mouth if they are coming or not!

I didn't send out Save the Dates, but rather just went ahead and sent out my invites early. I didn't feel it was worth it. There is 120 (nope wait 150 people) invited and most of them know the date already.

I think the older generation appreciates save the dates, but as a younger person, so long as I receive the invitation with enough notice, I'm happy.

It’s always good to send save the dates. Even if it’s not on holiday. You will never know what people have planned and what’s on their agenda.

We have a lot of out of town family and we are hosting the wedding in a small town between when my family is and where his family is for the most part so I felt it important to give everyone lots of notice to make plans for time of work, accommodations, look into flights etc so we sent Save the Dates in October (wedding is in August) This also gave us more time to, and have a more stress free wedding process. Everyone knew early on they would get an invite so it also avoided the 100 questions about when, when, when. Plus we did magnets so people wouldn’t loose them!

All in all, it may seem like an easy item to cut from a budget perspective but it honestly has made a huge difference in our planning and have everyone lots of notice without scrambling to send out invites too early and having people forget to RSVP.

We skipped the save the dates and just sent our invites out early. I feel ya on the big wedding we also have 300+ guests we’ve invited around 375 actually. We gave our families their invites at Christmas (8 months before the wedding) since we are close knit as well and each family hosts a Christmas party so we see a lot of the extended family and then we sent the rest out 6 months before the wedding.

I think save the dates are a more modern addition to the wedding science honestly (because the wedding business doesn't get enough of our money as it it lol). I think if you send the normal invitations early enough you don't have too. It's almost more of an engagement announcement. My fiance is Italian, and neither his brother nor his sister had them at their weddings. You can probably skip it I know I am!

I find that more people stay away from save-the-dates and actually sending out save-the-dates. I send out save-the-dates just because my wedding is December 15th so close to Christmas but I sent them out a year before wedding so people have time to saving make the trip oat Edmonton

We aren't doing save the dates just to save a bit of money. People who live farther away/need passports we've talked to already about the date. He's American and we're marrying in Canada so his side will need to make arrangements. I'd like to send out our invitations a little earlier than normal just to give people that extra time

We didn't do save the date. Both My parents and FH just let all family knows. Then we just sent out the wedding site here. They didn't mind plus as long as u let them know that your getting married it should give them time to book off work etc.

We didn't do save the dates - everyone pretty much knows all about the wedding, including the date, already. But we will be sending out our invites a bit early. We plan to send them out next week, which is about five months pre-wedding.

I sent save the dates out only because I had a lot of out of town guests, and I wanted to give them time to save up to travel; otherwise we wouldn’t have bothered.

It’s not necessary to send them at all, just a preference.

I am doing save the dates via mail, it is the norm (not that you need to follow that), but I am also using it to send a photo from our engagement shoot to the guests. On one side of the card will be all the save the date info and on the back will be the photo of us with our wedding date, that way people can keep it if they want.

I was trying to make it something that wouldn't just get thrown aside or into the trash when all is said and done. More of a keepsake element.

I don’t think they’re necessary and we aren’t doing them. Almost everyone will know by word of mouth anyway, but we are going to send out our invites a month earlier than “normal” just to give people a bit more time to prepare.

I sent save the date emails to our international guests so they could start their travel planning but I'm not doing any for our local guests. Most have been told the date through word of mouth anyway.

By emailing, it was easy to include links to our venues and nearby accommodation options and tips on the closest international airports.