You're engaged! Congratulations :) You've booked your venue. You've secured your caterer. Your dress is all picked out. Once all of the "big things" are taken care of, you're left with having to plan the "little things"... the millions of little things.
So first thing's first -- you're going to want to invite people to your special day, right? Of course you are! Well then let's talk about when you're going to want to get that process started, shall we?
He (or she) pops the question, she (or he) says yes!, everyone does the happy dance, you buy a hundred magazines and then you PICK A DATE. Maybe it's a year away, or perhaps it's 6 months away -- regardless, you are going to have to mail out invitations to your guests. When you send them out, is going to rely on a few other details. Here are some things to consider:
Destination Wedding: 9-12 months (no less than 6 months)
Leaving on a jet plane?
Destination weddings are becoming more and more common now-a-days. The further away from home you're going to get married, the more notice you're going to need to give your guests. As lovely as it would be for Jane to take a week off from work (not to mention, come up with hundreds of dollars for a plane ticket) with only a months notice -- chances are, it would probably be a little bit of a stretch and not so realistic for the average
"But the date we picked is LESS than a year away!"
If you've decided on a date for a destination wedding and it's less than a year away, be sure to send out save-the-dates as soon as possible. This will buy you a little bit of time to sort out the details that you'll need to include on the actual invitation. The save-the-dates can be simple and informal -- The Bride and Groom. The date. The place. And a note saying that a formal invitation will be on it's way shortly. That's it.
Now your guests have the heads up, and can begin planning ... or building up the courage to tell you that they can't make it.
Local Wedding: 2-4 months (no less than 1 month)
The majority of your guests live close-by. Thank the stars! This means that your close network of friends and family already know you're getting married, and have likely heard through the grapevine when and where it's going to be. And well, for the guests who aren't as keen to gossip, you can send them an invitation 2-4 months prior to the wedding, to get them up to speed.
The reality is that weddings that are close to home, still require up to a year's worth of pre-planning for YOU, but not as much planning for your guests. Your goal is to give them a head's up, before they make plans to go on an impromptu fishing trip with the boys, or squeeze in an appointment to see their podiatrist for their nagging bunion. Or maybe they've already been invited to an event on the same day -- 3 months gives them enough time to figure out how they're going to magically morph themselves into 2 different bodies, to be able to attend both celebrations.
Forgetful Jones
If you send your invitations out TOO early, your guests may receive it and think "meh, it's still 7 months away". They'll throw it into a pile of mail -- only to lose it among numerous utility bills and take-out menus. Before they know it, your wedding is 2 weeks away and you're calling them because you haven't received their RSVP. Sure enough, they realize that they've agreed to host a play-date for their daughter and six of the neighbourhood kidlets, at the very hour that you'll be walking down the aisle. Give guests time, but not too much time that they'll forget about your big day.
The early bird doesn't always get the worm
Another downfall to sending invitations out too early, is that the details of your event can unexpectedly change. What does that mean??
Here are a couple examples: Venues may accidentally double book and need to shuffle events around, Churches may need to adjust their ceremony times, Restaurants may suddenly close down (yes, this happened to TWO of my clients), Hotels might have to cancel your guests' accommodations because they may unexpectedly have to house victims of spring flooding (yes, this also happened to my clients).
Although you will never have full control of what plans the Universe has for you, you want to make sure that you have the majority of your details solidified before you send out the invites. Avoid having to send out TWO sets of invitations -- don't send them out too early!
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There isn't a pure science to when you should send your invitations out to your guests. It really comes down to when you're comfortable.
However, I always tell my clients that it's never too early to get the design process going -- so meet with your designer as early as possible to shoot around some ideas. As you get closer to the date of the wedding, you can start zeroing in on the details and work on getting the design just right for the look and feel of your special day. Don't forget to allow for production time as well -- handcrafted invitations will take longer to produce than digitally designed invitations. Make sure you chat with your invitation designer and lay out a realistic time line at your initial consultation!
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