Some might argue that etiquette standards have slipped in recent years because people lead busier lives and manners are no longer universally observed as they once were. However, despite a break with tradition, it is still important to be aware of the modern etiquette rules concerning save the date announcements for your wedding. By following the appropriate etiquette, you can avoid alienating potential guests and impress them instead.

Who Should Receive Save the Date Announcements?

Modern etiquette guidelines insist that every person who you want to invite must receive a save the date announcement. It is important to make an exhaustive list (both for you and your fiancé) of potential guests before proceeding to order your save the date announcements. Consult your parents for family or business acquaintances they might feel important to include on the preliminary list.

Often, your first guest list will include a larger number than you or your budget would like, and you will need to start eliminating names. Once you’ve trimmed the list to everyone’s satisfaction, then you can begin the search for save the date announcements. Still order a small surplus, just in case someone is overlooked or added back in at the last minute. You’ll also probably want to keep one for yourself as a keepsake.

What Information Should be Included?

Since save the date announcements aren’t invitations, you don’t need to go into great detail concerning your wedding plans. Basically, they are a courtesy for busy guests who might not be available to attend your wedding once receiving an invitation a month or two prior to the event.

You don’t even need to feel pressured to settle on an exact ceremony and reception location, as long as you know what city or town it will take place in (i.e. your hometown). Your save the date announcement should highlight your names, wedding date and general location, followed by the phrase “invitation to follow.” This has become proper wedding etiquette and has proved to be a popular way of securing attendance.

Sending Save the Date Announcements

Your save the date announcements should proceed your wedding by five to six months. This gives enough notice to allow guests to hopefully mark your event on their calendars, yet not so far in advance that they forget or so close to the invitation that the advanced notice becomes moot. The exception to this rule is destination weddings, particularly those taking place outside the US.

Since wedding invitations for destination weddings are typically mailed up to one year in advance, your save the date announcements should be sent about eighteen months in advance. Because more planning goes into destination weddings, you will most likely already have your wedding venue scheduled, so feel free to include the specifics of location so guests can make travel arrangements. Also, if you are planning to mail an information packet with your wedding invitations containing travel and hotel information (such as a discounted rate for wedding guests), etiquette allows you to mention that invitation and travel information to follow.

Following these etiquette guidelines will help more guests attend your wedding and help make it a day you’ll never forget.

whether you are planning a casual or formal wedding, be inspired by the vast and sophisticated array of wedding invitations and wedding save the date announcements that are available through today’s designers. browse through wedding invitations and wedding save the date announcements that will ensure your guests are excited for your special day.

Related posts:

1. The Importance of Save the Date Pre-Wedding Invitations Modern society has become busier – with no signs of slowing down. This fact even applies to your closest friends and family members, and therefore, acknowledging their busy schedules by sending save the date cards for your wedding will help ensure that no one important is absent on your big day. Why Sending Save the […]…
2. Writing A Wedding Invitation Blog To Include In Your Wedding … Blogs have skyrocketed in popularity, with CEOs, teenagers, and even grandmothers blogging about their lives and interests. Why not write a wedding invitation blog to connect with your guests, keeping everyone updated on your wedding progress? Even after the wedding bells have tolled, you will have a lovely “diary” of all the moments and decisions […]…
3. Sending Wedding Invitations For a Reception After a … Your destination wedding can be a fantastic and totally unique experience. While you’d like to take all of your friends and family with you, it is just not always possible for everyone to travel and get away for your ceremony and reception. In this instance, it is very common to hold another reception once you […]…
4. Cheap Wedding Invitations Guide For The Modern Bride In today’s fragile economy, people are tightening their belts and holding onto more of their paychecks. A willingness to spend money on luxury items is a phenomenon of the past. Couples wanting to have the wedding of their dreams find the growing costs associated with hiring DJs and caterers, renting reception halls, and paying for […]…
5. 5 Tips to Plan for the Wedding Stationery You will only have a wedding once in your life. It will be worth spending some time to plan for the event such that you will have a perfect big day. Of course you will take care of all the small details related to the event. However, one of the parts brides and grooms may […]…
6. Simple Wedding Invitations For The Busy Modern Bride In today’s world, time is a precious commodity. Today’s modern bride is most likely juggling a career, an education, as well as a social life. The last thing that she needs is time consuming wedding invitations! Designers have taken notice of the fast paced world in which we live in and have created wedding invitations […]…
7. Invitations and Party Ideas For Everything That Comes Before … Congratulations! You’re engaged. Now what? Now you start planning for your wedding and the best party of your life. But even before that, you need to get ready for months of parties, events and announcements for you and your fiancé. Your engagement Plan on letting your family and close know about your engagement with a […]…
8. Etiquette For Wedding Invitation – What to Do When the … It all depends on how birth parents and stepparents get along with each other. If everyone involved is friendly with one another than no special arrangements need to made and the bride and groom can plan the wedding however they want. However, this is rarely the case. If there is some problem with birth parents […]…
9. Modern Wedding Invitations With Corporate Logo Corporate logos are generally not appropriate for wedding invitations, even if most of your guests are business associates. The exception arrives when you own the business versus just working for one. Being the proprietor of the enterprise gives you leave to incorporate your logo. Creating Modern Wedding Invitations with a Corporate Twist If you are […]…
10. Wedding Invitations and Stationery – Do You Know All … It is very true that you will need to spend some time on searching for your wedding invitations. In fact, this will be the first item your guests will see for your big day. It will make real sense to make the cards elegant and beautiful. Yet, you should understand that the invitation cards are […]…