Invitations.....

I think this is something most brides ponder over, I have 6 months & 20 days and feel like I should of sent them by now. Other brides on here are going for after the christmas rush, saves losing them with the mayhem. On the advice of others I'd say 5 months but depending on where your guests are coming from, whether they need to book into the hotel, peek holiday periods etc. I think you should just go off when you feel is the best time.

I'm giving out Save the Date cards at christmas too and i'm going to post the invitations themselves at the beginning of April as we've got alot of guests who are going to be travelling a long distance and are going to need to book rooms at the hotel/book time off work etc

I would send Save the Dates nowish but not invitations yet. Partly because it's traditional to send them only a month or two before the wedding but also because at this stage, most people won't have a clue what they'll be doing in 10 months, whether they'll be able to get leave etc, so your RSVPs will be more likely to be a)late and b)inaccurate (in that people will pull out nearer the time).

For the invities, I worked mine out by working back from when I need firm numbers for the caterers (say 1 month ahead of wedding) plus 2-3 weeks to chase stragglers for their RSVPs (though actually I might well give myself a month here as I need to sort the table plan at this point) and contact additional people you can now fit in for the whole day (if that will work).

So for me with wedding 30 June, I'm going to put RSPV by 1st week in May and send invites in late February/early March as people will be needing time to sort accommodation. Wouldn't want to send in early January or in Decemeber if I could avoid it - so would send now or after Christmas whichever seemed most convenient.

Save the Dates wise, we sent notes to family and close friends in Christmas cards last Christmas and Save the Dates went out between April and August, initially prompted by queries from family and then as I managed to accumulate missing addresses. If the timing suits, I'd be quite happy to put save the date cards in with Christmas cards and save money... We couldn't as last Christmas was too soon and this Christmas would have been tight given the distance people are travelling...

Hi

It's traditional to send invitations out 6 weeks before the wedding however many people prefer to send them earlier these days. I normally advise sending them 2 or 3 months before (earlier if there is a special reason like a marrying on a special date or lots of people travelling).

My only advise would be to find out when venues need final numbers and work back from there.

Anna