When to Mail Your Wedding Stationery
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Congratulations! You’re engaged at last, planning your wedding, and you’ve got a whole lot of mail to send. Your big day comes with the need for many different types of stationery so it’s important to know the proper etiquette of when to send what in order to give your guests enough time to plan.
Don’t feel overwhelmed, we’re going to get through this together!
Save The Dates
Save the dates are a recent tradition brought on by the modern (and smart) bride. More often than not, wedding guests are coming from all different areas of the country and even the world. These guests will benefit greatly with the extra time to plan their year and make the appropriate accommodations.
If you’re having a local wedding, it’s safe to send your Save-the-Dates six to eight months in advance.
If you’re having a domestic destination wedding (within the states), I suggest sending your save the dates eight to ten months in advance.
If you’re having an international destination wedding (not in your country), it’s best to send your save the dates out ten to twelve months before the big day.
In this day and age, regardless of where your wedding is taking place, a handful of people will be traveling. Because of this, I always suggest more time than less! If you don’t have all of your wedding day details ironed out by the time you need to design your Save-the-Date, don’t stress - you don’t need to know everything! The only thing you truly need is the who, when and where.
Bonus Tip: If you’re in a pinch for time, there is no shame in a digital Save-the-Date!
Bridal Shower Invitations
Typically the Maid-of-Honor of the Mother of the bride handles the Bridal Shower Invitations, but it’s important that they know who you’d like invited! If someone is invited to your Bridal Shower it is likely that they will expect to also be invited to your wedding day, so make sure to share your guest list with those planning these events for you!
Bridal Shower Invitations should be mailed out six to eight weeks before the event.
If there are guests from out of town traveling for the shower, it may be a good idea to give them a heads up even sooner so that they can make travel arrangements!
Bonus Tip: You’ll also want to give your Maid-of-Honor, Man-of-Honor or who ever is planning your Bridal Shower the link to your wedding registry to make sure it finds a place on your Shower Invitations!
Wedding Invitations
Since you’re going to need your final headcount 30 days before your wedding day for vendors like your caterer, it’s important to get your invitations out with as much warning as possible to allow people the time to make plans and RSVP.
Bonus Tip: The standard RSVP by date is 4 weeks before the wedding. That is also typically the date when your other wedding vendors will need your final head-counts. Because of this - I recommend setting your RSVP date to 6 weeks before the wedding to *hopefully* prevent the need for you to hunt down Uncle Bill to see if he and his new wife will be attending the day you need to turn your numbers in!
If you’re having a local wedding, it’s okay to send your invitations out six to eight weeks in advance.*
If you’re having a destination wedding I recommend getting your wedding stationery out to your guests eight to ten weeks before your big day.
If you’re celebrating overseas, or in another country, I advise you get your invitations in the mail ten to twelve weeks in advance.
*Please note: if you’d like to make your RSVP date six weeks before your wedding like I previously suggested, you’re going to need to send your invitations eight to ten weeks in advance to allow people to make arrangements. If you have to send your invitations six to eight weeks in advance, that’s totally fine - just make sure to set your RSVP by date to 4 weeks or 30 days before the wedding.
Rehearsal Dinner Invitations
If you’re sending out a physical invitation for your rehearsal dinner, be sure to send these invitations three to six weeks in advance. This also applies to any sort of bridal brunches you may be throwing the weekend of your wedding.
Bonus Tip: Don’t forget to invite your officiant to your rehearsal dinner!
Thank You Cards
Yes, thank you cards are still a thing! It’s important to show your guests your appreciation with a hand written note. It can be daunting but don't feel pressured to write a lot, you can keep your thank yous short and sweet.
For any gifts that you receive during the planning process such as from a bridal shower, a thank you note should be sent within 2-3 weeks of receiving the gift.
For any gifts that you receive on your wedding day, a thank you note should be sent no longer than 12 weeks after your big day.
If you receive a wedding gift after your wedding, be sure to get a thank you note in the mail no later than two to three weeks after you’ve received the gift.
Bonus Tip: Want thank you cards that match your stationery or have your own personalized stationery cards? This is something you can accomplish by working with a Custom Stationery Designer.
When do I book a Stationery Designer?
Now! It’s never too early to book your Stationer. It’s important to reserve your spot early to avoid availability filling up! Even if you don’t have all the details yet, you can still start thinking up the elements that will come together as your dream wedding invitation suite. You want to know the best part? Working with a Stationer means you won’t be stressing out about etiquette, stamping or mailing because they’ll be handling all of that for you! You just get to sit back, relax, and enjoy being a bride!
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