Save the date wording: 15 examples

What to put on a save the date

A save the date is a heads-up, not the invitation. It carries only what won’t change, and a few things belong on the invitation instead.

• Your namesThe card comes from the two of you, so your names lead it, with no host line. First names are enough if every guest knows you both; add last names if anyone might wonder whose wedding it is.
• The date, with the yearThe weekday, the date and the year: “Saturday, September 18, 2027.” It’s the one thing guests must remember, so check it against a calendar for the right year.
• The city or the venueGuests need to know whether to book a flight or just keep the day free. The city and state or province is enough, or the venue if it’s booked. The street address can wait for the invitation.
• “Invitation to follow”One line that says a full invitation is on its way. Without it, some guests take the card for the invitation and start asking about the time and the RSVP.
• Your wedding website, if you have oneIts address on a line of its own. Guests find travel and hotel details there. Emily Post advises having the website ready before the save the dates go out, if you can.
• Only for guests you will inviteEveryone who gets a save the date must get an invitation. Send them once your guest list is final.
• What to leave offThe RSVP, the time, the ceremony and reception details, the dress code and the registry. A save the date asks for no reply, and those details can still change.

Save the date wording examples

Change the names, dates and places to your own. Every example has what a save the date needs: your names, the date, the place and a line saying the invitation will follow.

Save the date cards

Designs from classic to playful, some with room for a photo of the two of you. Pick one and add your names, the date and the place.

Common mistakes

• A save the date for someone you won’t inviteA save the date promises an invitation. If you’re unsure about someone, hold off on their card until the guest list is final. Taking a guest off the list later is much harder.
• No “invitation to follow”Without that line, guests may take the card for the invitation and wonder where the time and the RSVP are. One line fixes it.
• Asking guests to RSVPA save the date asks for no reply. Guests answer the invitation, so an RSVP line here only gets you answers you’ll collect twice.
• Details that can still changeThe ceremony time, the reception venue and the dress code can change in six months. Print only what is settled: your names, the date and the city or venue.
• The wrong weekday or yearA weekday that doesn’t match the date leaves guests guessing which one is right. Check the date against a calendar for the right year, and read the proof before you pay.
• Mailing too late, or too earlyMailed six weeks before the wedding, a save the date comes at the same time as the invitation. Mailed long before your guest list is settled, it can be forgotten, or reach people you then can’t invite.
• Leaving guests to guess who’s invitedAddress the envelope to exactly who is invited, as you will the invitation: “Mr. and Mrs. Sam Lee” for the two of them, “The Lee Family” if the children are invited too.

When to send save the dates

Emily Post’s wedding checklist puts the save the dates three to six months before the wedding, “or earlier.” Its guide to modern weddings is simpler still: mail them as soon as the wedding date is known.

Earlier is better when guests have to travel or take time off: a destination wedding, a wedding on a holiday weekend such as Memorial Day, the Fourth of July or Labor Day (Victoria Day or Canada Day in Canada), or a guest list spread across the country. Emily Post’s advice on party invitations in general points the same way: “Err on the early side if your event is important or the guest list is large.”

Very early has its own risk: a card sent too early, the same page warns, “might be misplaced or forgotten.” The invitation follows six to eight weeks before the day.

Leave time to order, address and stamp them. The order page shows when your cards are expected before you pay.

• Emily Post Institute: Wedding Planning Timeline & Checklist
• Emily Post Institute: 21st Century Wedding Trends
• Emily Post Institute: Invitation Timing

Formal, casual or funny

Let the save the date sound like the wedding you’re planning. “Please save the date for the wedding of” with your full names promises a formal day; “Cancel your plans” promises a party. Guests read the tone before they read the date.

“Formal invitation to follow” tells guests that a proper invitation with every detail is on its way, and hints that the wedding is a formal one. “Invitation to follow” says the same thing more simply.

The save the date doesn’t have to match the invitation, Emily Post says, so it can be more playful than the invitation that follows. Many couples still like the two cards to belong together.

• Emily Post Institute: 21st Century Wedding Trends

Destination weddings and holiday weekends

Name the place the way guests will book it: “Tulum, Mexico,” “Banff, Alberta” or “Lake Tahoe, California.” If the celebration runs over several days, say so: “Plan for a long weekend” or “Save the weekend.”

Put what guests need for booking on your wedding website rather than on the card: hotels, room blocks, flights and things to do. Emily Post advises having the website ready before the save the dates go out, if you can.

For a wedding abroad, some guests may need to renew a passport, so give them as much notice as you can.

• Emily Post Institute: Wedding Website Tips

What the invitation adds later

The invitation brings everything the save the date leaves out: the time, the ceremony venue and its address, the reception, the dress code, and how and by when to RSVP.

Send it six to eight weeks before the wedding, to everyone who got a save the date. Our wedding invitation guide has 12 examples, from formal to casual.

Making your save the dates with us

Choose a save the date design and type your names, the date, the city or venue and, if you have one, your wedding website. Every design prints a line that the invitation follows, such as “Invitation to follow,” and the card prints the date from the one you pick, so the weekday always matches.

For a line of your own, such as “Cancel your plans” or “We can’t say ‘I do’ without you,” ask our design assistant to fit it onto the card. Some designs have room for one photo of the two of you.

Already chose your wedding invitation? Its set includes a save the date in the same design, printed on one side at 5 × 7 in. Either way, you see a proof before you pay.

The examples on this page are free to copy, wherever you make your cards.

Questions and answers