When to Send Wedding Invitations, Month by Month

Renee is a character we wrote for this guide: a day-of coordinator in Charleston, South Carolina, whose couples mostly have guests flying in from out of state. The question she hears first is "when do we send the invitations?" Her answer is always another question: when does your caterer need the final count?

Knowing when to send wedding invitations starts with the RSVP deadline, and you find that by working backward from your caterer. Below is a table for every month of 2027, the rule behind it, and the adjustments for holiday weekends and guests who have to fly.

TL;DR: For a local wedding, send save-the-dates about 9 months out, invitations 10 weeks out, and set the RSVP deadline 4 weeks before the day.

• Work backwards: caterer's final count, then RSVP deadline, then invitations.
• Holiday weekends and out-of-town guests need everything earlier.
• Email invitations arrive instantly, so you can spend the weeks you'd have given the mail on chasing replies.

The rule, worked backward

Start from the wedding date and count back:

1. Final headcount to the caterer. It's in your contract, or ask for it now. Every other date hangs off this one.
2. RSVP deadline: about 4 weeks before the wedding. That gives you a full week or more to chase late replies before the caterer's date. If it's later than that, you'll be chasing and seating at the same time.
3. Invitations: about 10 weeks before the wedding. Six weeks to answer is enough for anyone who's going to answer, and not so long that people forget.
4. Save-the-dates: about 9 months before. Earlier if guests travel, more on that below.

Your 2027 invitation timeline by month

If your save-the-date month has already passed, send it this week. A late save-the-date beats none, and you have plenty of time before the invitation. We picked the third Saturday of each month. If your date is a week earlier or later, shift every column by a week.

Pro tip: Put the RSVP deadline in your calendar the day you send the invitations, with a reminder one week before it. That's when you send the "just a nudge" email, while it still feels friendly.

Two sources, two answers

You'll find different timings online, depending on whether the source assumes paper or email.

Emily Post's planning timeline says to "mail your wedding invitations six to eight weeks prior to wedding date", and places save-the-dates in the three to six months before stage, "or earlier". That's the classic etiquette for a paper invitation.

Our own guidance is earlier: save-the-dates nine to twelve months out, and invitations eight to twelve weeks before a wedding where most guests live nearby. The reason is practical: an email invitation doesn't need mailing time, so sending a little earlier just buys you more room to chase the people who forget. The table above sits inside our ranges.

If you're mailing paper invitations, mail them a week before the date in the table, so guests get the same time to reply.

Holiday weekends: start earlier

Some dates compete with plans guests made long before your invitation arrived. In the US, the big ones are:

• Memorial Day weekend (late May)
• Fourth of July
• Labor Day weekend (early September)
• Thanksgiving weekend (late November)
• Christmas to New Year's Eve

For these, move your save-the-dates to 12 months out. Guests book flights and family trips early for long weekends, and you want to be in their calendar first. Keep the invitation at 10 weeks, but check it doesn't land in the middle of another holiday. A Thanksgiving-weekend wedding with a 10-week invitation means sending in mid-September, which is fine. An invitation that arrives on Christmas Eve gets lost under everything else.

Out-of-town and destination guests

If a lot of your guests have to fly, everything moves earlier. Our rule of thumb, tied to travel booking and any hotel cut-off:

For travel weddings, the hotel sets the earlier RSVP date. If you've reserved a block of hotel rooms, read the contract for the date unbooked rooms are released, and set your RSVP deadline before it.

Pro tip: Put the hotel block, the airport and the cut-off date on your wedding website before the save-the-date goes out. Guests who book early will look for it immediately.

What changes when invitations go by email

With email there is no postal lag, so the invitation lands the minute you send it. Two things follow.

First, the date you send is the date guests have it, which makes the timeline above more reliable than it ever was with paper. Second, an email can still be missed, bounce, or go to an address someone stopped checking. So plan the reminder from the start: one nudge a week before the deadline, then the steps in our guide to what to do when the RSVP deadline has passed.

If you're also handling the legal side, the marriage license has its own timing. Our 5-state marriage license guide has the pick-up windows.

Save-the-dates that build your guest list

The awkward part of the timeline is the gap between the save-the-date and the invitation: months in which you need everyone's email address and don't have half of them. A save-the-date from WhiteClover is a link you can send by email or share yourself, and each guest who replies leaves a name, email and phone number. Our article on the smart save-the-date contact collector shows how that works in practice.

When it's time for the invitation, those contacts are already in your guest list. Digital wedding invitations go out by email with the RSVP link, and each email is logged as delivered or bounced, so you know who to chase before your deadline arrives. When a guest replies, their confirmation email includes an add-to-calendar link. Save-the-dates and invitations are both free to send. Pick your row in the table, and you can have the save-the-date ready this week. For the words themselves, see our RSVP wording examples and traditional vs electronic invitations.

FAQ

How far in advance should you send wedding invitations?

For a local wedding, about 8 to 12 weeks before. Emily Post's classic guidance is six to eight weeks for mailed invitations. If many guests are flying, send them about three months out.

When should the RSVP deadline be?

About four weeks before the wedding for a local wedding, so you have time to chase late replies before the date your caterer needs final numbers. For travel weddings, set it before any hotel room-block cut-off in your contract.

When should save-the-dates go out?

Nine to twelve months before for most weddings, and twelve months or more for holiday weekends and destination weddings. Emily Post's timeline puts them at three to six months, "or earlier".

Do email invitations follow the same timeline as paper ones?

Mostly. Email arrives instantly, so you don't need to allow for mail. Use the time you save for a reminder before the deadline.

Recommended

• Wedding RSVP Deadline Passed? What to Do Next
• Smart Save-the-Date Contact Collector
• Save-the-Date Automation for Weddings
• RSVP Wording Examples and Templates for 2026
• Marriage License Requirements by State: 5-State Guide