You’ve set the date, chosen a beautiful wedding venue, and booked the ceremony time. Now you need to give your guests a heads up. But do you send out save the dates or wait a little longer and go straight for the official invitations? Below, we break down all you need to know about save the date wedding cards along with advice and top tips to help you make your decision.

‘Save the date’ cards are a pre-invitation notification officially announcing your wedding date. It provides your intended wedding guests with the key information you have at that time, such as location, and denotes that a particular person will be receiving an official invitation in due course.

The following words are usually included at the bottom of a save the date card: Formal invitation to follow.

A reply or acknowledgment is not usually necessary.

Of course, you don’t NEED to order and send save the date cards but it’s good to give the guests you definitely want there on your day advanced warning.

They are important, and therefore recommended, if you’re planning a destination wedding, getting married in a peak travel time, school holidays or a week day as it will allow your loved ones the time to book days off work.

They’re also a great way to get everyone excited about your wedding from the very start!

Those who have received a ‘Save the Date’ will be invited to the wedding day, so make sure you’re happy with your chosen guest list before sending them out to people.

Essentially, it’s all the important people you definitely want there on your day that you want to give the warning to. If you have a B-list then you may not necessarily need or want to send save the dates to them quite yet.

A friend wants to bring her ‘now’ boyfriend as a ‘plus one’, but my wedding is a year away should I include him on the save the date?

‘Save the date’ provides an ideal time to indicate exactly who will be invited to the wedding, so make this clear. It’s best to tackle these scenarios as early on in the wedding planning as possible so people aren’t left with the wrong impression. In this scenario, it is probably best to invite your friend with a ‘plus one’ to be flexible as to who she brings as her date at the time.

What if the date or location of my wedding changes after I’ve send out my save the date cards?

It’s unlikely, but there is a small chance this could happen. The best idea is to create a wedding website and let your guests know the address on the save the dates. If there are any changes you’ll be able to update your guests on here. Alternatively, you could create a wedding Facebook page with details for anyone who has questions.

Is it acceptable to send e-save the date cards as our budget won’t stretch to formal cards?

Of course. If you have all of your guests’ email addresses, there’s no reason why you can’t send electronic save the date cards in advance.

Should our save the date cards match our wedding invitations?

They can – especially if you are having all of your wedding stationery created by the same designer. Or, you could create your save the date cards using the images from your engagement shoot if you’re having one.