MAILING TIMELINES
Don’t wait until the last minute! For wedding invitations, please begin your order a minimum of 6 months prior to the wedding. The earlier the better! Design takes time and you’ll want to leave enough time to proofing and revisions prior to printing. We’d rather begin designing your order several months ahead of time and hold it for printing until closer to your mailing date, than to have to rush the design process and stress over printing times. You don’t need to have every aspect of your wedding finalized to begin invitation design. As long as you have a date and venue secured, and a rough idea of the aesthetic you’re going for, we can get started and fill in all the finer details later.
Learn more about our 3-step order process and timelines here, but keep in mind: printing & production can 3-5 weeks depending on the components of your order. Production time begins after your approve your proof for print.
SAVE THE DATES: mail 6-12 Months prior to the wedding
This is a flexible timeframe. Ideally, we recommend mailing save the dates in the 8–10-month range, but a couple months on either end of that is fine too. Never mail more than 1 year in advance, and less than 6 months is too close to your invitation mailing timeline. Save the dates are fun but optional. If you don’t have time to send them, that’s okay! Save the dates are most important for guests who are traveling and need to make special arrangements to attend. Consider including your wedding website or travel information with your save the dates.
WEDDING INVITATIONS: mail 2.5-3 months prior to the wedding
If you’ve got a short engagement or limited time, mailing 8 weeks prior to the wedding is fine if necessary. Invitations should be mailed early enough that people can make any necessary arrangements to clear their schedules, but not so early that they put it out-of-sight-out-of-mind. Don’t mail your invitations any earlier than 3 months. If you want to get the word out prior to 3 months, consider sending a save the date card.
RSVP DEADLINES: 4-6 weeks prior to the wedding
If you’re assigning seats, you may want your RSVP cards back a little earlier, closer to 5-6 weeks. If you’re not assigning seats and just need a headcount, 4 weeks is typical.
DAY-OF ITEMS: begin proofing 2-3 months prior
Once your invitations are in the mail, this is the time to begin design work for your day-of items like programs, menus, place cards, seating charts, and other signage. Production time for day-of items is typically 2-3 weeks, but we like to begin design concepts and finalize items needed a bit further in advance so we can plan our production schedule accordingly in the weeks leading up to your big day!
NON-WEDDING INVITES (showers and parties): mail 4-5 weeks prior to the event
But be sure to still leave plenty of time for design and printing.
NOTE: For summer and early fall weddings, the save the date mailing timeline lands during the holidays. We recommend avoiding sending wedding invitations or save the dates between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, as they tend to get thrown out with the holiday cards. We recommend mailing save the dates early, so guests are receiving them by early November, or postpone mailing until January.
