Updated October 26, 2026: we checked every price, postage rate and link.
Here’s when to send save the dates: six to eight months before the wedding, and closer to eight months (but no more than a year out) for a destination wedding or a holiday weekend. That’s the window in The Knot’s save-the-date guide, and it gives guests time to request the days off and book flights before fares climb.
Below is a timeline you can screenshot, who should get one, what to print on it, the postage math nobody warns you about, and eight save the dates our editors picked, from a 99-cent Zola postcard to a magnet for the fridge. We compared sizes, paper and per-card prices at 80 to 100 cards and checked every price on Oct. 26, 2026.
8 picks in this guide. Jump to: How far in advance | Timeline | Who gets one | What to put on it | Email or paper | Postage | Mistakes | Our picks | FAQ
How far in advance should you send save the dates?
Six to eight months is the standard. “Start spreading the news six to eight months ahead of the ceremony for the ideal save-the-date timeline,” writes Cathryn Haight, an editor at The Knot. Her guide says to lean toward eight months for a faraway wedding or a holiday weekend, and to keep it under a year at the earliest.
Other sources run a little shorter or a little looser. Zola’s guide says four to six months is fine for a local wedding. The Emily Post Institute’s take on modern wedding trends says to mail them as soon as the date is known. Artifact Uprising, which prints them, tells couples six to nine months.
Our rule: if anyone on the list has to get on a plane, six months is the floor. Holiday weekends (Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, New Year’s Eve) fill guests’ calendars early, so treat them like a destination wedding and mail at eight months. If the wedding is fewer than four months away, The Knot says to skip the save the date and go straight to invitations, which Emily Post’s planning timeline puts in the mail six to eight weeks before the wedding.
When to send save the dates: a timeline
Here’s our timeline, built on The Knot’s six-to-eight-month window and Emily Post’s invitation timing.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| 10 to 12 months out | Book the venue, lock the date, finish the guest list |
| 9 months out | Order save the dates (picking the photo and approving proofs takes longer than printing) |
| 8 months out | Mail them for a destination wedding or a holiday weekend |
| 6 to 8 months out | Mail them for most weddings |
| 6 months out | Last call if guests are traveling |
| Under 4 months | Skip them and send invitations |
| 6 to 8 weeks out | Mail invitations |
Printing is the fast part. Zola promised delivery by Oct. 29 for a card ordered Oct. 26, and Artifact Uprising’s standard shipping estimate was about two weeks. The real time sink is you and your partner agreeing on a photo.
Who gets a save the date?
Only people you’re sure you’ll invite. The Emily Post Institute is firm on this: “any guest who receives a save-the-date must receive a wedding invitation.” The Knot says the same thing from the other direction: send one to everyone on your guest list who would get an invitation, and only to guests you definitely want there, since a mailed card can’t be taken back.
That means the guest list has to be final before you order, which is why it’s near the top of our list of what to do after getting engaged. Send one card per household. Couples who live together share one, and so does a family with kids at home.
What goes on a save the date?
Less than you think. The Knot says all you need is “your when and where,” meaning the date and the city, not the venue address or the ceremony time. Those details can still change, and they belong on the invitation. A good save the date has:
- Your names
- The date
- The city and state (or region and country for a destination wedding)
- Your wedding website address, or a QR code that goes to it
- A line that says “Invitation to follow”
A photo is optional; Zola calls an engagement photo an extra, not a must. Leave the registry off. Emily Post’s registry etiquette keeps gift information off the invitation and its enclosures, and the same logic applies here, so let your website handle it. Your save the dates don’t have to match the invitations either, according to Emily Post, so you can order them before you’ve picked a suite.
Addressing the envelopes follows the same rules as invitations, and our guide to how to address wedding invitations covers the “and Guest” and family questions.
Can you send save the dates by email or text?
Yes, for most guests. Emily Post still calls emailed wedding invitations a faux pas, but that guidance is about the invitation, not the heads-up that comes before it. A digital save the date has one real advantage over paper: services like Greenvelope can ask guests for their mailing address when they open it, which fills the holes in your spreadsheet before the invitations go out.
Our take: go digital if your list is big and your address list is a mess, then mail paper invitations. Print a handful of paper save the dates anyway for grandparents and anyone who’ll put it on the fridge.
How much does it cost to mail save the dates?
It depends on the shape more than the weight. These are the USPS prices on its First-Class Mail page on Oct. 26, 2026:
- Standard envelope, up to 1 ounce: 82 cents (one Forever stamp)
- Postcard: 65 cents, if it’s a rectangle between 3.5 x 5 and 4.25 x 6 inches (the USPS postcard size rules)
- Square or odd-shaped envelope: from $1.31
- Each extra ounce: 29 cents, per the USPS July 2026 price announcement
For 100 save the dates, that’s $65 in stamps as postcards, $82 in regular envelopes and $131 in square ones. Magnets are stiff, and USPS charges a nonmachinable surcharge on rigid mail; The Knot’s guide notes that magnets cost more to mail. Before you buy 100 stamps, take one finished save the date, envelope and all, to the post office and have it weighed.
Save the date mistakes to avoid
Sending one to someone who might not make the final cut
Once it’s in the mail, they’re invited. If your parents are still lobbying for the neighbors, settle that first.
Printing details that aren’t final
Date and city only. A venue address or a ceremony time on the save the date is one more thing to correct if plans shift. (The Knot’s paper shop even offers a free reprint if your plans change.)
Mailing a square card with one Forever stamp
Square envelopes pay the higher rate. Underpaid mail can bounce back, and you’d rather find out with one envelope than with 100.
Putting a QR code on the card before the website is live
Guests scan it the day it arrives. Publish at least the date, the city and hotel information first.
Ordering exactly one per household
The Knot recommends ordering at least five extras, for the guest you forgot, the one that gets lost and the one you keep.
Where to order save the dates: our 8 picks
Every shop below also sells matching invitations. If you’re choosing one shop for everything, start with our comparison of where to order wedding invitations. Prices are for the quantity shown, checked Oct. 26, 2026.
For the couple who wants the cheapest card and the cheapest stamp
Zola Malina Photo Save the Date (Postcard)
Big serif type over a full-bleed photo, on a 4.25 x 5.5-inch postcard that mails at the 65-cent postcard rate. Eighty came to $79.20 on Oct. 26, plus $5.99 shipping, and Zola includes a QR code to your website and free guest addressing. Watch the options as you click: the same design as a petite card with ticket corners came to $1.84 each.
For the destination wedding that needs eight months’ notice
The Knot Retro Destination Postcard Inspired Save the Date Cards
Block lettering over a vintage mountain scene on the front, a souvenir-postcard back with a small photo, travel stamps and a QR code. Designer Sammie Smith made it look like it came from the place you’re making everyone fly to. One catch The Knot spells out: the 5 x 7 card mails in an envelope despite the postcard look, so pick the postcard format if you want the cheaper stamp. The Knot also offers a free reprint if your plans change.
For the fridge-door crowd
Minted Belmont Save the Date Magnet
A magnet is the save the date that’s still on the fridge in month seven. Jessica Williams’s Belmont pairs oversized script with a black-and-white photo on a 4.25 x 6-inch, 17.5-point magnet, and Minted includes envelopes and prints your guests’ addresses for free. It’s $247 for 100, the most per piece of our picks, and The Knot notes that magnets cost more to mail, so weigh one before you buy stamps.
For the engagement photos you paid a photographer for
Artifact Uprising Photo Save The Date Card
Artifact Uprising is a photo company first, and it shows in the paper: a thick 110-pound Mohawk sheet, 100% recycled and FSC certified, printed on both sides at 5 x 7 inches. Cards come in sets of 10 with envelopes, starting at $27 a set; the save the date page lists this design at $1.45 a card. It can print your guests’ addresses on the envelopes, too.
For the couple who can’t agree on a photo
Papier Canopy Classic Save The Date
No photo required. Your names sit inside a hand-drawn frame of leaves, with a tree print on the back, on Mohawk card stock. It’s $186 for 100 ($1.86 each). Papier’s 650 GSM premium stock is the thick, expensive-feeling upgrade, but at $1.20 more per card it adds about two-thirds to the order.
For the couple who wants recycled paper, start to finish
Paper Culture Crossed Out Save the Date Cards
Libby Keenan’s design puts a photo on each side, and Paper Culture prints it on 145-pound, 100% post-consumer recycled paper, with kraft envelopes and free address printing. The company says it plants a tree with every order. List price is $2.29 a card for 100, plus $9.99 shipping, but Paper Culture runs half-off save the date sales (one was ending the day we checked), so wait for the next one rather than paying full price.
For the instant-camera nostalgia
Brittney Jensen’s design frames your photo like an instant print, with handwritten-style lettering. It’s $179 for 100 with envelopes and recipient addressing included. The catch is the shape: the default card is a 5.25-inch square, and Minted notes that square cards need extra postage, which at USPS’s $1.31 square rate adds about $49 per 100 over regular stamps. Minted also sells it as a tall 4 x 8.25-inch card.
For the big guest list and the spreadsheet full of missing addresses
Greenvelope Finally Happening Wedding Save The Date
A digital save the date that opens as an animated envelope by email, text or link. Greenvelope tracks who opened it and can ask each guest for a mailing address, which saves to your address book for the invitations. It’s $99 for up to 100 guests or $19 for 20, and you can try it on 10 guests before paying. The design is by Creo Study. There’s nothing to keep, so mail a few paper ones to the people who’d want one.
$99 for 100 guests at Greenvelope
Save the dates are a small line in the stationery budget next to invitations and postage. Our wedding budget breakdown shows where they fit. Throwing an engagement party first? Those engagement party invitations go out before any of this.
Save the date FAQ
How many months before the wedding do you send save the dates?
Six to eight months, per The Knot. Go closer to eight for a destination wedding or a holiday weekend, and don’t send them more than a year ahead.
Is four months too late to send save the dates?
Yes. The Knot says that under four months out, you should skip save the dates and send invitations.
Do you have to send save the dates?
No. Emily Post’s planning timeline lists them as something to send “if necessary.” They matter most when guests travel, when the date is a holiday weekend or when the wedding is far enough out that people will forget.
Do save the dates have to match the wedding invitations?
No. The Emily Post Institute says it isn’t necessary for save the dates to match the rest of your stationery.
One last thing before you mail the stack: send one to yourself. You’ll see how it looks after a trip through the sorting machines and how many days it takes to arrive.
Keep reading
Where to Order Wedding Invitations (2027): 9 Sites Compared
Wedding Budget Breakdown: What Everything Costs in 2026
Honeymoon Fund Registry: How Cash Funds Work and What They Cost
The 20 Best Wedding Planner Books and Binders (2026)
22 Engagement Party Invitations, From Free to Foil (2026)
