When to send invites for destination wedding?

lhypse

Hello!
I'm getting married in west maui May 3rd, 2013. Everyone that is invited(25 people) know the date and location. My question is when should i send invitiations since it is going to be quite the trip for everyone.
Also, i was thinking about making a wedding website with activites that people can attend(a luau, etc.if they wanted), the date/time of wedding and reception, options for where to stay, etc. Is it ok if that is the invite. Just give people that were inviting the web address and they can rsvp on there?
How soon did you all send out the invitiations? and has anyone done a website?

motoLyn

I sent mine out about 2 months before my caterer needed the head count.  Since half my guests live over seas.  I wouldn't have your guests RSVP via your wedding website.  I have seen other brides do it, I honestly wouldn't especially if you have any guests that are not tech savvy. 

I included my wedding website on the invite along with RSVP and self addressed and stamped envelope. 

kimmykupcakes

I sent out my save the dates a year before and the invitations 9 months before. I wasn't planning on sending them out that early, but ppl started booking their trips without having the information that they needed. I pushed to get the invitations out ASAP so everyone would have the information that they needed. We have a wedding website with all of the information on it and all RSVPing has been done through the site. There hasn't been any problem doing this. We have ppl who don't use computers and those who are on them all day and everyone has RSVPed on the computer. Those who needed a little extra help just had another family member help them. I don't trust the USPS anymore since they lose so much now.

FSForever

We sent out our Save the Dates at the year mark, change the dates (yes we changed the date) at the 7 month mark and we are sending our invites at the 3 month mark. We pretty much know who is coming but we have a few stragglers that haven't given us a firm answer. 

We also have a wedding website and included this on the invite but we also included an RSVP card. 

dianalynm

We sent our save-the-dates 8 months out. Planning on sending my invitations in September, but I'm already starting to work with my invitation designer, so I may send them out earlier. I am running into the same problem as Kimmy since people are already inquiring about flights and accommodations!

Luckily, I setup our wedding website and all of the info is on there, so I'm hoping that will help to guide people.

So, since I got started a bit earlier than scheduled with my invites, I'm going to try to send them out as soon as I can (hopefully July or August).

Oh, and wedding is Dec 12.

noreenchiu

We did everything online.  We sent out our Save the Dates 9 months before, and then sent out another email "invitation" about 7 months before.  Our email invitation included our wedding website and each guest's RSVP code.  Some of our guests were great about responding through our website, others just emailed/told us and we did it for them.

destiny1108

We did save the date first, then invitations 3 1/2 months out with RSVP 6 weeks out.....good thing as we still had to chase after some people

WinstonsGirl

STD's about a year out, along with the link to our website.  Invites about 2 1/2 months out, as many were going to South America and Europe (they took almost a month to get to Chile).  We were starting to get some questions, but we just directed everyone to the website.  We also put that on the invites as a reminder

Tanq&Tonic

We pretty much stuck to the timeline for local weddings since our guests were pretty avid / flexible travelers.  STDs at 6 months, Invites at 2 months, RSVP at 1 month.

We printed the URL for our website on an additional insert that we mailed with our invitation.  Our guests only used it a little bit -- I definitely still saw people carrying their paper invites when arriving at our venue.  However, those that used it referred to it a lot!  I happen to be a wedding guest that always relies on your website (like seriously, I won't know what time your wedding starts) but I did learn not everyone likes / uses websites.

Tanq&Tonic

I also meant to add...

There's nothing wrong with electronic invites & RSVPs only, and in fact, a growing trend for eco-conscious brides.  However, the old fashioned side of me thinks a wedding invitation is definitely one of those things that just deserves the formality of tradition.  After all, how often do you get to send invitations for a party like this?

janeash

We sent ours out at about 4.5 months (but everyone already knew the date/place).  RSVP's 1.5 months prior.

ckgonzalez11

Your wedding websites all sound really interesting, even though my fiance and I live on Oahu, about 80% of the guests will be flying in. If anyone wants to share their website or what they included, I would be very grateful.