How early can I send out invites?

mtheisen5

I didn't send out save-the-dates, and our wedding is this August (everyones calendar fills up fast in the summer). There are also people coming from out of town. I wanted to send out invites early, but how early should I do it without being too early?

ChelseaBFH

Wedding invitations generally go out anywhere from 8-12 weeks in advance.  There's no real reason to not send them out early, other than people don't expect them that early, and maybe that if you send them out that far in advance you risk them sitting them aside and then forgetting to RSVP or whatever.

Why don't you send out a save the date email to close people, or have your moms spread the word on the date, and then send out the actual invitation at the more "normal" time?  Then people will know to save the date, but get the invitation at the appropriate time

MyNameIsNot

Invitations go out 6-8 weeks in advance.  Any earlier and you risk people losing/forgetting to RSVP.  

If you are concerned with the date, send around a quick email with the date now.  

mwhitson14

8-12 weeks is not right. 6-8 weeks is. 8 weeks is plenty of time.

JenPhil6212

My wedding is May 22. I am doing everything myself. I sent them out January 2 with an RSVP date of February 20. I didn't care if it was to soon. In my opinion you either know or you don't know if you are going.

banana468

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_invites-paper_early-can-send-out-invites?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:cd062f89-8272-496a-b0ab-225e1f87acecDiscussion:64a07d9e-5d89-41a0-80e6-7c578a5e4e49Post:e2e58454-73c9-4e76-97e5-12b1e897518c">Re: How early can I send out invites?</a>:
[QUOTE]My wedding is May 22. I am doing everything myself. I sent them out January 2 with an RSVP date of February 20. I didn't care if it was to soon. In my opinion you either know or you don't know if you are going.
Posted by JenPhil6212[/QUOTE]

This was honestly not a great idea at all.  It's quite rude to your guests to send them so early.

OP, send them no earlier then 8 weeks in advance.

duckie1905

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_invites-paper_early-can-send-out-invites?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:cd062f89-8272-496a-b0ab-225e1f87acecDiscussion:64a07d9e-5d89-41a0-80e6-7c578a5e4e49Post:e2e58454-73c9-4e76-97e5-12b1e897518c">Re: How early can I send out invites?</a>:
[QUOTE]My wedding is May 22. I am doing everything myself. I sent them out January 2 with an RSVP date of February 20. I didn't care if it was to soon. In my opinion you either know or you don't know if you are going.
Posted by JenPhil6212[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>Yeah, that's great that YOU would know that far in advance.  Not everyone has the luxury of knowing in January what they plan to be doing in may.</div><div>
</div><div>What you did was really rude and really just causing more work for yourself in the long run when your guests lose your invites or don't respond on time because they just don't know that far in advance if they can attend.</div><div>
</div><div>It isn't as cut and dry as "you either know or you don't" for most people.

</div>

JenPhil6212

Actually i received all my RSVP's and everyone kept asking me for invites after i sent out the save the dates. It wasn't rude it's called being efficent. You people should stick to answering the person's post not commenting on my comment. she asked an opinion i gave her mine.
And you do know. If a save the date went out in october you either know or you don't.

nda_roxybabe

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_invites-paper_early-can-send-out-invites?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:cd062f89-8272-496a-b0ab-225e1f87acecDiscussion:64a07d9e-5d89-41a0-80e6-7c578a5e4e49Post:e2e58454-73c9-4e76-97e5-12b1e897518c">Re: How early can I send out invites?</a>:
[QUOTE]My wedding is May 22. I am doing everything myself. I sent them out January 2 with an RSVP date of February 20. I didn't care if it was to soon. In my opinion you either know or you don't know if you are going.
Posted by JenPhil6212[/QUOTE]
Whoa, that was way too early and way, way too early to ask for RSVP's that's rude.
Things can come up last minute and people do not necessarily know if they are coming

duckie1905

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_invites-paper_early-can-send-out-invites?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:cd062f89-8272-496a-b0ab-225e1f87acecDiscussion:64a07d9e-5d89-41a0-80e6-7c578a5e4e49Post:c40be71d-e5cd-4b86-b0f8-1833abee3709">Re: How early can I send out invites?</a>:
[QUOTE]Actually i received all my RSVP's and everyone kept asking me for invites after i sent out the save the dates. It wasn't rude it's called being efficent. You people should stick to answering the person's post not commenting on my comment. she asked an opinion i gave her mine. And you do know. If a save the date went out in october you either know or you don't.
Posted by JenPhil6212[/QUOTE]

<div>Um, I'm pretty sure we can comment on anything we want.  What you did was rude.  It isn't efficient.  It is rude.</div>

tigerlily25

3 months, especially if you have out of towners that need to make travel arrangements, etc.

banana468

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_invites-paper_early-can-send-out-invites?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:cd062f89-8272-496a-b0ab-225e1f87acecDiscussion:64a07d9e-5d89-41a0-80e6-7c578a5e4e49Post:c40be71d-e5cd-4b86-b0f8-1833abee3709">Re: How early can I send out invites?</a>:
[QUOTE]Actually i received all my RSVP's and everyone kept asking me for invites after i sent out the save the dates. It wasn't rude it's called being efficent. You people should stick to answering the person's post not commenting on my comment. she asked an opinion i gave her mine. And you do know. If a save the date went out in october you either know or you don't.
Posted by JenPhil6212[/QUOTE]

A STD doesn't tell the bride or groom anything  - and it doesn't always tell the guest something either.

BIL had guest deciding at the last minute if they could make it to his wedding even though he sent STDs simply because some of the guests couldn't make the decision until they were closer to the event.  So your statement is false.

Besides that, you can be efficient and rude at the same time.  This was a case where sending invitations early might be efficient (although I can't actually agree that it was) but it was also rude to all your guests to make them decide to early.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

In this economy, I think a lot of guests might not know if they would 1) have a job where they would need to request time off or 2) have the funds necessary to travel at more than 6-8 weeks in advance.