Once the venue is booked and the date is secured, save the dates next on the to-do list! Making sure your guests have what they need to block it off on their calendar is pretty darn important. And of course, giving them a little preview of what kind of day you’re planning is a bit part of a destination wedding save the date.
Almost any wedding in 2026 is a destination wedding – so few of us still live in our hometowns that, even if the couple does, many of their friends and family probably don’t. That’s a big driver of the destination wedding trend – if everyone has to travel anyway, why not go somewhere cool?
When everyone is traveling, when to send save the dates does become a big conversation. There is such a thing as too early and too late. The sweet spot is really between 8 and 12 months. Before a year out, people will have a hard time knowing what their life looks like and they also can’t really book anything, so it’s better to send it when they can (and they don’t have to scroll TOO far in their Google calendar 😉).
If you find yourself on a shorter timeline, though, there is an argument for sending the destination wedding invitations earlier instead of sending the save the dates at all. We would consider that at about the 5 month mark.
So, now that when to send save the dates is out of the way, WHAT should you send?
There are a few key things to keep in mind when it comes to destination weddings save the dates.
- If you want to be a little “wild” or “out of the box” – this is a good place to do it. Many people want to explore all the fun stationery options available nowadays, but for the main wedding invitation they hesitate to be quite as adventurous. So the save the date is the perfect place to be a little more casual or do something unusual.
- If you want to use photos, use them in the destination wedding save the date. That and your website are the perfect place to show off your beautiful engagement photos. Typically speaking, photos wouldn’t be included in a wedding invitation, so if having them printed somewhere matters to you, put them here.
- Consider adding more information. Often, we keep the save the date really simple with just the names, date and place. However, you can look at it another way and say the save the date should have more of the information about hotels, general timeline, etc. so that people can book sooner rather than later. We would recommend putting really specific information like times due to how far out you are when these are mailed, though.
- Send only to the guests you’re sure are invited. If you plan to have any sort of B list, you cannot send those guests a save the date. So if fitting everyone into the venue and/or budget is an issue, send the save the date only to the guests you know you’ll invite no matter what.
- Let loose with the wording. Even if you keep the design more traditional, you can absolutely have fun with the wording. Here are some fun ideas!
- Meet me in….. (destination city)
- Bride & groom are tying the knot!
- Come for the vows, stay for the party
- Save our date (instead of “the”)
- Save the weekend
- Let’s celebrate! Bride & groom are getting married
- It’s official! Bride & groom are getting married
- …and so many more!
If you want to create a cohesive wedding suite where your destination wedding save the dates and destination wedding invitations have a similar vibe, hiring a professional stationer is a good place to begin. At Dodeline, we’ve been creating custom stationery for over 15 years and we’d love to help you with yours! Reach out to us anytime or check out our Instagram for the latest inspiration.
Leave a Reply