A Wedding Invitation Timeline. When to Order and Send.

Planning a wedding comes with a hundred little deadlines, and invitations are one of the easiest to leave too late. Let’s take a moment to map out a simple, stress-free timeline to keep you on track.

Start with save-the-dates, ideally sent 6 to 8 months before your wedding, especially if you’re marrying during a popular season, over a long weekend, or asking guests to travel. This gives everyone plenty of notice to book flights, request leave, and clear their calendars.

Next comes the invitations themselves. We recommend ordering these around 4 to 6 months before your big day. Designs like ours involve a few thoughtful steps. Choosing your design, personalising your wording and colours, and reviewing a proof – so building in this lead time means you’re never rushing the details that matter most.

Once your invitations arrive, aim to send them out 8 to 10 weeks before the wedding. This gives guests enough time to RSVP without the invitation getting lost in the shuffle of other commitments but isn’t so early that your date slips their mind.

Set your RSVP deadline for around 3 to 4 weeks before the wedding. This gives you breathing room to follow up with any stragglers (there’s always one or two!) and pass on a final headcount to your venue and caterer with time to spare.

A few extra tips

If you’re planning a destination wedding, push every stage forward by a month or two, and always order a handful of extra invitations for keepsakes or last-minute additions to your guest list. This is especially true if you have a large guest list or lots of interstate and overseas guests, who’ll appreciate the extra notice.

Getting your timeline right means less last-minute stress and more time to enjoy the excitement of planning. Ready to start? Browse our designs and let’s get your invitations underway.