Anyone forego SAVE THE DATES & just send early INVITES?

[mishele81]

I am strongly considering eliminating the ' save the dates' and just sending invites with all the info and travel agent info. I have just heard that the majority of people who are going to come to the wedding usually book when info is available to them .  Rather than send save the dates and get everyone booked and then send invites out 3 months before the wedding when most people would have booked already. Does anyone have any input on this or have done it themselves??

[bmaxam12]

I kind of combined the invite/STD together.  We sent out our boarding pass invites 9 mo in advance with a link to our website where we built in all trip info and the RSVP capability into our website, and just posted on the invite and website to rsvp by a certain date (5 mo in advance).  I saw no need to send out another invitation as those go out usually so close to the wedding, and by then people already should (at least I hope!) know by then if they're going.  I think for destination weddings sending out an early invitation is plenty, no need to spend more money than you need to   

[jszy10]

I actually just sent out real generic "hey we're getting married in Mexico on this date" STDs when we first decided on a DW, and then sent out my invites super early (approx. 10 months before the wedding) -- when most people send out their STDs.  I definitely don't think there's anything wrong with doing away with STDs.  That is what's nice about DWs!!

[jszy10]

...and honestly, even with my invites going out 10 months in advance, I still only got like 6 actual RSVPs sent back to me -- but I knew who booked when because of my TA, so it wasn't a big deal.  To me, sending out invites 3 months out didn't make any sense.

[Avelyad]

We skipped the STDs and just sent our invites out 9 months before - I wanted to give plenty of time to book and all the info was going on the invite, so we did it that way and had no complaints!! Save the $ for something else!

[c&j]

I am also planning on combining my STD and invite.  I just posted on the welcome page of the website that I will be providing everything that they need to know there and said we were "going green".  I think it's really your call, but I agree that once people receive something with the date, if they want to come, they will just start booking/calling your TA. 

[mishele81]

Great! Thanks so much ladies!  I think I have made my decsion. We are doing engagement shots soon, so I will wait and incorporate those into our invites with all the info needed to book! 

[torilynnsmith]

We skipped STDs and just sent invites.  I did up our invite template and as soon as we booked with our TA and secured rates etc. we sent them out.  This gives people about 3 months to book (at least with our deal).

 

Good luck, happy planning!!!!

[Ms Di]

If it takes some of the stress off you and yours, go for it and do not ever regret making it easier. You have enough to worry about. But I know whatever you do you will do great. Every one on this site does!