Save the date: what it means, when to send it and 10 wording examples

You’ve set the date, and you want the people who matter most to keep that day free. That’s the job of a save the date: a short heads-up that goes out months before the invitation. Here’s what it is, what to call it in Spanish, when to send it for each kind of event, what to put on it and ten wording examples you can make your own, plus the mistakes worth avoiding.

What a save the date is

A save the date is an early announcement—an image, a card or a short video—that tells guests the day of an event, almost always a wedding, months ahead so they can block it off on their calendar.

It doesn’t replace the invitation. A save the date says who’s getting married, when and in which city. The invitation comes later with the time, the venue, the dress code, the RSVP and the gift registry.

What to call it in Spanish

If many of your guests speak Spanish, the Fundéu Guzmán Ariza, a foundation that gives guidance on Spanish usage, suggests the noun preinvitación (“pre-invitation”) and phrases like reserva la fecha, apunta el día or anótalo en la agenda (recommendation from January 22, 2020, checked in September 2026). In Peru you’ll also hear separa la fecha, which means the same thing. Plenty of Spanish speakers simply use the English term; the same recommendation suggests writing it in italics or quotation marks when you do.

Save the date vs. invitation

	Save the date	Invitation
Purpose	Get guests to hold the day	Share every detail and collect RSVPs
When it arrives	Several months out	A few months out, once plans are final
What it says	Names, date and city	Time, venue, map, dress code and gifts
Asks for an RSVP	No	Yes, with a deadline
Required	No	Yes

If your wedding is small and most guests live nearby, you can skip the save the date and go straight to the digital wedding invitation. It earns its place when guests are traveling in, when the date falls on a long holiday weekend, or when there’s someone you simply can’t imagine the day without.

It’s usually the first word out after the proposal, when there’s a tentative date but no signed venue contract yet. And if you plan events for other people, this notice is one of the stages compared in digital tools for event planners.

When to send a save the date, by event

There’s no single rule, but there are good benchmarks. Paperless Post, a digital invitation company, suggests sending it four to six months out when most guests live nearby, and eight to twelve months out for a destination wedding (checked in September 2026). Our wedding planning timeline puts it six to nine months before the wedding, with the invitation going out three to six months before.

Event	Save the date	Invitation
Wedding, most guests nearby	4 to 6 months out	3 to 6 months out
Destination wedding or guests who travel	8 to 12 months out	3 to 6 months out
Quinceañera	Optional, once the date and venue are booked	2 to 3 months out
Baby shower	Rarely needed; if someone travels, as soon as there’s a date and place	About 4 weeks out
Birthday	Only for a milestone with guests who travel	2 to 3 weeks out

These are common practice, not rules. The wedding timings come from Paperless Post and our timeline; the rest from our guides to planning a quinceañera, a baby shower and an adult birthday party.

Send it earlier if:

• Guests are coming from other regions or abroad and need to book flights and request time off.
• You’re getting married away from where most guests live, say in Cusco or on a beach on Peru’s northern coast.
• The date lands on a long holiday weekend or near the year-end holidays, when people make plans early.

One condition before you hit send: your guest list has to be final. Anyone who gets a save the date assumes they’re invited, so it should only go to people who will actually receive an invitation.

What to put on a save the date

Keep it short, and only include what’s certain:

• Your names, the way guests know you.
• The full date, including the year. When you send it far in advance, the year avoids mix-ups.
• The city or general location. If the venue is booked, you can name it; if not, the city is enough.
• “Formal invitation to follow,” or any line that tells guests more details are coming.
• A link, if you already have a page with travel information.

What to leave off for now: an exact start time that might change, the gift registry and the dress code. Those belong on the invitation, and the dress code is worth naming precisely: the codes, one by one, are in what to wear to a wedding.

Formats: digital, video or printed

Format	Pros	Keep in mind
Digital image	Fast, no postage and it stays on guests’ phones	The text needs to be readable on a small screen
Short video	Personal and easy to share	Keep it brief and light enough to send on WhatsApp
Printed card	Stays in sight on the fridge or a desk	Printing, envelopes and delivery take time

Digital save the dates

This is the go-to format for sending on WhatsApp. A good photo of the two of you with the date on top, or a clean typographic design, does the job. Open it on a phone before you send it: small type and pale text on a light background tend to disappear. If you’re making it without paying, what’s actually free and what depends on the format compares a file with a link.

Video save the dates

Fifteen to thirty seconds is plenty: a few photos, a song, and the date at the end, on screen long enough to read. If you’re filming it yourselves, pay more attention to the sound than to the picture.

Printed save the dates

These make sense for grandparents, aunts and uncles, or sponsors who appreciate something they can hold. You can mix formats: printed for a handful of people and digital for everyone else.

Save the date ideas that feel like you

• A photo from your proposal or engagement shoot, with the date handwritten on it.
• A calendar page for the month, with the day circled in a heart.
• Your pet holding a sign with the date.
• An illustrated map of the city where you’re getting married, great for traveling guests.
• A mock boarding pass, with your initials as the flight number and the wedding date as the departure.
• A fridge magnet, if you go with print.
• A photo somewhere meaningful: where you met or where you had your first date.

10 save the date wording examples

Swap in your own names and details, and pick the tone that sounds like you.

Classic

Please save the date. Andrea and Diego are getting married on Saturday, May 15, 2027, in Arequipa, Peru. Formal invitation to follow.

Warm

We’re getting married! Save May 15, 2027, to celebrate with us in Arequipa. We’ll send all the details soon. Love, Andrea and Diego.

Playful

Seven years, three moves and one dog later, Andrea and Diego are making it official. Put 05.15.2027 on your calendar and turn down everything else.

For traveling guests

Mark your calendar: Saturday, May 15, 2027, Arequipa, Peru. We’re telling you early so you have time to plan your trip. The invitation with the venue, the time and how to get there will follow.

For a quinceañera

Save the date: Valeria’s quinceañera is on Saturday, September 4, 2027, in Trujillo. The invitation with all the details is coming later. Don’t miss it!

For a baby shower

Save the date: we’re celebrating Mateo’s arrival with a baby shower on Sunday, March 14, 2027, in Lima. We’ll send the invitation with the place and time soon. Love, Lucía and Andrés.

For an Instagram story

ANDREA & DIEGO · 05.15.2027 · AREQUIPA · Save the date

Few words, in large type: a story gets a few seconds of attention. And since it disappears after 24 hours, it announces the news rather than telling each guest; send it to them one by one anyway.

Text only, for WhatsApp

We’re getting married! Keep Saturday, May 15, 2027, free, in Arequipa. Invitation coming soon. Andrea and Diego

A WhatsApp message to go with it

Hi, Aunt Carmen! We’re getting married, and we wanted you to be one of the first to know. Here’s the date so you can keep it free; the invitation with all the details is coming later.

If the date changes

Hi, Rosa, we’re telling you first. We’ve moved the wedding: it’s no longer May 15, it’s now Saturday, October 9, 2027, in Arequipa. Thank you for keeping the day free, and sorry for the change; the invitation with all the details is on its way.

Common mistakes

• Sending one to someone you’re not sure you’ll invite. Taking back a save the date is far more awkward than never sending it.
• Leaving off the year, especially when the wedding is more than six months away.
• Including details that could still change, like the start time or the venue.
• Not mentioning that an invitation will follow, so some guests think that’s all they’ll get.
• Asking for an RSVP. Save that for the invitation, once every detail is set.
• Posting it in a WhatsApp group. It loses the personal touch, and everyone sees who else is invited.
• Sending it late, almost alongside the invitation. At that point it no longer does its job.

Common save-the-date questions

What do we do if the date changes afterwards?

You tell people yourselves, in a personal message, as soon as the new date is firm. The whole point of a save the date is that those guests blocked the day off; hearing about the change from someone else, or opening the invitation and finding another date, is what actually stings. A short note does it—“we’ve moved to the 22nd, we’re telling you first”—and you don’t owe everyone the reasons.

Do we still need one if we already announced it in the family group chat?

Yes, because they say different things. A post announces that you’re getting married; a save the date addressed to someone tells them they’re on the list. Group chats also tend to include people you haven’t decided about yet, and a date dropped there reads like an invitation. Send it anyway, one by one, even if it feels like repeating yourselves.

Do we need a photo shoot for it?

No. Clean type on a plain background works, and a phone photo the two of you like works just as well. The only unforgivable thing is a date that can’t be read: open it on a phone, at low brightness, before you send it. If you do want photos taken, they earn their keep on the invitation, when there’s time to do them properly.

What do we tell someone who replies asking for the time or the venue?

That those details come with the invitation. A reply like that means the notice did its job, so answer warmly and don’t hand over anything that could still change: give a tentative time and that’s the time they’ll remember. Don’t collect RSVPs at this stage either—the answer that counts is the one you ask for later, with a deadline attached.

From save the date to invitation with parati

When it’s time for the formal invitation, parati lets you build a page for your wedding with the invitation and the gift registry on one link, and share it on WhatsApp.

• Guests RSVP and give gifts from their phone, without creating an account, paying by card or Yape (a mobile wallet widely used in Peru).
• You see who confirmed and who gave what, so you can finalize your guest count and thank everyone.
• Big gifts can be split into parts so several guests can share them, and El Sueño (The Dream) is a big gift with the goal and the minimum contribution you set.

Still deciding what to ask for? Start with these wedding registry ideas.