When should save the dates be sent?

Usually 8 to 12 months before the wedding, and closer to 12 months for destination weddings, long weekends or guests travelling from overseas. The formal invitation follows about 8 to 10 weeks before the day.

What should a save the date say?

Your names, the date, the town or city, and a line saying a formal invitation will follow. Add a wedding website or QR code if you have one for travel and accommodation details.

How much do save the date cards cost?

They are printed and priced like invitations, which run from about $0.50 to $10 each inc GST, with quantity the biggest factor. There is no minimum order.

Can you print save the dates with an engagement photo?

Yes. Photo save the dates are printed in full colour on card, with your details on the front or the back.

Can the save the dates match our invitations?

Yes. Printing both here means the same typeface, colours and stock, so they arrive months apart but still read as one set.

Save the Date Cards

The first piece of your wedding anyone holds. It sets the tone for everything that follows, so it is worth printing on the same stock and in the same style as the invitation that comes after it.

Event Signs prints save the date cards in-house in Melbourne for weddings and engagements, in full colour or white ink on dark and coloured card, with guest names printed by variable data and no minimum order. Standard turnaround is 2 to 3 business days to dispatch from artwork approval, shipped Australia-wide.

Wedding invitation suite in sage green with a wax seal, monogram detail card and jewellery

When to send them

Save the dates usually go out 8 to 12 months before the wedding, and closer to 12 when guests are travelling interstate or from overseas, or the wedding is on a long weekend. The invitation follows about 8 to 10 weeks before the day. Working back from that, talk to us a couple of weeks before you want them in the post — production is 2 to 3 business days to dispatch, plus a few days of proofing.

What to put on a save the date

Your names and the date.
The town or city — the venue can wait for the invitation, but guests need to know whether to book flights.
“Formal invitation to follow”, so nobody RSVPs to the save the date.
A website or QR code, if you have one, for accommodation and travel.

Styles we print

Photo save the dates — an engagement photo printed full colour, with the details on the front or the back.
White ink on dark card — black, navy, deep green or kraft, with crisp white type. Most printers cannot do this; we print it as white ink, not foil.
Matched to the invitation — the same typeface, colours and stock, so the save the date and the invitation read as a set.

Names printed, not handwritten

We print with variable data, so each card can carry the guest's name — one print job, not a hundred. Late additions are a text edit rather than a reprint.

What they cost

Save the dates are printed on the same press as our invitations and priced the same way: invitations run from about $0.50 to $10 each inc GST, with quantity the biggest lever. There is no minimum order. Size, stock and white ink move the number; send your quantity and style for an exact quote.