• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Destination Wedding Details

Destination Wedding Details

Inspiration for every detail of your wedding away

  • Shop
  • Real Weddings
  • Vendors
  • Ideas
    • Welcome Bags & Favors
    • Bridesmaid Gifts
    • Styled Wedding Inspiration
    • Cake Ideas & Tips
    • Invitations
      • Personal Destination Wedding Websites
      • Save the Date Ideas
      • Destination Wedding Invitations 101
      • When to Send Invitations
      • At Home Reception Invitations
      • Unique Invitation Ideas
      • Destination Wedding Invitation Wording
    • Ceremony/Reception
      • Guest Book Alternative Ideas
      • Program Ideas
      • Unique Wedding Signs
      • Destination Wedding Theme Ideas
      • Creative Ideas
    • Flowers
      • Bouquet Ideas
      • Bouquet Tips
      • Centerpiece Ideas
      • Beach Wedding Arch Ideas
  • Fashion
    • DW Dress Guide
    • Destination Dress Gallery
    • Tips for Buying a Gown Online
    • Men’s Attire
    • Bridesmaid Attire Tips
    • Beach Wedding Attire Tips for Guests
    • Destination Hairstyle Gallery
  • Advice
    • Destination Wedding Checklist
    • Destination Wedding Planning Tips
    • Destination Wedding Do’s and Don’ts
    • Legal vs Symbolic Weddings
    • Managing Family Reactions
    • Photography
    • Money Matters
      • Keys to Cheap Destination Weddings
      • Budgeting Tips
      • The Truth about Free Weddings
    • Travel
      • How to Travel with Your Dress
      • Destination Wedding Packing Checklist
      • DW Packing Tips & Advice
  • Etiquette
You are here: Home / Destination Wedding Etiquette Advice / Destination Wedding Invitation Etiquette

Destination Wedding Invitation Etiquette

by Cynthia

This post is part of the DWD Etiquette Q&A series, where I answer my reader’s questions.

Photo by Kathrine Birch

Question submitted by Nicole (Chicago)

“My fiance and I live outside of Chicago, IL and are planning a destination wedding in Marco Island, FL.  We are only inviting around 30 people and it will be our immediate family and some close friends (they know they will be invited already).

I would like to do boxed invitations with a starfish in each one (for decoration) along with the information we have (hotel, airport). We are getting married in May and I am looking to send out the invitations sometime in the next month or two – which is over a year in advance.

I was wondering if that is too early?  This is all close family and I want them to have enough time to look for flights and plan time off work. I really don’t want to do save-the-dates for it since I plan on spending more money to mail the box invitations and I don’t feel that it is necessary for us to do that. Am I wrong about this?

We are going to have a reception back home in June and I plan on doing save-the-dates for that and mailing them out in the fall. I am just not sure if this is proper etiquette or not. Any advice?

P.S. I love your site! It has so much information and things that I never thought of. I will be glued to this for a while.”

Cynthia @ Destination Wedding Details Says:

Hi Nicole! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the site. This is a great question that so many destination brides ask. When to send out destination wedding invitations/save the dates can be really tricky.

Although it’s critical to send destination wedding invitations out much earlier than you would for a hometown celebration, I do think that sending them out a year in advance is way too early.  You want to give your guests a heads up so they can take time off work, budget and even start booking if they want to…that’s the function of a save the date.  The invitation will serve as a formal reminder and will create a sense of urgency as the date gets closer.

The problem with sending invites out too early is that they will think “I have more than enough time to respond” or “I’ll wait and see if airline prices drop” and they’ll forget all about or misplace the invite/info.

The trick is to give them enough time to plan and keep your destination wedding top of mind, but not too much time to procrastinate.

You can send out save-the-dates now or next month and the invitations can go out 3 months in advance.  That should give your guests plenty of time to plan especially if they already know about it by word of mouth.

There are so many really cheap alternatives to traditional save the date cards especially because you don’t have a huge guest list.  You can order really cheap postcards on Vistaprint, for example, or go the DIY route. You can check out some gorgeous and cheap destination wedding save the date cards that are under $2 each here.

Or even better than cheap is FREE🙂  Why don’t you set up a personal wedding website with all the airline/hotel info and send all your guests an email with the link? That way, everyone will have all the info they need to start planning. If you need ideas, here’s a review of some awesome personal destination wedding websites.

I personally didn’t send out save-the-date cards for my own destination wedding. Like you, I invested time and a lot of money on some really customized, unique invitations and didn’t have the budget for save-the-dates too. So what I did, was set up a personal website where I put all the info my guests needed (date, airline, hotel, etc.)

I sent everyone an email with a link to the website about 9 months before the wedding. Then I followed up with the formal invites in the mail about 3 months before the wedding. I would recommend this to anyone. Only 5 of the 65 people I invited didn’t attend and it was due to circumstances outside of their control (I.e. about 3 of them got pregnant):)

I hope this was helpful! Best of luck.

More Destination Wedding Etiquette Advice

For more destination wedding etiquette questions, click here.

Related

destination wedding welcome bags

About Cynthia

Cynthia is the founder and editor of Destination Wedding Details.She has over 15 years experience in the Marketing and Event industry and launched Destination Wedding Details in 2010, shortly after planning her own destination wedding. Cynthia uses her experience and genuine passion, to inspire brides who are planning their dream wedding away from home.

Category: Destination Wedding Etiquette AdviceTag: Invitation Etiquette
Previous Post:Destination wedding etiquette honeymoonDestination Wedding and Honeymoon Etiquette
Next Post:Destination Wedding Invitation Wording Etiquette and Examples

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sidebar

  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
Aisle Society Blogger

Top Wedding Site

best destination wedding blog award

top destination wedding blog award

Brands We Love




destination wedding vendors
Dessy Twist

Dessy After 6

Costa Rica Weddings

Featured Destination Wedding Vendors

Kelly Jo Photography
Kelly Jo Photography

Im here to capture your day as it unfolds while helping guide you on how to m...

Paradise Weddings
Paradise Weddings

Award-winning wedding planners and travel agency specializing in destination ...

DamolaMakeovers Makeup Artistry
DamolaMakeovers Makeup Artistry

Damolamakeovers Makeup Artistry is an experienced and versatile Destination m...

Linda Dancer - Honeymoons Inc.
Linda Dancer - Honeymoons Inc.

Award winning Romance Travel Planner - helping busy clients plan their honeym...

VIP Vacations Inc
VIP Vacations Inc

VIP Vacations would be honored to help you plan your destination wedding! We...

Villa Punto De Vista Estate
Villa Punto De Vista Estate

If your dream destination wedding conjures up images of pristine sand beaches...

Vacationeeze
Vacationeeze

Vacationeeze is a family owned travel agency with over 30 years of experience...

Popular Content

Destination Wedding welcome bags
17 Welcome Bag Items Your Guests Will Love
destination wedding website
destination wedding checklist

Follow on Pinterest

Get Your Free Destination Wedding Etiquette Guide


Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to get a free Destination Wedding Etiquette Guide, plus monthly checklist reminders, inspiration, tips and exclusive giveaways!

Real Destination Weddings

Destination Wedding in a Secluded Santorini Venue

Impromptu Elopement on Hanalei Beach

DESTINATION WEDDING DETAILS

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Submit
  • Advertise

INSPIRATION & ADVICE

Destination Wedding Planning Tips

Destination Wedding Etiquette

Destination Wedding Inspiration

Real Destination Weddings

Find Vendors

FOLLOW US

  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Privacy Policy

Cookie Notice

Disclaimers

General Terms of Use

Vendor Terms of Use

Copyright © 2025 · Destination Wedding Details LLC · All Rights Reserved