What is the etiquette for "Save the Date" cards?

[Beebo]

i have received a wedding invite for November, it is just a save the date card, do I have to respond to this or wait for the actual invite before responding.
We are free so intend to go, would it be different if we were already booked?

 

[Dave 123]

Just give it to your man servant, he'll know what to do.

 

[potsy]

New one on me, I guess someone is making money out of it

 

[PK99]

i have received a wedding invite for November, it is just a save the date card, do I have to respond to this or wait for the actual invite before responding.
We are free so intend to go, would it be different if we were already booked?

Don't know what the formal etiquette is but my approach is;

If I didn't know about the impending wedding: response = Ohh, congrats and a can or cannot make that date.

If I did know, then silence = date is free for me, but if I had another commitment I would say so immediately.

 

[PK99]

Never heard of that. Is it another American import?

Seems a very sensible approach to me, wedding venues are booked a year or more in advance very often, makes sense to let folks know the date as soon as it is fixed.

 

[TVC]

This is a new one on me too.

Sounds like card manufacturers inventing a new product.

 

[Markymark]

Never heard of that. Is it another American import?

It's common, we often print them. Traditionally invites are only a month or two before an event but as people tend to need longer to organise child care, travel, work, even flights, then a save the date card comes in. Once the venue and times are arranged closer to the time the invites are sent.

In answer to the op, no response needed. An rsvp will most likely come with the invite.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Coming soon, notes to give advance warning of potential dates for receiving save the date cards

 

[Noru]

It's just a heads up so you can keep the date free if you want to attend, no response required. A proper invite which requires a response will follow at a later date.

They're quite useful and becoming more common. We picked our wedding date a year in the future allowing us time to save up to pay for it, so we sent a save the date.

We didn't finalise the venue, times, transport and menu till around a month before. It would've been short notice for far flung guests who need to book transport/hotels if we waited till everything was finalised before sending invites.

 

[Profpointy]

Seems quite sensible to me. Dates in diary as soon as possible, then details later

It would be polite and indeed helpful to respond so they can organise numbers, and maybe invite reserves if some can't make it.

There may be a posh invite later which will no doubt have times and details, maps, suggested hotels and so on.

This should also be replied to in a formal way.

In fact this is much the same as organising, say, a group cycle ride. Date first, details later.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Gives you more time for a subsequent engagement.

 

[MacB]

Coming soon, notes to give advance warning of potential dates for receiving save the date cards

and to follow Google to sort it all out for you

Saw an ad the other day for turning holiday snaps into instant postcards, for a fee, and couldn't understand why people couldn't just e-mail the pic instead...but I'm old

 

[MossCommuter]

Is it a "we got engaged! Buy us stuff" card?

 

[Crackle]

I thought it was a campaign. No wonder they're so farking expensive I thought. There's a shortage.

 

[snorri]

I received one of these reserve the date things in the form of a fridge magnet for a wedding in 2005, not sure if they are still together or not, but it was a good party and the magnet still sucks firmly on my filing cabinet