Couples ask us this question more than any other on the wedding side of our shop: when should we send our save the dates, and why a magnet instead of a card? Both questions have a clear answer, and getting them right is the difference between guests who book flights and request time off months in advance — and guests who text you in a panic the week before asking when the wedding actually is.
Here's the timing playbook we walk every couple through, plus a few photo tips and the honest case for why a save the date magnet outperforms paper every single time.
How Far in Advance Should You Send Save the Dates?
The short answer: 4–6 months before the wedding for a local wedding, and 8–12 months ahead for a destination wedding or a wedding around a major holiday. Save the dates are not the formal invitation — they're the early heads-up that lets guests plan travel, request PTO, and clear their calendar before another invite gets there first.
Here's our recommended timeline, broken down by wedding type:
- Local wedding, in-state guests: Mail save the dates 4–6 months out.
- Most guests traveling: 6–8 months out, so they can book flights and hotels at reasonable prices.
- Destination wedding: 8–12 months out. Passports, time off, and international flights all need lead time.
- Holiday weekend wedding: 8–10 months out. Memorial Day, Labor Day, July 4th, and the weekends around Christmas all compete with family travel plans.
- Wedding under 4 months away: Skip the save the date entirely and go straight to the formal invitation.
When to Order Your Save the Date Magnets
Now back up from your mail-out date by about 6–8 weeks. That's when you should be placing your magnet order. Here's why:
- 1–2 business days for our team to send your digital proof after upload.
- 5–7 business days for production and shipping after you approve the proof.
- 1–2 weeks for you to address envelopes, hand-write notes, and get to the post office without it becoming a stressful sprint.
So if you want to mail your save the dates 6 months before the wedding,order your magnets about 7 months out. That cushion keeps the experience calm — and gives you breathing room if you want to revise the photo or text overlay after seeing the proof.
Ready to lock it in? Start your custom save the date order here — upload your engagement photo, add names and date as a text overlay, and we'll send a digital proof back within two business days.
Photo Tips for Save the Date Magnets
A save the date magnet is small — 2.5×2.5". The photo you choose has to do a lot of work in a tiny square. Here's what makes the difference between a magnet that's stunning and one that's just okay.
1. Crop Tight on Faces
The single most common mistake we see is a beautiful full-body engagement photo that gets cropped down to a magnet where neither person's face is recognizable from across the room. Pick a photo where both faces fill the frame, or one where you can crop in tight without losing the moment. If your engagement gallery has a half-body shot of you laughing together — that's the one.
2. Choose Bright, Even Lighting
Outdoor golden-hour photos almost always print best — soft, warm, no harsh shadows. Indoor photos with a single off-camera flash can look flat once printed. Avoid anything with extreme high-contrast lighting (half-face shadow, sun spots) because the printed magnet exaggerates those zones.
3. Square or Near-Square Composition
Magnets are square. If your favorite engagement photo is a vertical or horizontal frame, the print will lose the top, bottom, or sides during cropping. When in doubt, send us 2–3 favorites and our team will recommend the strongest crop before you approve the proof.
4. Leave Room for the Text Overlay
Most couples add their first names plus the wedding date as a text overlay across the top or bottom of the magnet. Pick a photo with a relatively clean area — sky, wall, blurred background — where text can sit without competing with detail. A photo with a busy backdrop edge to edge makes overlay text harder to read.
5. Don't Overthink It
Some of the most-loved save the date magnets we've printed weren't from professional engagement shoots — they were phone photos of the couple from a vacation, a hike, or a friend's wedding. Authenticity prints beautifully. If a photo makes you smile, it'll make your guests smile too.
Why Magnets Outlast Paper Save the Dates
We're a magnet shop, so of course we're partial here — but the case is genuinely lopsided. Here's the head-to-head:
Paper Save the Dates
- Get tossed in with the day's junk mail and frequently never even reach the fridge.
- Sit on a counter, get buried under bills, and disappear within two weeks.
- End up in a drawer "just in case" and are never looked at again.
- Cost about the same as a magnet by the time you factor in cardstock, envelopes, and postage.
Save the Date Magnets
- Go straight to the fridge — the most-looked-at surface in any home.
- Stay visible every single morning until the wedding, and most guests leave them up well past the wedding day as a keepsake.
- Feature your actual engagement photo at the center of someone's daily routine.
- Won't get accidentally recycled, water-damaged, or buried under a pile of mail.
The math we share with couples: a paper save the date is a one-week reminder. A magnet is a months-long reminder, plus a years-long keepsake. The cost is comparable. The impact is not.
What About Couples Who Want Both?
Plenty of couples send save the date magnets and follow up with a formal paper invitation closer to the wedding (typically 6–8 weeks before the date). The magnet handles the early "block off this weekend" job. The invitation handles the formal RSVP, dietary needs, and ceremony details. They're complementary, not competing — and the magnet stays on the fridge long after the paper invite gets recycled.
How Many Magnets Should You Order?
Order one per household, not one per guest. A couple counts as one magnet. A family of four also counts as one magnet — they only have one fridge. We recommend padding your number by about 10% for last-minute add-ons, lost mail, and one or two for your own keepsake.
Rule of thumb:
- Wedding of 50 guests: Order 25–30 magnets.
- Wedding of 100 guests: Order 50–60 magnets.
- Wedding of 150 guests: Order 75–90 magnets.
- Wedding of 200+ guests: Order 100–125 magnets.
Pricing & Bundles
Our save the date magnets start at $79 for 25 and scale down to about $2.25 each at 200 magnets — and shipping is always free. The most popular order is the Save the Date Pack bundle, which includes 25 magnets at 20% off standard pricing, names and date overlay, and a digital proof before printing.
For everything pricing-related, plus FAQs about photo prep and production timing, head to our full save the date magnets page.
The Quick Checklist
- Pick your wedding date.
- Subtract 4–6 months (or 8–12 for destination/holiday) — that's your mail-out date.
- Subtract another 6–8 weeks — that's your order date.
- Choose a tight-cropped, well-lit engagement photo.
- Decide on text overlay wording (names + date is the standard).
- Place your custom order, approve the proof, and watch the magnets show up on guests' fridges.
The whole point of a save the date is making sure your people are there. A magnet does that better than paper ever has — it lives in the place everyone looks every day, and it carries your photo with it. That's the job done well.