Save the Dates timing

There will almost always be a few people who may have to travel to the wedding. A destination wedding is when most if not all of the individuals have to travel, including the bride and groom. I would proceed with that 6 month timeline.

6-8 months is standard unless you’re having a destination wedding where people will need to make significant travel arrangements.

Where we are and in our families, save the dates are sent anywhere from 6-12 months, depending on when the couple decided on the definite date. Don’t send anything out earlier than 12 months or people will think it’s for the current year instead. Local vs destination doesn’t make a difference because local guests still need ample time to schedule time off. One of my best friends is a nurse and another is a teacher and they need minimum of 8 months advance notice to schedule time off, even for local events. Also, unpopular opinion but in our families and social circles, save the dates are sent verbally via phone conversation or in person by word of mouth and that keeps them from getting lost in the mail or junk folders.

We're having a destination wedding this summer in Puerto Rico (we and all our guests live in CA) so I sent our save the dates out 12 months in advance.

First off, congrats on your upcoming October wedding! I totally understand the dilemma with Save the Dates. We had a similar situation where some of our guests were coming from quite a distance – in our case, from the East Coast.

Given that a good number of your guests are 6-8 hours away, it might be wise to err on the side of caution and send out your Save the Dates a bit earlier. We decided to send ours out 8 months in advance. This gave our long-distance guests enough time to make travel arrangements and plan for an overnight stay, ensuring they wouldn't have to rush back the same day.

While your wedding isn't a traditional destination wedding, the distance your guests need to travel is significant enough to warrant a bit more notice. The 8-month timeline strikes a nice balance – it's not as early as a year (which might be confusing), but it's considerate of those who need to make travel plans. Hope this helps and best wishes for your wedding planning!