Almost every couple who contacts us about save the date magnets asks for the wrong quantity on the first try. Not because they miscounted, but because they counted the wrong thing.
Count households, not guests
Save the dates go to addresses. A married couple at one address gets one. A family of five gets one. Your college roommate living alone gets one.
In practice, a guest list converts to households at roughly 55 to 65 percent:
| Guest count | Typical households | Order this many |
|---|---|---|
| 75 | ~45 | 50 |
| 100 | ~60 | 75 |
| 150 | ~90 | 100 |
| 200 | ~120 | 150 |
| 250 | ~150 | 200 |
Then add 15 percent
The recommended order in that last column is already padded, and here is why it needs to be. Your list will grow. Someone will get engaged and need a plus-one address. A relative will ask for a second because the first one went to their old apartment. You will want two or three for yourselves, one for the wedding album, and one for your mother who will absolutely ask.
Ordering 15 percent over costs very little. Reordering costs a full setup cycle and two more weeks.
The B-list problem
If you are keeping a B-list, do not order for it. Save the dates create an obligation — once someone gets one, you are inviting them. Order for your A-list only and handle the B-list at the invitation stage.
When to mail them
Six to nine months before the wedding is standard. Twelve months if it is a destination wedding or a holiday weekend, since guests need to book travel and take time off.
Work backward from your mail date, not your wedding date. Allow 8 to 10 weeks for design, proofing, and production, plus a week to address and stamp everything. If you want save the dates in the mail in January, start talking to a printer in October.
The postage thing nobody tells you
Magnets are thicker and more rigid than a standard card, which means they usually mail as a non-machinable letter. That is a surcharge per piece on top of the regular rate.
Two ways to handle it. Put the magnet inside a standard envelope with a backing card, which sometimes keeps it machinable depending on thickness. Or accept the surcharge and budget for it — on 100 pieces it is real money but not a lot of it.
Either way, take one finished piece to the post office and have them weigh and measure it before you buy 150 stamps. We tell every customer the exact finished weight when we send their proof.
Why a magnet instead of a card
A paper save the date gets looked at once and filed. Into a drawer, a stack of mail, or a recycling bin. Your guests are not being rude — that is just what happens to paper.
A magnet goes on the refrigerator, and it stays in their peripheral vision every day between now and your wedding. That is the entire argument for the format, and it is a good one.
If you also want reception favors
Most couples buy save the dates and favors separately, from two vendors, at two markups and two proof cycles. Ordering both together is cheaper per unit and half the work. Our 675 Wedding Pack covers 250 save the dates, 300 favors, and 125 spares for less than most couples spend on save the dates alone.