You don’t have to send save-the-dates, but they’re helpful in giving your guests advance notice to clear their calendars and make travel arrangements. They started out especially for destination weddings -- the proper etiquette for destination weddings is to send your save-the-dates as soon as you set the date and location -- but now lots of couples send them, usually once they’ve confirmed a date and a few months before the actual wedding invitations are sent out. Save-the-dates are really helpful for weddings that will fall on holiday weekends since lots of people make plans for those extra days off work further in advance than normal weekends. They’re even just a fun way to announce you’re getting married without sending out your actual invitations. Couples get more creative with save-the-dates since they don’t have to (but totally can!) match the wedding’s theme. Aug 05, 2009