Multilingual weddings11 min read
Destination Wedding Invitations: Timeline, Wording, Details
When to send destination wedding invitations, what traveling guests need on them, 16 wording examples to copy, and how to handle languages, time zones and the save the date.
By The Veiloria AtelierPublished Updated
Contents
- How long before a destination wedding should you send invitations?
- The destination timeline, 12 months to the day
- What should be included in a destination wedding invitation?
- How to word destination wedding invitations: 16 examples
- Languages and time zones
- Digital save the date for a destination wedding
- What is the best wedding website for destination weddings?
- Sources
- Frequently asked questions
Send destination wedding invitations 3–4 months before the wedding, after a save the date 9–12 months out, and set the reply-by date about six weeks before the day. The invitation must also carry what a traveling guest needs: the nearest airport, where to stay, how to reach the venue, what to wear for the climate, and every time in the venue's time zone.
Below: a 12-month timeline, a traveling-guest checklist, 16 wording examples, languages, time zones and the save the date. If your guests speak more than one language, start with our guide to bilingual wedding invitations.
How long before a destination wedding should you send invitations?
Send destination wedding invitations 3–4 months before the wedding, a month or two earlier than for a local one. A destination wedding is one most guests must travel to: a flight away, often abroad, and often spread over a weekend. They need time for leave, passports, flights and rooms.
| Local wedding | Destination wedding | |
|---|---|---|
| Save the date | 6–12 months before | 9–12 months before |
| Invitation | 8–12 weeks before | 3–4 months before |
| Reply-by date | About 4 weeks before | About 6 weeks before, and at least a week before the hotel releases its room block |
For month-by-month send dates, see our guide on when to send wedding invitations.
The destination timeline, 12 months to the day
Work back from the day: save the date at 9–12 months, travel details at 6–8, the invitation at 3–4, a last update a week before.
| When | What you do | What your guests do |
|---|---|---|
| 12 months or more | Book the venue and a room block; get its release date in writing. List each guest's country and language. | Nothing yet. |
| 12–9 months | Send the save the date; collect phone numbers and emails. | Request time off; check passports. |
| 8–6 months | Publish travel details: airports, stays, transfers. Plan any welcome dinner or brunch. | Book flights and rooms; apply for any visa. |
| 4–3 months | Send the invitation with the RSVP and a reply-by date. | Reply. |
| 6 weeks | Reply-by date; follow up with anyone silent. | Last call to reply. |
| 4–2 weeks | Final numbers to the venue and caterer; shuttle lists to the driver. | Confirm transfers and arrival times. |
| 1 week | Send the weather, the final schedule and any changes. | Pack. |
What should be included in a destination wedding invitation?
A destination wedding invitation includes everything a local one does (names, date, time, venue, dress code, RSVP) plus what a guest needs to get there and stay. On paper, travel goes on an insert card; on a digital invitation, it has its own sections behind the same link.
Getting there
Name the nearest airport with its code, and a second one if fares or routes differ (for Camogli, Genoa GOA or Milan MXP). Say how long the transfer takes, and who organizes it.
Where to stay
Give two or three options at different prices, the room-block code and its release date.
Visas and documents
Ask guests to check their government's travel advice as soon as the save the date arrives. One passport meets different rules in each country:
| Destination | Passport rule for British passport holders (GOV.UK, checked October 19, 2026) |
|---|---|
| Italy and the Schengen area | Issued less than 10 years before you arrive, and valid at least 3 months after you leave the Schengen area |
| Morocco | Valid at least 3 months after you arrive |
| Mexico | Valid for your whole stay; the Mexican Embassy in the UK recommends at least 180 days |
| Costa Rica | Valid at least 1 day after you leave |
Other passports have their own rules: US citizens, for example, check travel.state.gov. The Schengen area's Entry/Exit System now registers many non-EU visitors' fingerprints and a photo at the border, so allow extra time. Most visitors to a UK wedding need an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) before they fly, which costs £20 (GOV.UK, checked October 19, 2026).
Transport on the day
Say how guests get from hotel to ceremony, to reception, and back at night: shuttle times, a boat, a taxi number. Islands and mountain roads rarely allow "we'll find a cab".
Weather and what to wear
Translate the dress code into the place: a lawn means flat shoes or block heels; a sea breeze after sunset means a layer. For a church or mosque, say whether shoulders or heads should be covered.
Local customs worth knowing
Tell guests what will surprise them: dinner at 9 p.m., a henna night before a Moroccan wedding. Our guide to cultural wedding invitations covers traditions by region. For one country in depth, read our guide to a destination wedding in Italy.
What guests should budget for
Be honest about the cost of coming: flights, hotel nights, transfers, documents, a gift. Say what you cover (shuttles, a welcome dinner) and, if you mean it, that their presence is the gift.
The traveling-guest checklist
Copy it into your invitation brief:
- Names, date, ceremony time and venue, with town and country
- Every time in the venue's time zone, labeled once
- Nearest airports, with codes
- Transfers, and who organizes them
- Two or three places to stay, with the room-block code and release date
- Document reminder: passport validity, visa or travel authorization
- Transport between hotel, ceremony and reception
- The weekend's schedule, with a reply for each event
- Dress code translated for the setting and the weather
- One or two local customs guests should expect
- Gifts: what you'd like, or "your presence is gift enough"
- Reply-by date and a contact for questions
How to word destination wedding invitations: 16 examples
Word a destination wedding invitation like any other, then name the place in full (town and country) and add one line pointing to the travel details. The couples, dates and venues below are those of our demo weddings, so you can open each design and see it live.
Formal (4)
1. Parents hosting, ceremony in a chapel
Mr. and Mrs. Paolo Ricci
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Sofia
to Nico Ferrand
Saturday, the twenty-sixth of June, two thousand twenty-seven
at half past five in the afternoon
Villa dei Limoni, Camogli, Italy
2. The couple hosting
Valeria Mora and Tomás Quesada
request the pleasure of your company
at their marriage
Saturday, February 19, 2028, at three o'clock
Niebla Alta Lodge, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica
Travel and accommodation details enclosed
3. Together with their families
Together with their families
Yasmine Benali and Idris Amrani
invite you to celebrate their marriage
Saturday, May 8, 2027
Riad Dar Zahra, Marrakech, Morocco
Kindly reply by March 27
4. With the reception named
Iris Hartley and Callum Reid
request the pleasure of your company
at their marriage
Saturday, September 11, 2027, at five o'clock
The Chapel of Agia Thalassini, Lakka, Paxos, Greece
and afterwards for dinner by the sea
Relaxed (4)
5.
Pack a swimsuit. Sofia and Nico are getting married in Camogli on Saturday, June 26, 2027, and the day won't feel right without you.
6.
We're getting married in a Costa Rican cloud forest on Saturday, February 19, 2028, and we'd love you there. Directions and stays below.
7.
Iris and Callum are saying yes on Paxos. Join us on Saturday, September 11, 2027, for the ceremony at sunset and a long dinner after.
8.
We know we're asking you to travel. If you can make it to Marrakech on May 8, 2027, it would mean the world to us. If you can't, we'll celebrate with you when we're home.
For a wedding weekend (4)
9. Formal weekend
Ginevra Conti and Idris Haddad
invite you to three days of Carnival in Venice
Friday, February 5: welcome drinks at seven
Saturday, February 6: ceremony at half past four, dinner to follow
Sunday, February 7: farewell lunch at one
Kindly reply for each event by December 23
10. Relaxed weekend
Thursday, arrive and settle in. Friday, the henna night. Saturday, the wedding. Sunday, a slow brunch before you fly. Marrakech, May 6–9, 2027.
11. Reply for each event
Tell us which events you'll join: one evening or all three days.
12. Arrivals on different days
Arrive whenever your flights allow. Friday's welcome drinks are relaxed, Saturday is the wedding, and Sunday's lunch is for anyone still in town.
With travel notes (4)
13. Airport and transfer
Fly into Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO), San José. Our shuttle leaves the arrivals hall at 1 p.m. on Friday, February 18; tell us your flight and we'll save you a seat.
14. Room block
We've reserved rooms at Villa dei Limoni at a group rate until March 1. Book with the code SOFIANICO.
15. Documents
Please check your passport now. If it isn't an EU, EEA or Swiss passport, for Italy it must have been issued less than 10 years before you arrive and be valid for 3 months after you leave.
16. Weather and dress
September evenings on Paxos are warm but breezy by the water. Garden-party dress, flat shoes for the stone paths, and a light layer for dinner.
For more tones and hosting lines, see our wedding invitation wording guide.
Languages and time zones
Write the invitation in your guests' languages, and give every time in the venue's time zone.
Guests from several countries
A Costa Rica wedding with family from Madrid and friends from New York has two audiences. On paper, the answer is both languages side by side; on a digital invitation, each guest can read it all in their own. Our demo couple Valeria and Tomás wrote the Selva invitation in English, Spanish and Arabic; open it below and switch languages.
For ready-to-copy text in two languages, see our bilingual wedding invitation wording examples.
Every time in the venue's time zone
Guests read a time as their own unless told otherwise. Write "All times are local time in Costa Rica" once, near the schedule. A 3 p.m. ceremony there on February 19, 2028 (UTC−6) is:
| Where | Local time |
|---|---|
| San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica | 3:00 p.m. |
| Los Angeles | 1:00 p.m. |
| New York | 4:00 p.m. |
| London | 9:00 p.m. |
| Madrid | 10:00 p.m. |
That matters if you livestream. For travelers, an add-to-calendar button saves the exact moment rather than a clock time, so their calendar shows the right hour wherever they are. In a Veiloria invitation, you give the venue's time and time zone once, and guests get the map, the add-to-calendar button and the invitation in whichever of your languages is theirs, as how it works explains.
Digital save the date for a destination wedding
Send a destination save the date 9–12 months before the wedding, with your names, the date, the town and country, and "formal invitation to follow". It needs no reply, and a link reaches the cousin abroad as fast as the neighbor.
Add one travel line if it helps: "Hotels near the venue fill early; details soon." Our digital save the date guide covers wording. For exact send dates, see when to send save the dates.
Every Veiloria design has a matching digital save the date that plays the same opening as the invitation and ends with an add-to-calendar button. It costs $79 on its own (or the equivalent in your currency) and is included with Premium.
What is the best wedding website for destination weddings?
The best wedding website for a destination wedding holds travel, stays and the weekend's schedule in one place, and lets guests reply to each event. Three ways to do it:
| Option | Strong at | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| A free wedding website (Zola and Joy both offer one; Joy lists hotel room blocks, checked October 19, 2026) | Long pages, registry, a hotel block | A separate link from the invitation; check how it handles other languages |
| An invitation with travel sections | One link for the invitation, travel details and RSVP | Keep sections short |
| Both | Essentials in the invitation, the long version online | Keep the facts identical |
Put what guests need to decide and book in the invitation; a website holds the rest. Our guide to wedding website vs invitation weighs the two in detail. If you host several events, wedding weekend invitations shows how to lay them out.
Sources
- GOV.UK foreign travel advice, entry requirements for Italy (passport rules and the Entry/Exit System), Morocco, Mexico and Costa Rica; checked October 19, 2026.
- GOV.UK, "Apply for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA)"; checked October 19, 2026.
- Zola, "Free wedding websites", and Joy, "Pricing"; checked October 19, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How long before a destination wedding should you send invitations?
Send destination wedding invitations 3–4 months before the wedding, after a save the date 9–12 months out. Set the reply-by date about six weeks before the day, and at least a week before your hotel releases its room block.
What should be included in a destination wedding invitation?
Include the names, date, time, venue with town and country, the RSVP and a reply-by date. Then add what travelers need: airports, transfers, where to stay, a document reminder, transport on the day, dress for the climate and the weekend's schedule, with every time in the venue's time zone.
How do you word a destination wedding invitation?
Use the same wording as any wedding invitation, then name the place in full, with town and country, and add one line such as "Travel and accommodation details enclosed". For a wedding weekend, list each event with its day and time.
When should you send save the dates for a destination wedding?
Send them 9–12 months before the wedding, so guests can request leave, renew passports and book flights. The invitation follows 3–4 months before the day.
What is the best wedding website for destination weddings?
The best one keeps travel, stays, the weekend's schedule and the RSVP in one place guests can find again. Free websites from Zola and Joy handle long pages well, while a digital invitation with travel sections puts the essentials and the reply behind one link.
Should a destination wedding invitation include hotel information?
Yes. Guests plan dates and budgets around where they'll sleep, so give two or three options, the room-block code and the block's release date. On paper it goes on an insert card; on a digital invitation, in its own section.
