How to Announce You're Postponing Your Wedding

Life happens. The only thing that’s certain is that nothing is certain. Whether it’s a family emergency, unexpected weather, or national emergency, events occur that can throw a wrench into your wedding plans. As unfortunate as it may be, it’s important to know how to deal with a wedding postponement if such circumstances arise.

In addition to our 16-step wedding postponement checklist and our post outlining registry etiquette for a postponed wedding, here’s everything you need to know about how to actually go about announcing that you’re postponing your wedding.

Discover how to announce wedding postponement in 3 steps:

1. Consult with important decision makers.

After talking with your partner, reach out to your wedding planner if you have one to get their point of view. Since they’re the professionals and likely have experience handling postponements, they’ll be able to assist you best. If you decide postponing is the best option, reach out to the wedding party and close family members to notify them as soon as possible. You may want to plan your new date around their schedules to ensure everyone can attend.

2. Inform your guests.

Whether you’ve picked a new date already or not, inform guests as soon as possible that the current wedding date is changing. Usually, the best way to get information to your guests is through email, phone calls, or texts, depending on what contact info you have for each person and how formal you’d like the communications to be. There is no need to give reason other than “unforeseen circumstances,” but if you’d like to give a reason, such as “the health and safety of everyone during the COVID-19 outbreak” or “an illness in the family,” feel free. Let them know the new date or simply state that it has yet to be determined and that you’ll let them know as soon as possible.

You should also update your wedding website with the postponement announcement and new date once it’s set, as the website is the central hub for guests to get event information.

3. Mail an official postponement announcement.

If you’ve already sent out formal invitations for your original date, there’s no need to buy a complete new set of invitations for your new date. Instead, create a date-change card that states the postponement, new date and your website where guests can — and should — RSVP digitally. Having a digital RSVP system in place rather than your guests having to mail you their response saves both time and money. If possible, keep the date-change card in the same style and colors as your original invitation for cohesiveness. Minted has gorgeous, customizable designs that are ready fast. Or if you’re the creative type who can work quickly, you can create a homemade postponement announcement as a more budget-friendly option.

If you don’t have it in your budget to order physical date-change cards, consider a digital evite instead. Paperless Post has great options for digital postponement announcements with virtual RSVPs to keep you organized and informed in a timely, cost-effective manner. 

Things happen. People understand.

Life is unpredictable even when it comes to events, so try not to stress out about a date change. Your guests will understand and the show will go on! When in doubt, throw the rule book out the window. Although proper etiquette is ideal, if you have to just inform people via email due to budget concerns, that’s okay too.

Now that you have the postponement announcement sorted, take a deep breath and relax. Maybe even use the extra time to write your wedding vows!