A: Ideally, invitations should go out eight weeks before the wedding -- this gives guests plenty of time to clear their schedules for the day and make travel arrangements if they are out-of-towners. Timely invitations also let you make the RSVP date earlier -- about three weeks before the wedding -- so you can get a final head count and start making a seating chart (if you'll have one) before the week-before-the-wedding crunch begins.