We are getting married in South America in 14 months. The earliest one can buy plane tickets is 11 months in advance. We are trying to configure an 'invitation timeline'. We will be inviting approx. 75 people from the US to South America. Should we issue informal invites with RSVPs in two months? This would give the attendees the maximum amount of time to plan/buy cheap tix, and allow us to pick the proper location, knowing how many guests are expected. Then we could send out a more formal invite to the RSVP-ers closer to the date with more details, etc.
Usually it is best to send out Save the Date cards with as much information as possible to all those whom you wish to invite to the wedding. Typically these do not include a RSVP, but there is no reason that you couldn't. (Send these out soon)
You could also create a wedding website with all of your information. You could include that information in your Save the Date cards. On your site you could ask everyone to please let you know if they 'think' they may be able to attend. You could get an approximate number very early on before you decide on a site. Then you can mail out your invitations at a reasonable time before the wedding.
Invite Timeline
