How to Tell Guests Your Wedding is Postponed or Canceled

Although incredibly unfortunate, wedding cancellations do happen. Some cancellations may only be temporary while others are permanent. Whether you’re postponing your wedding or canceling it, letting guests know is top priority.

The best way to let everyone know is to properly communicate your wedding cancellation or postponement. How you do this depends on the reason. Here are 5 reasons you may need to change or cancel your wedding date, and the best way to communicate it to your guests.

Featured Change the Date Card: Plans Change

1. A National Emergency or Weather Event

A national emergency, like Covid-19 or a catastrophic weather event, can have heartbreaking consequences for engaged couples. If you’re having to postpone your wedding due to a national emergency, take solace in knowing you’re not alone.

You can communicate that your wedding is postponed through word of mouth, but it’s best to also send an official announcement. Instead of a Save the Date card, mail a cute Change the Date card.

Your wording might look something like:

Dear Loved Ones, Thank you for your patience as we set our new wedding date. Your support and outpouring of love has made this tough time so much more bearable. We love you all and cannot wait to celebrate with you! Please save our new date: June 12th, 2026.

2. Cold Feet (It Happens!)

You might think that cold feet would mean the wedding is cancelled permanently but there are many couples who stay together but simply choose to take more time before getting married.

Communicating this situation is best done through word of mouth and/or verbally by the couple. Keep it short and sweet:

We both felt like we needed a little more time to have the wedding we really wanted.

3. Venue or Vendor Trouble

Perhaps the venue accidentally booked two weddings on one day or maybe the caterer or band you simply must have isn’t available as promised. Although unfortunate, these mix-ups happen from time to time.

If your wedding is less than 2 months away, take a deep breath and start making phone calls. If you’re more than two months out you could send a change the date card. Add custom text that says something along the lines of:

Due to unforeseen issues with our venue, we will be postponing the wedding until further notice. Thank you for understanding.

4. A Death in the Family

Our sincerest condolences if you find yourself postponing your wedding for this reason, but rest assured that you will want to give yourselves (and other family members) plenty of time to recover so everyone is able to celebrate your nuptials joyfully.

A wedding that’s being postponed because of a death in the family, it’s likely that your wedding is coming up quick. The best way to spread the word is to post a message on your social media or send texts that can be forwarded by other family members. The message can say something like:

We regret to inform you that we have chosen to postpone our wedding in order to mourn the loss of Harper’s father, John Faust. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Thank you.

5. A Pregnancy

Life is full of surprises and some of those surprises come in the form of cute little babies. Don’t be discouraged! Getting pregnant in the midst of wedding planning may present some challenges, and some couples decide moving their wedding date forward or back.

If you’re moving your wedding date up, simply send a new save the date card or wedding invitation. If you’re postponing your date, send a change the date with a message about your plans changing.

It’s up to you if you want to tell guests why your wedding is being postponed. Here’s a simple message:

Dearest friends and family, our June wedding is being postponed until 2027. We look forward to celebrating with you next year! Please be on the lookout for a new save the date as soon as we have our new plans finalized.

And here’s a fun (and joyous!) way to announce a surprise pregnancy and wedding postponement:

Plot twist! We’re thrilled to announce we’ve been blessed with the best surprise of all – a baby! Our wedding is being postponed until our little one can join us in the fun! We’ll send out a Save the Date as soon as our new plans are set.

We hope you found this postponed wedding advice helpful. Give us a shout if you need any help as you customize your wedding stationery! xoxo