28 Other Ways to Say “Mark Your Calendars” (With Examples)

The best other ways to say mark your calendars are “keep the date free” when you need the time protected, “block your calendar” at work, “pencil it in” when the date might still move, and “I’ve sent a calendar invite — please accept it”, which does the job properly.

The original asks people to remember something. Most of the time what you actually want is for them to hold the time, and those are not the same request.

What Does “Mark Your Calendars” Mean?

It asks a group to record a date so they do not double-book it.

The word carries an older and harder meaning. The calends were “the first day of every month in the Roman calendar”, when pontiffs announced the dates ahead — and our word calendar comes straight from the Latin kalendae. Crucially, debtors “had to pay off their debts on this day”, and those debts were written into the kalendaria, “effectively an accounting book”.

A calendar began life as a ledger of obligations rather than a list of plans. That is worth remembering, because the phrase works best when it carries the same weight: a date you have agreed to, not one you have merely noticed.

⚡ The Short Version

Ask for the action you want. “Remember” gets you recall, “keep free” and “block” get you the time, “pencil it in” admits it may change, and a calendar invite gets you all three plus a headcount.

When to Use “Mark Your Calendars”

• 📅 Announcing an event to a group well before invitations go out
• 📅 Publishing a date in a newsletter, bulletin or parish notice
• 📅 Flagging a deadline, closure or registration window
• 📅 Building anticipation for something people will want to attend
• 📅 Giving advance warning of a recurring annual fixture

Pros and Cons of “Mark Your Calendars”

Pros	Cons
Instantly understood by any audience	Asks for memory rather than commitment
Builds anticipation before full details exist	Gives you no idea who is coming
Works in print, email and social posts	Heavily overused in marketing subject lines
Suits a group without singling anybody out	Sounds promotional in internal email
Needs no scheduling software	Puts all the effort on the reader

Why Do We Need Alternatives to “Mark Your Calendars”?

Because the phrase is a request for attention when you usually need a request for time. Somebody can mark a date, remember it perfectly, and still be in another meeting when it arrives — because nothing about marking it made them unavailable. The alternatives worth knowing differ in one respect above all: how much they actually commit the reader.

Ijeoma: Forty people said they’d marked it and eleven came.

Stefan: Did you send an invite?

Ijeoma: No, just the newsletter. Everyone circled the date.

Stefan: Circling a date doesn’t stop a meeting landing on top of it.

It belongs to the same family of event emails as the invitation itself, which carries the reason to come, and it has the same weakness as any stock opener: a line everybody writes gets read by nobody. A date and a duration survive that; a flourish does not.

28 Other Ways to Say “Mark Your Calendars”

Each entry leads with real examples, then explains why it works. The line to read is How firm it is — it separates the phrases that protect your date from the ones that merely mention it.

1. Save the date

A fixed social convention, not a loose synonym.

Examples:

• “Save the date: 14 June 2027, Lisbon. Invitation to follow.”
• “Save the date — we’re getting married next September.”
• “Save the date for our tenth anniversary party.”

Why it works: In weddings this is a formal pre-invitation, and etiquette treats it as a promise: everybody who gets one must later receive a proper invitation. Do not use it casually for a meeting.

Register: Social, semi-formal  |  How firm it is: Firm hold
Best for: Weddings and major life events  |  Avoid in: Work meetings and anything you might cancel

2. Keep the date free

Direct, and asks for the time rather than the memory.

Examples:

• “Keep the date free — Friday the twelfth, all afternoon.”
• “Keep the date free if you can; details next week.”
• “Keep the date free for the site visit.”

Why it works: It names the actual request. “Remember” asks for recall, “keep free” asks them to protect the time, which is what you wanted all along.

Register: Neutral  |  How firm it is: Firm hold
Best for: Events you need people to attend  |  Avoid in: Purely informational announcements

3. Don’t miss this date

Urgent in tone, vague in instruction.

Examples:

• “Don’t miss this date — tickets go in an hour.”
• “Don’t miss this date: the deadline closes at midnight.”
• “Don’t miss this date, it’s the last session of the year.”

Why it works: It creates urgency without asking for anything concrete, which makes it a marketing line rather than a scheduling request. Pair it with a real action.

Register: Promotional  |  How firm it is: A suggestion
Best for: Marketing emails and deadlines  |  Avoid in: Internal scheduling

4. Put this on your calendar

Plain, clear and slightly instructional.

Examples:

• “Put this on your calendar: Tuesday the third, ten o’clock.”
• “Put this on your calendar now and I’ll send the agenda Friday.”
• “Put this on your calendar before the week fills up.”

Why it works: It states the exact action you want taken, which is why it outperforms every poetic variant. Add the date in the same breath.

Register: Neutral  |  How firm it is: Firm hold
Best for: Work announcements of any kind  |  Avoid in: Formal printed invitations

5. Circle the date

Idiomatic, and quietly nostalgic.

Examples:

• “Circle the date — the twenty-second is going to be big.”
• “Circle the date in red, you won’t want to miss it.”
• “Circle the date: our first show in four years.”

Why it works: It assumes a paper wall calendar, which gives it warmth and dates it slightly. Effective in newsletters, meaningless as an instruction.

Register: Casual, idiomatic  |  How firm it is: A suggestion
Best for: Newsletters and community notices  |  Avoid in: Corporate scheduling emails

6. Note the date

Brief, formal, faintly clipped.

Examples:

• “Note the date: the AGM falls on 3 March.”
• “Note the date and time, both have changed since the last notice.”
• “Note the date for your records.”

Why it works: The register of official notices and committee papers. Efficient and cold, which is appropriate when you are recording rather than persuading.

Register: Formal  |  How firm it is: A suggestion
Best for: Official notices and formal minutes  |  Avoid in: Warm invitations

7. Lock in the date

Confident, and implies the matter is settled.

Examples:

• “Lock in the date — Thursday the ninth, confirmed with the venue.”
• “Let’s lock in the date before anyone else claims the room.”
• “Lock in the date and I’ll handle everything else.”

Why it works: It is the firmest phrase here because it signals the decision is already made. Never use it for something you might still move.

Register: Casual, confident  |  How firm it is: Binding commitment
Best for: Confirmed, unmovable plans  |  Avoid in: Provisional dates

8. Block your calendar

Workplace shorthand, and genuinely actionable.

Examples:

• “Block your calendar from two until four on the fifth.”
• “Block your calendar for the whole morning — it overruns every year.”
• “Block your calendar now; the invite follows today.”

Why it works: “Block” is what people actually do in software: it makes them unavailable to others. The most practically useful phrase on this list for office work.

Register: Professional, casual  |  How firm it is: Firm hold
Best for: Internal meetings and workshops  |  Avoid in: Social or family events

9. Set a reminder

Helpful, and weaker than it sounds.

Examples:

• “Set a reminder for the twentieth — registration opens at nine.”
• “Set a reminder so the renewal doesn’t lapse.”
• “Set a reminder for Friday afternoon.”

Why it works: A reminder prompts a memory; it does not protect the time. Perfect for deadlines and ticket releases, insufficient for anything you need them to attend.

Register: Neutral  |  How firm it is: A suggestion
Best for: Deadlines, releases and renewals  |  Avoid in: Events requiring attendance

10. Remember the date

Simple, and asks for the least.

Examples:

• “Remember the date — the eighteenth, not the nineteenth.”
• “Remember the date; it’s the only session we’re running.”
• “Remember the date and bring the paperwork.”

Why it works: It asks for recall and nothing else. Use it when the date is genuinely memorable or when you will remind them again nearer the time.

Register: Neutral  |  How firm it is: A suggestion
Best for: Simple, single-date announcements  |  Avoid in: Complex or competing schedules

11. Keep this date in mind

Soft, tentative, the gentlest option here.

Examples:

• “Keep this date in mind while you plan the term.”
• “Keep this date in mind — nothing is confirmed yet.”
• “Keep this date in mind as a likely finish.”

Why it works: It is the vaguest phrase in the set, which makes it honest for provisional plans and useless when you need the time held.

Register: Neutral, soft  |  How firm it is: A suggestion
Best for: Provisional and early-stage plans  |  Avoid in: Anything confirmed

12. Add this to your schedule

Neutral, and slightly more formal than “calendar”.

Examples:

• “Add this to your schedule: induction, Monday, nine sharp.”
• “Add this to your schedule and flag any clashes today.”
• “Add this to your schedule before the rota is published.”

Why it works: “Schedule” suits shift work, training and anything timetabled rather than diarised, where “calendar” sounds like an office desk.

Register: Professional  |  How firm it is: Firm hold
Best for: Training, shifts and timetabled work  |  Avoid in: Casual social invitations

13. Take note of this date

Formal, and a touch officious.

Examples:

• “Take note of this date: submissions close on the fifth.”
• “Take note of this date, as the office will be shut.”
• “Take note of this date in the annual plan.”

Why it works: It sounds like a notice pinned to a wall, which is exactly right for closures, deadlines and policy dates and wrong for anything friendly.

Register: Formal  |  How firm it is: A suggestion
Best for: Deadlines, closures and policy notices  |  Avoid in: Invitations and celebrations

14. Highlight this date

Visual, mildly promotional.

Examples:

• “Highlight this date — the programme is our best yet.”
• “Highlight this date in whatever colour means important to you.”
• “Highlight this date: two sessions, one afternoon.”

Why it works: Like circling, it asks for a gesture rather than a commitment. It works in print and newsletters where the tone matters more than the instruction.

Register: Casual, promotional  |  How firm it is: A suggestion
Best for: Newsletters and printed programmes  |  Avoid in: Professional scheduling

15. Don’t forget this day

Warm, urgent, slightly anxious.

Examples:

• “Don’t forget this day — she only turns sixty once.”
• “Don’t forget this day, the whole family is coming.”
• “Don’t forget this day: last orders on the applications.”

Why it works: Framing it as forgetting rather than noting adds emotional weight, which suits family events and can sound nagging at work.

Register: Casual, warm  |  How firm it is: A suggestion
Best for: Family and community events  |  Avoid in: Corporate communication

16. Make a note of this date

Polite, formal, slightly wordy.

Examples:

• “Make a note of this date: the inspection is on the eleventh.”
• “Make a note of this date and let me know of any conflict.”
• “Please make a note of this date for the diary.”

Why it works: The courteous version of “note the date”, four words longer and noticeably warmer. Common in schools, churches and membership organisations.

Register: Formal, polite  |  How firm it is: A suggestion
Best for: Schools, clubs and member communications  |  Avoid in: Fast internal messages

17. Plan around this date

Practical, and acknowledges their other commitments.

Examples:

• “Plan around this date — the whole team will be off-site.”
• “Plan around this date when you book your leave.”
• “Plan around this date; nothing else should be scheduled that week.”

Why it works: It treats the date as a fixed point that other things must move for, which is a stronger claim than asking them to remember it.

Register: Professional  |  How firm it is: Firm hold
Best for: Leave planning and immovable events  |  Avoid in: Optional social gatherings

18. Be sure to attend on this date

Direct about attendance rather than memory.

Examples:

• “Be sure to attend on this date — attendance is recorded.”
• “Be sure to attend on this date, as the vote requires a quorum.”
• “Be sure to attend on this date if you want a place.”

Why it works: It says the quiet part: you are not asking them to note anything, you are asking them to turn up. Useful when attendance genuinely matters.

Register: Formal  |  How firm it is: Firm hold
Best for: Mandatory meetings, votes and training  |  Avoid in: Casual or optional invitations

19. Reserve this date

Formal, and borrowed from bookings.

Examples:

• “Reserve this date: 9 October, the annual dinner.”
• “Reserve this date in advance of the formal invitation.”
• “Reserve this date for the awards ceremony.”

Why it works: “Reserve” treats their time the way you would a table, which flatters the occasion. It suits formal events with invitations to follow.

Register: Formal  |  How firm it is: Firm hold
Best for: Formal events and ceremonies  |  Avoid in: Everyday meetings

20. Set aside this day

Warm, and asks for the whole day.

Examples:

• “Set aside this day — it runs from breakfast until late.”
• “Set aside this day rather than an hour of it.”
• “Set aside this day for the retreat.”

Why it works: It signals scale: not an appointment but a whole day given over. Say so explicitly and people plan properly.

Register: Neutral, warm  |  How firm it is: Firm hold
Best for: All-day events, retreats and festivals  |  Avoid in: Short meetings

21. Keep this day open

Neutral, and clear about the ask.

Examples:

• “Keep this day open — details to follow next week.”
• “Keep this day open, we may need the full afternoon.”
• “Keep this day open until the schedule is confirmed.”

Why it works: Ideal when you know the date but not the timings, because it asks for the day without pretending you can say more yet.

Register: Neutral  |  How firm it is: Firm hold
Best for: Plans with confirmed dates and unclear timings  |  Avoid in: Fully confirmed schedules

22. Schedule this in

Brisk, workplace, slightly informal.

Examples:

• “Schedule this in for Wednesday morning.”
• “Schedule this in before the quarter closes.”
• “Schedule this in and send me a clash list.”

Why it works: The imperative makes it a task rather than a wish, which is appropriate downward and can read as brusque upward.

Register: Professional, casual  |  How firm it is: Firm hold
Best for: Instructions to a team  |  Avoid in: Messages to clients or seniors

23. Make time for this date

Warm, and appeals rather than instructs.

Examples:

• “Make time for this date — you’ll regret missing it.”
• “Make time for this date even if it means moving something.”
• “Make time for this date; it’s the only one this year.”

Why it works: It admits that attending costs them something, which is more persuasive than pretending it is free. Good for optional but valuable events.

Register: Neutral, warm  |  How firm it is: Firm hold
Best for: Optional events worth attending  |  Avoid in: Mandatory meetings

24. Stay available on this date

Formal, and used where plans may shift.

Examples:

• “Stay available on this date; the hearing time is not yet fixed.”
• “Stay available on this date in case the client reschedules.”
• “Stay available on this date for the whole working day.”

Why it works: Standard in legal, medical and broadcast contexts where somebody must be on hand without a confirmed time. Elsewhere it sounds like being on call.

Register: Formal  |  How firm it is: Firm hold
Best for: Legal, medical and on-call scheduling  |  Avoid in: Social invitations

25. Keep this event in mind

Soft, and about the occasion rather than the date.

Examples:

• “Keep this event in mind when you plan the autumn.”
• “Keep this event in mind — numbers are limited.”
• “Keep this event in mind; we’ll open bookings in June.”

Why it works: It points at the event instead of the calendar, which suits early announcements where the date may still move.

Register: Neutral, soft  |  How firm it is: A suggestion
Best for: Early announcements and save-the-date teasers  |  Avoid in: Confirmed, dated commitments

26. Pencil it in

The tentative option, and a real gap in their list.

Examples:

• “Pencil it in for the fourteenth — I’ll confirm by Friday.”
• “Pencil it in, but don’t book flights yet.”
• “Pencil it in and we’ll firm it up after the board meets.”

Why it works: Every other phrase here implies certainty. This one states honestly that the date may move, which protects the relationship when it does.

Register: Casual  |  How firm it is: Tentative
Best for: Provisional dates you may still change  |  Avoid in: Confirmed events and formal notices

27. Please diarise Thursday the fourteenth

British and South African business English.

Examples:

• “Please diarise Thursday the fourteenth for the quarterly review.”
• “Kindly diarise the fourteenth; papers will circulate beforehand.”
• “Please diarise the whole afternoon.”

Why it works: “Diarise” is standard professional usage in the UK and South Africa and largely unknown in the United States, where “calendar” is used as a verb instead.

Register: Formal, regional  |  How firm it is: Firm hold
Best for: UK, Irish and South African business email  |  Avoid in: American audiences

28. I’ve sent a calendar invite — please accept it

The practical answer, and better than any phrasing.

Examples:

• “I’ve sent a calendar invite — please accept it so I can see numbers.”
• “Invite sent. Accept it and the reminder will handle the rest.”
• “I’ve sent a calendar invite for the fifth; decline if you cannot make it.”

Why it works: Asking somebody to remember a date puts the work on them and gives you no information. An invite holds the time, sets the reminder and tells you who is coming.

Register: Professional, direct  |  How firm it is: Binding commitment
Best for: Any work event with a known date  |  Avoid in: Large public or promotional announcements

Detailed Comparison Table

All 28 alternatives, with register, how much commitment each one actually asks for, and when to avoid it.

Phrase	Register	How firm it is	Best for	Avoid in
Save the date	Social, semi-formal	Firm hold	Weddings and major life events	Work meetings and anything you might cancel
Keep the date free	Neutral	Firm hold	Events you need people to attend	Purely informational announcements
Don’t miss this date	Promotional	A suggestion	Marketing emails and deadlines	Internal scheduling
Put this on your calendar	Neutral	Firm hold	Work announcements of any kind	Formal printed invitations
Circle the date	Casual, idiomatic	A suggestion	Newsletters and community notices	Corporate scheduling emails
Note the date	Formal	A suggestion	Official notices and formal minutes	Warm invitations
Lock in the date	Casual, confident	Binding commitment	Confirmed, unmovable plans	Provisional dates
Block your calendar	Professional, casual	Firm hold	Internal meetings and workshops	Social or family events
Set a reminder	Neutral	A suggestion	Deadlines, releases and renewals	Events requiring attendance
Remember the date	Neutral	A suggestion	Simple, single-date announcements	Complex or competing schedules
Keep this date in mind	Neutral, soft	A suggestion	Provisional and early-stage plans	Anything confirmed
Add this to your schedule	Professional	Firm hold	Training, shifts and timetabled work	Casual social invitations
Take note of this date	Formal	A suggestion	Deadlines, closures and policy notices	Invitations and celebrations
Highlight this date	Casual, promotional	A suggestion	Newsletters and printed programmes	Professional scheduling
Don’t forget this day	Casual, warm	A suggestion	Family and community events	Corporate communication
Make a note of this date	Formal, polite	A suggestion	Schools, clubs and member communications	Fast internal messages
Plan around this date	Professional	Firm hold	Leave planning and immovable events	Optional social gatherings
Be sure to attend on this date	Formal	Firm hold	Mandatory meetings, votes and training	Casual or optional invitations
Reserve this date	Formal	Firm hold	Formal events and ceremonies	Everyday meetings
Set aside this day	Neutral, warm	Firm hold	All-day events, retreats and festivals	Short meetings
Keep this day open	Neutral	Firm hold	Plans with confirmed dates and unclear timings	Fully confirmed schedules
Schedule this in	Professional, casual	Firm hold	Instructions to a team	Messages to clients or seniors
Make time for this date	Neutral, warm	Firm hold	Optional events worth attending	Mandatory meetings
Stay available on this date	Formal	Firm hold	Legal, medical and on-call scheduling	Social invitations
Keep this event in mind	Neutral, soft	A suggestion	Early announcements and save-the-date teasers	Confirmed, dated commitments
Pencil it in	Casual	Tentative	Provisional dates you may still change	Confirmed events and formal notices
Please diarise Thursday the fourteenth	Formal, regional	Firm hold	UK, Irish and South African business email	American audiences
I’ve sent a calendar invite — please accept it	Professional, direct	Binding commitment	Any work event with a known date	Large public or promotional announcements

The third column explains why so many well-announced events are badly attended. 11 of these 28 are only suggestions — note it, circle it, highlight it, keep it in mind — and none of them stop the reader accepting something else for the same afternoon. 14 genuinely ask for the time to be held, and just 2 create a real commitment. One of those two is simply sending the invite.

Conclusion

Choosing between these twenty-eight is really choosing how much you are asking for, and most people ask for far less than they need.

The soft tier — note the date, circle the date, highlight this date, keep this date in mind — asks for recognition. It is the right register for a newsletter, a community bulletin or an early announcement where the date may still move, and it is the wrong one for anything you need people at. A reader can do exactly what you asked and still miss the event, which is why a beautifully written “don’t forget this day” so often produces an empty room.

The firm tier asks for the time itself: keep the date free, block your calendar, plan around this date, set aside this day, reserve this date. These work because they name what you want protected rather than what you want remembered. “Block your calendar from two until four on the fifth” is doing three jobs at once — the date, the duration and the instruction — and it takes no longer to write than the vaguer version. If you take one habit from this page, make it that: say the action, the date and the length in the same sentence.

Above both sits the practical answer, which is not a phrase at all. A calendar invite holds the time, carries the details, sets its own reminder and tells you who is coming. Asking twenty people to mark a date gives you nothing you can count; sending twenty invites gives you a headcount by lunchtime. Use the wording for the announcement and the invite for the commitment, and use both for anything that matters.

Marta: Can I just say “keep Thursday free” or do I need to send the invite?

Ade: How many people?

Marta: Nine, and I need to know who’s coming for catering.

Ade: Then you need the invite. “Keep Thursday free” can’t count anybody.

The mechanism is older and more standardised than most people realise: iCalendar, the format behind every .ics attachment, was specified in RFC 5545 in September 2009 and lets you send a meeting request, propose an alternative time and read free or busy responses across rival calendar apps. Where catering or numbers are involved, pair it with a request to confirm receipt so silence does not pass for a yes.

Two phrases deserve care. Save the date is not a general-purpose synonym — in social use it is a formal pre-invitation, and etiquette treats it as a promise that a real invitation will follow, so never send one for something you might cancel or for a guest you may not invite. And pencil it in is the only honest option when a date is genuinely provisional; reaching for “lock in the date” and then moving it costs you more credibility than the vaguer phrasing ever would.