So the travel date on the application was 20th August - which was the only reasonable thing to do given the uncertainty on application times (I'm still not sure what date they would stamp on the vignette if you put the travel date as a few days after the application date?), travelling on the 20th isn't an issue - but we have been working on ASAP time frames so if my wife can travel sooner it would be better - but I think it's not possible.
I'm in Malaysia until 1st August so she was hoping we could travel back together.