Friday weddings...

goodigirl

...Much less expensive (I want to do a small wedding really well so am trying to stay on budget for ceremony and reception).

However may be harder for out of town guests.  Our logic is that if we do Saturday they'll all fly in Saturday, attend wedding, fly out Sunday.  If we do the Friday wedding, hopefully they'll STILL fly out Sunday but we'll be able to visit and do brunch with out of towners on Saturday. 

Thoughts?

ElyseE25

I would love a friday wedding, but my mom and I discussed it and she didn't think that a lot of people in my family would be able to take off two days of work. Lame I know, but we want people to show up! 

Aks3131

I'm having a Friday wedding. It wasn't what I originally wanted but that was the only day the reception hall and my church had available that coincided with each other. My ceremony is kind of early so I understand if people don't attend that but my reception is at 7pm and most people have already told me they'll definitely be there.

nicd83

We're having a Friday wedding, and I love the idea.  I know it will trim our guest list, but the people I cared about most have already said they would be there.  I have been to weddings on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.  And all out of town on those days.  I loved the Friday weddings!  In fact I found myself wishing some of the out of town Saturday weddings were on the Fridays I arrived in town, so I could spend some time either with the couple or site seeing that Saturday (or recuperating from the hangover before I got on the plane, bus, or car home).  With Saturday weddings that are out of town, I'm always rushing the following Sunday morning (with a hangover) to get home so that I can get some rest before work the next day.  Now, I know not everyone feels this way.  I was actually told that I was being inconsiderate to my guests by inconveniencing them to save a few thousand dollars... but that person wasn't on my VIP list, so I'm ok with them being too inconvenienced to show up.  Totally understand and respect their decision.  It won't ruin the day.  But the point is, everyone works differently and would prefer things a certain way, but honestly, you're not going to make everyone happy, and no one is going to care about your wedding as much as you do.  The ones who love you will be there no matter what.  But you should also be prepared to be understanding and accepting if people don't come or show up late.  Remember again that your wedding isn't as important to everyone as it is to you and future husband. Remember what the marriage that the wedding is really about, and not so much about who shows up, and I think you'll be fine.

Tarra+Trav

We are doing a Friday wedding, and it's not late evening either. Our ceremony will be at 4 or 5. To be honest, we did this so that we could get a smaller guest list. We were looking at 250+ wedding guests if everyone could attend and we really just didnt have the budget for that. More importantly, we wanted to have more time with each guest rather than trying to find a few seconds for everyone. So, we purposely planned an out of town wedding (1hr 40 min drive time) and planned a friday afternoon wedding so that we could get our count down to about 190. We will still have plenty of guests. All family and closest friends  and many other very important people have made arrangements to be there. I have not had one negative comment. In fact, everyone I have talked to loved that it was a Friday because they plan to make a weekend getaway out of it. We still have plenty of people attending, and we are happy because it helped us "control" our head count without leaving anyone out. As a side note: I dont care if this does not fall in to anyone's "proper etiquette" handbook We live in a small town and my fiance's family owns businesses in town. We knew there would be a lot of people who thought it was ok to just drop in on the party and we made this arrangement to still have everyone we wanted there without hurting anyone's feelings. Worked perfectly

carrieloomis

I'm having a Friday wedding. Since a lot of my friends and family will be coming from about 4 hours away, our ceremony starts at 6. They are much cheaper and that way you can visit with people We're [planning on having a cookout the day after with the out of town guests and close friends

AMISSA31

We are having a Friday evening wedding...starting at 6pm.  STD will be mailed out well in advance to everyone (not just OOT guests). 

FutureMrsW9

We're doing a Friday wedding because it was $15pp cheaper, so that'll end up saving us a TON!  Plus, we don't have to worry about sharing the hotel with another wedding !  As long as you send our you STDs well in advance, you'll be totally fine.  I think it's super common to have weddings on Friday's nowadays anyway, that people won't have much to say about it.  We haven't heard a peep from anyone.  And, if you're worried about people not coming...don't.  If people WANT to be there, they'll be there no matter when it is - even if it was on a Tuesday at 10am, they'll be there.  Do whatever you and FI want and makes you happy - that's all that matters!

takefeline

I am having a Friday wedding and I also have many OOT guests.  Because we decided on a Friday wedding we also decided that we would have the wedding in the summer so that teachers and others can come during summer vacation.  We also sent our save the dates 10 months ahead so that those people could plan.  Good luck!

blue1981

We are having two weddings an Indian wedding (my fiance is Indian) on Friday January 6th at 2:00 pm and an American wedding Saturday January 7th at 4:30 pm. We invited the exact same guest list to both and due to us having a great deal of out of town guests and in town guests having to work we are having about 150 guests on Saturday and about 105 guests on Friday. This could also be that some people did not want to attend two weddings in 2 days but from the feedback I recieived, many people just had to work. I think Friday weddigs are fine, in fact I think Friday nights are the second best night for a wedding, but you will probably have a higher decline rate...

hmprice7

I found an amazing venue and on Saturdays it costs 8,000 but on Fridays it is 4,000. This venue is amazing and a place to have a dream weddng, I think the guests that do make the trip it will be worth it. That price includes food and free valet parking all the linens and all of the servers and bartenders.

I'd say go for it! It's your day.

susanv85

I'm not a fan of Friday weddings, it's jsust so much stress to go to work for a full day, then rush to get ready for a wedding, and by the time I get to the wedding, I'm exhausted. But, it's your wedding, you do whats' right for you. We're doing a Sunday wedding and moved it up a couple months just so my aunt and uncle can fly in. 

random4180

Not exactly a Friday but we're having a Wednesday wedding. Unconventional, I know. However, we're from NYC (a VERY expensive area for a wedding) and simply can't break the bank to get married so if it was between eloping and actually being able to afford some guests on a weekday, then we went with the weekday. Both our families are local except for my sister in VA (her and her three daughters are all in the wedding party and wouldn't miss it for anything!) We have a lot of teachers/students/retired people in the family or people who work professions where the weekend is not an automatic day off and actually a lot harder to get off, especially in the summer (my mother is an RN and my brother is an EMT, to name a few....) 

All the close family and friends are aware of our wedding day and have been for months. A lot of places around here book up two years in advance and we're only having a year-long engagement; we've figured out that having a weekday wedding means we're not scrounging for the last vendors or just trying to book anyone still available. Not to mention that we're not the type to want an enormous guest list or an all-day affair. I am really hoping to be home with my new husband by 10, tops! We've got a photographer for 8-hours (the minimum) and that's probably more than we need. I think in our case, with our circumstances and our particular set of guests, the weekday works. It certainly may not for a lot of people, though. I think if you know your guests and you know yourself and your expectations, you can make an informed decision about a weekday wedding.