Memorial Day Weekend Weding 2012 and vendor prices

AaronTC05

My fiance and I are planning a wedding in Eau Claire for 2012 and are considering a Saturday of Memorial Day weekend wedding.  We reviewed reception site and our favorite is giving a free reception room rental for the weekend, whcih would save us $500-$1000 over their (and our 2nd and 3rd choice's) normal in-season price.

The one concern I have is that we will end up paying a premium for other vendors such as flowers/photog/dj/etc... because of the holiday weekend and because we are in WI and Memorial Day is the start of Summer for many vendors would rather be 'up north', etc...

Does anyone have any feedback about the general costs of other vendors for a holiday weekend wedding such as Memorial Day? 

-Aaron

debbies44

I've read an article mentioning that a lot of vendors like DJs will charge you extra for a holiday wedding.  But I think there are other important things to think of for that weekend.

First: think about your guests.  Hotels will be SUPER expensive that weekend.  Guests will likely have to pay premium prices since it's during a popular traveling holiday weekend.  It might also be very difficult to reserve a block of rooms in a hotel and your guests might have to stay very far from your venue.

Second: a lot of less thought of vendors are usually not willing to work that weekend, like for example a hairdresser or make-up artist or other details like that.  I know a lot of people who want to get married on January 1st have found that hair and make-up people have been hard to find because they don't want to work.

Third: your first choice of vendors might be out of your budget or unavailable that weekend so you might not have the exact wedding you want and if you are only doing it once don't you want your first choices?

I think if these things can be avoided it's really great you'll get your venue for such a great price.  You could also look at an off season wedding like late winter/early spring or the fall if you wanted a better price on your venue.

GL!

beckster5551

I am planning a wedding over Memorial Day weekend in 2011. The main reason we have picked that date is because most of the guest will be from OOT. I like the fact that they will have an extra day of travel. 

Since you are still a little less then two years away you should be able to get great prices if you book early enough. Many vendors give discounts if you book a year out. 

So far I haven't run into any major issues with planning a wedding over a holiday wedding. As long as your not having your wedding at a campsite you should be good. LOL. My biggest issue so far is that some guest have something they do every Memorial Day weekend, like go to their cabin. If that's more important then my wedding then I don't want them to be there anyways. 

HTH!

Alyssa0421

We just had our wedding on Memorial Day weekend this year. It wasn't our first choice for a date but we ended up with a gorgeous day and are so glad we did it then. We didn't have any negative comments from guests about the date choice. We didn't have any guests not come because of annual Memorial Day plans, either.

I was nervous about the vendor thing too, but it never came up as an issue while we were booking people. It is such a popular weekend to get married now that wedding vendors must expect to work that weekend. Just book early, especially if you know you want certain vendors. Good luck planning!

soccerkris

I am also planning our wedding for Memorial Day for 2011.  It has been no issues.  Actually you will save money if you can lock in rates now for 2012.  I booked some things and got 2010 rates which in the end will save money.  My out of town guests love that I am doing it on a holiday weekend so they have a chance to actually see the city and do some non wedding things.  Overall, it is a big hit so far.

Jenn0129

I'm getting married Memorial Day weekend 2011 in Eau Claire, and we haven't had any issues yet!  Our out-of-town family definitely appreciates the extra long weekend!