Good Friday?

TexanTreasure08

Hello everyone!

This is my first post here but I have been scouring the site for awhile now. I just got engaged the week before Easter & am currently trying to plan my Spring wedding for 2011. I just had a question. Can anyone see a problem with getting married in the evening of the Friday before Easter, April 22 which is Good Friday? The DJ that I really really want is not in our budget for Saturday (a $1500 difference!) so I want to move it to a Friday and our venue is completely open and available for the month of April. I wanted nice weather but still towards the end of the month so the flower garden that I will be getting married in front of will have a chance to bloom. We don't have a lot of out-of-towners coming so I'm not worried about that. My only concern is that his mother's side of the family is Catholic and Good Friday is suppose to be a very sad mournful day where they don't eat meat. But according to his mother they don't observe Good Friday and they eat meat whenever they want, all they do is give up something for Lent and go to church on Easter. I'm hoping she is right for the rest of the family. 

Other positives include that that day is also Earth Day which I would like to commemorate, everyone would already be together for Easter, and I could even have a brunch the day after if I wanted.

Can anyone think of any other pros or cons? I want to make sure I consider everything before I commit to a date.

Thanks so much for reading all of this!!

Angela

llc2011

My wedding is April 23 of next year, so the Saturday before Easter.  When we picked the date (closest Saturday to our dating anniversary) and started booking things, none of our vendors mentioned anything.  We actually didn't look at a calendar so we didn't realize it was Easter weekend until about 3 months after we booked our venue. Our rehearsal and rehearsal dinner will be on Good Friday, so we are going to make sure there is a non meat option for those that observe that.

It really just depends on your friends and family and how religious they are.  If the day is good for you and those closest to you, and your vendors then I would say go for it.

juliebug1997

If you want to get married in the Catholic Church, I think you will be hard pressed to find one who will let you get married on a holy day.  They all have services--the church where I got married had services pretty much all day long.  My mom mentioned to me when we were getting married that the church used to not allow weddings during Lent at all.  You may also have a hard time with a florist who has their own shop.  Lots of churches ask for special flowers on Easter weekend for their services.  Good luck!

stephl3055

My church (Catholic) wouldn't let anyone get married during Lent as well.  We got married the weekend after Easter.  The priest said that the church had too many other events going on during Lent.  If you're not having a church ceremony, then you might be fine. 

The earlier you plan with your florist (and everyone), the better.  Some businesses are closed on Good Friday, so you might have to arrange for a hair stylist/make-up artist to come to your venue, rather than you going to them. 

emimayor

Like other PP mentioned, if you're getting married in the Catholic church, having your wedding on a holy day is out of the question. However, you said you were getting married in a garden, so I assume you're not having a Catholic wedding. So with that said, I personally would not be too happy about going to a wedding on Good Friday, but I'm also a practicing Catholic. I also have issues with Friday weddings, but thats an entirely different story. It really depends on your guests. If you're not having many out of town guests, you should be okay. Have non-meat options available for your Cathlolic guests.

Good luck and Congrats!

Jay+Marissa

Yeah, Holy Week is out for weddings for Catholics. Personally, if you have a lot of Catholic guests attending, I wouldn't do it. It seems a little disrespectel. Catholics are supposed to be fasting and reflecting on the horror Jesus went through on the cross on that day--kind of hard to do at a wedding.

bridgetlb

i'm catholic and ditto what marissa said, i know most of my family probably wouldn't come and they'd be offended for sure! wouldn't be a good way to try and impress the future in-laws.

fallbride1109

To tell you the truth, I'm not Catholic and I wouldn't be crazy about the idea.  I still attend Good Friday services, which at my church is a very solumn service, with the sanctuary going completely dark at the end and us all filing out in silence.  For many, it is still treated as a solumn day of reflection and prayer, even for non-Catholics.

TexanTreasure08

Thanks everyone for your opinions!

As some of you figured out we are not getting married in the church. He doesn't go to church & we live together which pretty much excludes us from getting married there.

But I was still a little uneasy with the idea of getting married on Good Friday even though it was actually his mom that said they didn't care. I will probably move it to the 29th which is actually Arbor Day too which I am excited about commemorating. Only thing that sucks is that one of my good friends lives in Florida & wont be able to make it since she graduates from college on the 30th. I guess you can't include everyone, huh?

Thanks again!! I'm sure I will have lots more questions for y'all in the next year! 

Jay+Marissa

Good luck!