Wedding date dilemma

toribee21

Hi everyone :]

I'm fairly new here but I've seen how wonderful these boards can be and I would LOVE some input on choosing my wedding date. Also, I know there's a student board but this one seems a bit more intimate/less intimidating :]

My fiancé & I will both be college seniors when we get married. We've settled on October 2012 (about halfway through the semester) but we're stuck on the actual date. We're trying to keep costs down so I was hoping for a Friday or Sunday wedding. The problem is that I don't want our attendants to feel pressured to take much time off from their classes for travel time, rehearsal/dinner, and recovery time from the actual event. (They're all out of state- figures!) I also really want an evening wedding, or at least early evening, so that makes Sundays a bit difficult.

I feel like October is tricky for non-Saturday weddings because the only holiday weekend is Columbus Day, and most people don't seem to get that off from work/school.

So, what do you ladies think? Have any of you thought about a non-Saturday wedding? Any help would be much, much appreciated! Thank you :]

rxjen

Yes, We are getting married on a Sunday because we are Jewish.

siouxsie7

That's a really tricky one... I know when I was a senior I didn't have any Friday classes, but that could create a problem for those who would have to travel on Thursday to be there for the Rehearsal Dinner.  Also, there could always be mid-terms so you don't really want to bank on people being able to take the day off.  Is there really no way you could do it on a Saturday?  My own personal feelings on that is a matter of deciding priorities.  While I want to keep costs down as much as possible, I knew I had to have it on a Saturday.  Trust me, it kills me when I see that the very venue I want has a $4,000 difference if you do it on a Sunday instead of Saturday.  My FI's family is entirely out of state and I just can't do it on any other day to make sure we can accomodate everyone.

mana8503

Just curious is there is something special about Oct?  Sounds like Summer would be easier with classes, etc. Unless Oct has a meaning, I'd seriously consider changing it so it's easier on you and your guests.  Will you be ok with classes and planning, getting ready for a wedding midsemester?  Are you planning on going on a honeymoon right after the wedding?

As for Friday or Sunday, yes there's a big price difference, but like you a lot of my FI's guest will be OOT.  We decided to make it easier for out guests and going with a Saturday evening wedding.  If everyone was more local I'd go with a Friday more than Sunday.   That way you and your guests have a day or two to travel back, etc before school/work on Monday. 

toribee21

Thank you ladies, I really appreciate the input! October is significant because it's the month of our anniversary and also the month he proposed. I think you're right that it will just have to be a Saturday night. It's tough because of the extra expense but I think we'll just have to find ways to lower costs on other aspects of the wedding to make up for it.

mana8503

Well you have 2 years so plenty of time for DIY projects and find venue(s) that are in your budget.  Also have a estimate of number of guests.  I guessed at 150 and after writing a mock guest list we realized it was closer to 100.  That's almost a $5,000 savings!  So the smaller the guest list you can save as much as having the wedding on a friday/sunday

You can still have a BEAUTIFUL day celebrating your marriage even on a budget!

toribee21

Thank you! You are very right, especially about the guest list. I think that's going to be one of the simplest ways to save!