Friday VS Saturday

JeremiahsBabe

Can't decide!  Both 11/11/11 and 11/12/11 are open for my hopeful venue and I can NOT decide if I want to do a Friday pm or sat wedding.  I love the idea of a fun date but both are fun so blah...

I KNOW I want to still serve a full dinner, likely a buffet, and have dancing after dinner.  My top 3 priorities (besides marrying my BFF) is to have good food, drinks and dancing.  I am cutting everywhere else..

Friday nights can usually be less expensive, but what time is the ceremony? dinner? dancing?

DO people actually stay our as late as on a sat wedding to dance?

Sat is more trad, a tad more pricy, but maybe more guests would show up and stay out later....

What are your preferences and why?

wittyschaffy

I had a friday wedding but opted to have a private ceremony with just immediate family, grandparents, and godparents.  We had a blowout party for EVERYONE starting at 6 for cocktail hour.  That gave the local folks a litle time to go home after work and not have to feel rushed to get to the party.  We had a full dance floor until the bitter end.  You do also get a few better rates on Fridays but that is, I think, starting to change a little as more people do Friday weddings. 

Olie05

I am doing my wedding on a friday.  Just a while ago I went to a wedding on a friday and loved the idea!! It did not feel like my weekend was taken up by a wedding, you will have 2 more days on the weekend to enjoy!! Also you can sometimes get discounts on friday weddings.  I am getting 10% off my total bill of food and non alcoholic drinks!!

saintpaulJess

I voted for Saturday because I think you might get more people.  Sometimes it can be hard for people to take work off to get to your wedding on time.  But regardless of which date you choose, the people who want to be there will come.

Steph0871

Depends.  A Friday will probably give you more no's, but maybe that's ok? We're doing a Sunday wedding, but still ended up with exactly the 1/3 decline 'they' say is normal.

If you do a Friday one, make sure nothing starts until at least 7 would be my thought.  

tegdirb2001

We are doing a Friday wedding because our priest is only able to do a Friday.  But then I thought about it more, we are saving so much money and everyone loves the idea of a Friday wedding. Guest still have there whole weekend.  Our wedding is starting @ 6:30 and then the reception will be after.  We are serving heavy hor d'ouevres and still doing a dance. We cut out the cocktail hour since our wedding is so late in the evening.  We are also cutting out other things in the reception so it doesn't feel so short (ie guarter toss, boquet toss, dollar dance, etc.)  I don't like those things anyway so I was more than happy to cut them out.

Liberty27

Personally, I dislike Friday weddings because by Friday night I am usually exhausted.  I get up for work at 5 in the morning, so I am usually ready for bed by 9.  I probably would decline unless it is a close family member.

bellaxanthe

I love my Firday night wedding (7 pm start). The whole weekend isn't tied up for everyone else in wedding stuff. Sure out of towners took off a day of work but they would have anyway to make the rehersal dinner if they were involved. And I am saving so much money. Literally thousands. The Sat. weddings I go to sometimes can have the horrible "lull" in the middle of the afternoon anyway.  My schedule is much more compact. BUT I get to enjoy my morning and have the luxury of taking my time to get ready.  I'm excited for it.

SuperRNluvsChef

I'm having a Friday wedding also.  We're saving about $2500 in catering food minimums.  Our ceremony starts at 6pm.  I'm excited to also have the rest of the weekend to enjoy with my new husband and our families

shan87

I would decided this by the number of OOT guests. We are having a Sat. wedding because 75-85% of our Guests are OOT (including all of FI family minus his mom dad)  and it would be almost impossible for them to take that many days off.
My FI is also in the Military and it would add to the number of leave days he and his guests and Military WP memebers would have to take. So it just wasn't an option for us.


That being said I was in my Uncle's Friday wedding in HS and loved that I got to miss school - but I was a cheerleader and had to miss a FB game which sucked. So I would consider your WP and if they are fine with taking the day off.

EmilyCMN

We are doing a Friday wedding also. I wanted a Saturday wedding but they were all booked at the venue we chose. After thinking about it the Friday seemed to make more sense anyway. We are doing an out of town wedding, so everyone will be traveling. But the site we chose has awesome amenities! Now our guests will actually get to do all the things the resorts offer and tour around the North Shore for the weekend. Someone told me early on, people who are going to come will come no matter when you have it! It is your wedding so save the money and do it on Friday!

veijes

I would go with 11/11/11, that's a cool date to have!!! We were going to go for 10/10/10 but didn't want to wait the extra 4 months so we jumped it up to June.

SSaltzman87

Maybe ask key family members and friends what they'd prefer? There are pros and cons to both dates. If you have a lot of OOTs, most likely they wouldn't be able to make it on a friday.

I do agree with PPs that if you decide friday, that things shouldn't start til at least 6 or 7.

graysquirrel

I think that the savings would be worth it for the Friday wedding. You wont be sacrificing any of the important things that you listed, and chances are that the people who are the most important in your life will show up & have a great time regardless of the date you choose.

Cascasbaby53

I love the idea of Friday weddings. We are having our ceremony late Friday afternoon. I know there are certain people that won't be able to make it, but the important people will be there. It will also give our ceremony a more intimate feel. Then we are having cocktail hour and dinner at 6. This will give people time to go home and change, or do whatever they want to prepare. H'ordeourves with cocktail hour and full dinner. Then we have our dance.

mlschn06

I voted Saturday because a good friend of mine had a Friday wedding and nothing started until 6 or 6:30, traffic was awful trying to get there at that time (if you are in the cities) and the night flew by way to fast! With the ceremony at 6, I think it was already 10pm by time dinner was over and it just did not seem like enough time to take everything in and enjoy it

martiac225

Like a PP, I'm not a fan of attending Friday weddings.  I'm exhausted by Friday and even if it's a later ceremony it still requires a loss of work. Just my personal pref

I Want Cake

I'd prefer a Saturday wedding, for the same reason as some other PPs who would have to work and then be tired before things really got going, or would be pissed about having to take a day off.  We're having a Saturday wedding for this reason, and because at least 50% of our guests are from OOT and they'll need the extra day to travel and probably won't want to pull their kids out of school.  A Friday wedding would work best if the vast majority of your guests are local.  If not, the OOTers would most likely prefer a Saturday wedding.

honeybear25

I am having a friday wedding because I wanted the date 19 because both of our birthdays are on 19s. It was the closest 19 available.  When I asked family they all loved the idea because it gives them a reason for a three day weekend!  Plus as i have been planning it is literally thousands ( like 8,000) dollars cheaper. off season is cheaper plus friday cheaper equals 20,000 dollar wedding for like 12,000. But do whatever your heart tells you to do and it will be amazing!

Veittobe

We LOVED our Friday wedding and wouldn't change it for anything!

Our ceremony ran from 5:30-6pm.  Cocktail hour from 6-7.  Dinner served at 7 and dances started around 8.  The dance floor was full until 12:30am.  Everyone had a blast.

Benefits of Friday: 1.  Friday Discounts from venue, DJ and photobooth.  2.  Greater availability of vendors open for booking  3.  2 full days in the weekend to relax after the wedding.  

Drawbacks of Friday:  1.  Some guests needed to take off of work early in order to make the ceremony - some chose to wait until the reception.  2.  Shorter wedding time if you choose to wait to see eachother until you walk down the aisle.  If you do a first look this is not an issue.

We received so many compliments on having a Friday wedding.  A few people commented that they would have to take time off of work in order to attend, so I think some were a little bummed about that.  But then we also had those who were grateful to have an extra day to "recover" too.  

Good luck with your decision!!

ecni0801

We were going to have a Friday wedding, but one of the big things the FI and I wanted was to NOT see each other before the wedding. However, we needed the wedding to start at a time when people would most likely be off of work so they could come...so we decided on a 4pm wedding, but then wanted dinner to start at 6ish...but we weren't willing to give up not seeing each other before...and if we didn't, our pictures would take much longer after the wedding and we weren't sure if we could fit it all in. If that's a concern with you, then I'd probably switch to a Saturday. It's just a lot easier, although a little more money

debbieupper

My two cents (or 5?):

-If you have a lot of OOT guests, consider their time if you do a Friday wedding. You can be sure some people will not come because of it.  If you're fine with that, that's cool. If you would rather have more people there, go for Saturday. The "people who count will be there" theory isn't necessarily true - It doesn't always have to do with how much someone wants to be there. If you don't have extra days to take off, you just don't (teachers often fall into that category). 

-If it's mostly about having a "cooler" date that's making you lean toward Friday, but your first preference is Saturday, go with Saturday. You'll have more time to experience the day and your wedding party and guests will feel less rushed.

Obviously, I'm for the Saturday wedding. I've catered over a hundred weddings (at the risk of sounding like an a-hole) and on the whole, Saturday weddings go longer and people are more "into it". That doesn't go for everyone, of course, but plain and simple, that's how it is more often than not.

JeremiahsBabe

Thanks for all the advice ladies! I decided on Saturday November 19, 2011.  I am soooo excited!!!