Is my wedding date a big No No?

AJS1113

My fiance and I are trying to come up with a wedding date that is significant to us and I fell in love with the idea of getting married on the 21st, because both of our birthdays fall on the 21st. It just so happens that in 2012, December 21st falls on a Friday, 12/21/12. I love everything about that date. The way it looks written, the significance of the 21st, the winter and snow, and its relativity to Christmas and winter break for schools. And the fact that you can usually get discounts on things because winter is an off season for weddings and its a friday, and who isn't on a budget these days.
But after telling this to a couple friends, I was told it was a terrible idea to have it that close to Christmas, and that it would be a huge inconvinience to my guests, and that many would probably not make it. I'm very conflicted now. I understand that the holiday season is very busy for people, but since we would be getting married where we are from and a vast majority of our family and friends live, is it really a huge deal? A few friends and family would have to travel in, but when this is where most of them are from and their family still lives anyway, is that really inconvenient?
Would I be selfish to have my wedding so near christmas, or are my friends wrong? I want as many of our loved ones to make it as possible, but I don't want it to be a headache for them either. Who's right?

Pjb1211

We are getting married on Dec 22 (in exactly three weeks yay!) and I am happy with our decision. It seemed as though someone had a problem no matter what date we chose, which is part of why we ended up on a Thursday. I've heard everything at this point. Some people love it and some people hate it. One of my FH's aunts told us we ruined her Christmas. Other people loved the chance to come out and see family at Christmas. There were a lot more no's due to family obligations, though. This was mostly only an issue with friends. You are completely correct about vendors, in my experience. Everyone has been much more lax with rules for us, we've gotten cheaper prices, our hotel block was held longer, we got a huge venue discount, the list goes on and on. I also feel the service we've received has been much better. People in the wedding business seem less stressed at this time of year. The bottom line is if they want to come they will come. We had some no-shows which made me sad, but I had way more comments about the cold than about the holiday - and you'll be even further from Christmas than us. Good luck and happy planning! Ps be prepared for lots of holiday-themed shower gifts. (I'm Jewish so it was really weird for me lol.)

Pjb1211

Also it's not like everyone will say no. We are having 140 guests. We also did Save the Dates 9 months prior and I think that was helpful for a lot of people. If you do end up having it that day (although it sounds like you might have changed your mind) I would suggest magnets so that people see it on a regular basis and don't forget. :-) I am very happy with our date. I am a teacher and sorry but the date has to work around the bride and groom first and foremost. I think it's a little stressful to be getting holiday stuff and a wedding ready, but only for me, not for anyone else. A lot of people loved having it close to when they already had time off like others have mentioned. We had first planned on 12/30 and people had issues, then we moved it and people had more issues, then we moved it again and people had more issues. Eventually we realized that the people who weren't happy really weren't going to be happy either way, so we had to pick what we liked and stick with it.

Pjb1211

Sorry one more thing, as my mom kept telling me people only keep giving you their opinion when they think it matters. As soon as you pick the date and they know they can't change it there won't be nearly as many people telling you it's a difficult date.