Having a wedding on a holiday weekend.

coheecm

I was thinking about having my wedding labor day weekend. Is that rude or nice? I figured people would already have a day off work. We love the fall, but don't want to get too far into football season.

laurenclaire1386

You might have a high decline rate. Some people plan trips, or family stuff for that long weekend. But, it also depends on how much of your guestlist is out of town. As an out of town guest, I'd probably appreciate the fact that it was on a long weekend.

kmar022

My Friend has their wedding on Labor Day weekend last year and I loved it. (I was an OOT guest).  It was really nice for me to have an extra day off from work so I could have a long weekend.
I don't think it is that big of a deal to be honest.

Manwaithiel

We're doing ours Memorial Day Weekend. Lots of travelers, so they'll have more flexibility with travel and (most likely) the time off already from work. I realize that holiday traffic and travel times can be ridiculous but it's not the 4th of July or anything like that. I think Memorial Day and Labor Day are those weekends that most people don't "plan" much.

Sapphire1002

People seem to have mixed thoughts on holiday weekend weddings.  I always thought it was a great idea (people had an extra day built in to travel for oot).  My FI pointed out that people do take holidays, airfare is generally higher, etc and that can be the downside for a large # of out of town guests. I guess gauge your guest list.. if you do decide to have it on a holiday weekend, I'd send STDs out early. GL!

rebeccaruth84

I'm having my wedding on a holiday weekend! Mainly we both really love the fourth of july and we wanted it to be a whole patriotic themed, fireworks and cookout kind of weekend. And I have a large amount of family coming from out of town and they were glad to have the extra day off. Either way the people that love you will be there... and any one that is such a party pooper that they wouldnt come on a holiday weekend you wouldn't want there in the first place!

M&R7111

I'm getting married July 1 - the 4th of July weekend.

 I understand that people go away on vacation and/or have places they ritually attend every year on that weekend, but I sent my STDs July 1of  this year.

 My thought is, if I give you a heads up a year in advance and you can't happen to take the first day of the long weekend away from your annual summer drive to the beach to see me get married - which only happens ONCE in a lifetime - I don't need you to come.  Please decline.

tenofcups4me

If you have a lot of out of town guests, I guess it can be a nice idea. But personally I don't like events like weddings on a holiday weekend. This Labor Day weekend, I'm stuck going to a bar mitzvah. And yes, I chose that word carefully -- I do feel like I'm stuck going because it's certainly not my first choice of how I want to spend the weekend. I would feel the same way about a wedding (and I have felt the same way). Yes, I know I could technically decline. But I do feel an obligation to go to those family events that have been held on holiday weekends so I go.

hollytony

Our wedding is this Labor Day weekend (Friday night) I have had lots of positive comments on having it on the 3rd. We have alot of out of town family and everyone is excited to go to the wedding and have the rest of the holiday weekend to catch up and spend time at the lake. Plus if people want to do something over the holiday weekend they still have Saturday, Sunday & Monday to do so. We had a large guest list (375 people) and only about 20 people declined and most were because they had to move their kids back to college.

We did send out save the dates to give our guests a heads up. GL

tldh

Be prepared for everything to cost 50% more because vendors will be working a holiday weekend.

heyimbren

Personally, I don't care. My friend is having her wedding on a three-day weekend. My family normally doesn't have plans do it doesn't interrupt anyting besides work. But do take that into consideration, you know you rguest list better than we do.

Amivy06

I have the same feelings as tenofcups4me. I personally do not like holiday weekend weddings. I would rather take the time off to go to a wedding that is not on a holiday weekend. Also, as the other PPs have said, vendors will most likely charge you more.

hollytony

We did not vendors charge any more for working a holiday weekend. We actually had many vendors offer discounts because its a Friday night instead of a Saturday night.

Calypso1977

i personally would be a bit annoyed, but it certainily wouldnt keep me from attending.  keep in mind traffic is heavy on long weekends, and flight prices are often jacked up.  also, hotels may have 2 or 3 night minimum stays depending upon the area.

nikiandchris

It really depends on your guest list. For me, personally, there's no way. My family, FI's family, and a large percentage of our close friends and relatives all have cottages and cabins and we all spend every summer weekend OOT. My family would be ticked off if I took away their last long weekend of the summer. Although, that really goes for any summer weekend for them. Obviously, if that was our only option they'd change their plans to support me-- but there was no real reason for me to do that to them. Besides, for that weekend there are only 2 places I'd want to be-- at work making triple pay, or at my lake lounging around with a beer.

If a lot of your guests have to travel or don't have a tradition on that weekend they'll probably love it. Like the PP's said, it makes the travel a little less rushed and they'll enjoy it more.

There's 2 perspectives for you. If you are still unsure how it will go over, maybe try casually asking around to some of your close friends and relatives and see what kind of feedback you get.

mkjpop

I think a wedding on a long weekend is a great idea (I get very few vacation days, so I love not having to take a day off), but my fiance is not a fan. I guess it's just a personal choice!  You can't please them all. :-)

J.T.

I didn't find that the costs were higher and we also had a 95% acceptance rate for our Labor Day weekend wedding (but we only invited very close family and friends).  However, we're trying to figure out what to do for our first anniversary and all hotels and airfare cost a fortune because it's a holiday weekend.  Not a huge thing to worry about, but it wasn't something I even thought about when we were planning.

anreynolds

I'm have my wedding on a holiday weekend.  September 3rd to be exact.  LOTS of people have said how they really like it and its no big deal to get Friday off (if they have to b/c of OOT), b/c its a long weekend anyway.  Also, we got big discounts b/c of the Friday and definitely were not charged more b/c it is a holiday.

also, we have about an 85% acceptance rate.  so the holiday did not impact that. 

Calypso1977

However, we're trying to figure out what to do for our first anniversary and all hotels and airfare cost a fortune because it's a holiday weekend. 

JT. , i hear ya.  we were married Feb 21, which was NOT part of president's day weekend.  however, its possible that it will be at some point, teh way the calendar falls, and we've discovered that if we want to go anywhere we have to plan carefully to avoid school vacation week.

sunshine_day_dreams

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_having-wedding-holiday-weekend?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:f96f916f-c909-4177-9759-40cf84f5577cPost:ed625eef-86cb-4b2e-b3c1-66b3463e48ae">Re: Having a wedding on a holiday weekend.</a>:
[QUOTE]Be prepared for everything to cost 50% more because vendors will be working a holiday weekend.
Posted by tldh[/QUOTE]

We're getting married Labor Day weekend this year.  We didn't have any vendors charge us more for the weekend, but we did have a pretty low acceptance rate - around 50%.  Honestly, we were fine with that, and the people we really wanted to be there will be there.  We also have ~95% of our guests from OOT and they were happy for the extra travel time.  I think you have to weigh the pros and cons and decide what's important to you and your FI.

jenellsrevenge

We are having ours on Memorial Day Weekend of 2011. We chose this because there are a couple of a couple of guests and the BM coming from Phoenix (traveling to Georgia), and them maybe a couple of others coming from Louisiana. So far no one has complained about the holiday weekend aspect of it.

SummerBoston10

We got married on July 4 this year.  We thought a lot about the holiday factor and what our guests would think.  We actually talked to a lot of our friends about it before deciding on that date as well. The overwhelming response was that people were happy to have something to do for the holiday!  And actually, every single friend we invited, except for one, came to our wedding. 

You have to know your crowd though.  We don't have many friends with beach houses or other family obligations so we figured it wouldn't be a big deal to most people.  Plus 100% of our guests were from out of state and we had our wedding in Newport, RI which is one of the best places to be for the 4th so people were happy. 

I think that we saw a larger number of our parents' friends decline than maybe otherwise would have but hey that was fine by us! 

EliasBride10

We're getting married on Sept 5th, the Sunday of Labor Day weekend.  It woked out for Sunday better for the venue we wanted.  We sent out save the date cards in January and given our small guest list of 60, I only had 5 no's and none of them were unexpected.  We did experience higher hotel rates for our guests.  And the florist isn't normally open on a Sunday so there was a small fee for delivery on a normally closed day.  I say go for it if it's what you want!!! 

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

We went to my cousin's wedding on Labor Day weekend one year. Out of state AND on my dad's birthday AND we normally had long-standing plans for the weekend.

Close people will work it out if they can. Distant relatives might chose to go to their vacation houses instead or whatever.

The nice thing is that with the 3 day weekend, most people won't have to take off from work to travel.

starla827

I am having my wedding Labor day weekend of next year.

We choose to go that route because we are having a Jewish wedding, and therefore it needed to be on a Sunday.  I thought having it on a Sunday when most people would have off the next day would work out best.

Although we haven't come across higher prices because of the date, we have come across a lot of venders being unavailable because of the popularity of the date.  So, if you are planning for next year, you might want to get started picking out some of the bigger items ASAP.

Hellokatie0517

I loathe holiday weekend weddings and unnecessary parties.  For instance, I'm a BM and FI is a GM in a wedding next year.  They scheduled their E-party on Columbus Day weekend of this year, which also happens to be our 1 year anniversary of our engagement.  I had  planned to go to the same spot where FI proposed to have our E-pics taken that weekend.  That idea is out the window now because of this party.  The parents of B and G thought nothing of it as if no one goes away for long weekends.  Thanks guys!

I think the only way to not piss off people completely with a holiday weekend wedding is to make it a destination wedding.  It's like a mini-vacation rather than having to stay at home the whole weekend just for 1 night.

glam70s

Ours will be on a holiday weekend, but it's in February so I'm not worried about people going to cottages, and it's a relatively new holiday (I think 2011 will be the 3rd year), so I'm not worried about people having long-standing plans for that weekend each year..

We're also doing in on a Sunday morning, so everyone will have most of the day afterward to do what they wish..

bonnyandtim

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_having-wedding-holiday-weekend?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:f96f916f-c909-4177-9759-40cf84f5577cPost:e3070fec-fc18-453b-b0bf-699023ae8fe0">Re: Having a wedding on a holiday weekend.</a>:
[QUOTE]People seem to have mixed thoughts on holiday weekend weddings.  I always thought it was a great idea (people had an extra day built in to travel for oot).  My FI pointed out that people do take holidays, airfare is generally higher, etc and that can be the downside for a large # of out of town guests. I guess gauge your guest list.. if you do decide to have it on a holiday weekend, I'd send STDs out early. GL!
Posted by Sapphire1002[/QUOTE]

For sure try to do STD's!

My BM had hers Memorial Day weekend b/c her brothers are in the military & had some time off that weekend.

Myself, though mine is not exactly the same, my wedding is 10/30. I did STD's because Halloween is a celebrated holiday to us & is also slightly OOT (1 1/2 hours away).

HTH!

Manwaithiel

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_having-wedding-holiday-weekend?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:f96f916f-c909-4177-9759-40cf84f5577cPost:e3b8ee92-f7cc-4891-9355-8c1cd35dda6a">Re: Having a wedding on a holiday weekend.</a>:
[QUOTE]I loathe holiday weekend weddings and unnecessary parties.  For instance, I'm a BM and FI is a GM in a wedding next year.  They scheduled their E-party on Columbus Day weekend of this year, which also happens to be our 1 year anniversary of our engagement.  I had  planned to go to the same spot where FI proposed to have our E-pics taken that weekend.  That idea is out the window now because of this party.  The parents of B and G thought nothing of it as if no one goes away for long weekends.  Thanks guys! I think the only way to not piss off people completely with a holiday weekend wedding is to make it a destination wedding.  It's like a mini-vacation rather than having to stay at home the whole weekend just for 1 night.
Posted by Hellokatie0517[/QUOTE]

Okay, but did you ever consider that the Bride and Groom might not be able to take extra vacation time other than what's allotted to them to have a wedding? My FI can't. He has very specific vacations, one of them being Memorial Day Weekend, when we are getting married. The others are around Thanksgiving and Christmas...ummm...no...

Columbus day weekend...I don't think anyone would even remember that was the date. I've never even heard of school being out or people getting off work for Columbus Day so it's probably an accident. I realize it's your 1st anniversary, but it is your choice to attend. You're not REQUIRED to go to any of these parties and I'm sure if you explained it, people would understand. If you don't like the way the plans are, you could also choose not to be in the WP. Don't act like you're being dragged around and have no say in the matter. And if the Bride is treating you like that, put your foot down and say "It's our anniversary. We'll be sure to send you guys a gift," or something.