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Louisiana-New Orleans
Wedding during Mardi Gras/Carnival season....am I crazy? (long)
Hi y'all,
So just a quick background/some possibly relevant facts before my question (warning: long):
-My e-ring is currently being custom-made, which is very cool, but we won't have it for awhile, like prob not before January.
-My OH does not want to have a wedding during "official hurricane season" which is June-November. We don't want to say we're engaged or concretely set a date, etc., until we have the ring and he's asked me. (Though I'm not saying that should be the case for all people, just us!).
So with those 2 things in mind....it's now too soon (in my opinion) to have a wedding before June 2011, the start of the season. It ends November 30, 2011. December 2011 is (I feel) a little too close to the holidays, 90% of our people are from OOT, I don't think they'd want to travel close to the holidays.
January 2012 is (in my opinion) too soon AFTER the holidays, and when ppl RSVP they'll be thinking "oof, holiday expenses coming up, can't travel."
Which brings us to...February 2012. Which is...Mardi Gras/Carnival season! Yay! Except...am I totally out of my mind for thinking of having a wedding then?
Mardi Gras "Day" is Tues (obvs) 2/21/12 (hey that's a cool date). The Saturdays in that month are: 2/11, 2/18, or 2/25. (Also 2/4, but that's the day before the Superbowl so I'm gonna keep that clear for the Saints
tee hee). I'm thinking "no" to 2/18 as that would be the night of Endymion/fun but crazy. Which leaves us with: 2/11 or 2/25-(after Mardi Gras).
Should we just have it the Saturday *after* Mardi Gras? Would that be a letdown? Or on 2/11, even though there would be parades that night etc....? Should we just avoid it all together and have it in March?
Thanks for your opinions - what an odd yet fun problem to have
. Only in New Orleans! 
And yes I know it's far out to be thinking about this, but the date for Mardi Gras won't change so might as well figure it out now.....
Thanks y'all!
So just a quick background/some possibly relevant facts before my question (warning: long):
-My e-ring is currently being custom-made, which is very cool, but we won't have it for awhile, like prob not before January.
-My OH does not want to have a wedding during "official hurricane season" which is June-November. We don't want to say we're engaged or concretely set a date, etc., until we have the ring and he's asked me. (Though I'm not saying that should be the case for all people, just us!).
So with those 2 things in mind....it's now too soon (in my opinion) to have a wedding before June 2011, the start of the season. It ends November 30, 2011. December 2011 is (I feel) a little too close to the holidays, 90% of our people are from OOT, I don't think they'd want to travel close to the holidays.
January 2012 is (in my opinion) too soon AFTER the holidays, and when ppl RSVP they'll be thinking "oof, holiday expenses coming up, can't travel."
Which brings us to...February 2012. Which is...Mardi Gras/Carnival season! Yay! Except...am I totally out of my mind for thinking of having a wedding then?
Mardi Gras "Day" is Tues (obvs) 2/21/12 (hey that's a cool date). The Saturdays in that month are: 2/11, 2/18, or 2/25. (Also 2/4, but that's the day before the Superbowl so I'm gonna keep that clear for the Saints
tee hee). I'm thinking "no" to 2/18 as that would be the night of Endymion/fun but crazy. Which leaves us with: 2/11 or 2/25-(after Mardi Gras).Should we just have it the Saturday *after* Mardi Gras? Would that be a letdown? Or on 2/11, even though there would be parades that night etc....? Should we just avoid it all together and have it in March?
Thanks for your opinions - what an odd yet fun problem to have
. Only in New Orleans! And yes I know it's far out to be thinking about this, but the date for Mardi Gras won't change so might as well figure it out now.....
Thanks y'all!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Wedding during Mardi Gras/Carnival season....am I crazy? (long)
Personally, i would skip February completly, but if i had to chose i would go with the 25th which i think would totally be fine. i would not do it on the 11th becuase the traffic would be a pain and I wonder if hotel costs would be high? Just my opinion. Good Luck! its going to be fantastic no matter what day you choose!
We did our engagement party the weekend after mardi gras this past year and it really didn't seem like people were too tired, etc. I would just watch out for your out of town guests. If they come in for mardi gras will they still have time off to come in for your wedding?
Also-if you decide to switch to March watch out for St. Patrick's Day festivals/parades ESPECIALLY is you're having your wedding in the quarter. There are always these small unannounced parade krewes around that time, but it is possible to avoid.
I hope this helps!
WHO DAT!
Amy
according to my fiance, who grew up in new orleans, the first weekend is more of "the locals" mardi gras and is not nearly as crazy as the second weekend on up to fat tuesday. our first choice, mind you, was march or april 2011, but everything was booked up at least 10 months out and we had decided to enjoy the engagement phase before getting into massive planning mode.
personally, i'm thrilled that we're going end of february because the weather should be cooler. plus, for our OOT guests (which is about 75%), they can get a flavor of mardi gras, see some local parades, etc. yes, there's a little extra legwork to provide maps that take into account the parade routes and not all hotels were willing to discount, but it was worth it to me to have the venue and people involved that we wanted involved. and i didn't want to wait an extra year!
Thanks again, y'all are very helpful! :-)
I, sort of, feel ur pain. My wedding is scheduled for the first Sunday of Jazzfest. Not as bad as Mardi Gras though. I would DEFINITELY wait until March. Besides, the weather in March is much nicer. Who doesn't love springtime in New Orleans when the azelias are in bloom? GOOD LUCK!
Although...I've been to a wedding during the first weekend of December, and it was absolutely lovely and not at all too close to the holidays. Also, November is normally very quiet in terms of hurricanes, so the second-to-last or last weekend would be a safe bet. I'm looking into the first weekend of November in 2012, myself.
Nov '12 September Siggy - Bridesmaids!
I don't know the dates, but I know that NOLA is host to the Women's Final 4 (which might be in March) that year. You just might want to check that out, too...
I'm getting married in January, and we thought people would be hesitant to come right after the holidays, but we've gotten a lot more yeses than anticipated. Just might be something to consider.
[QUOTE]Since you have many out of town guests, I would get hotel rates for the weekends that you are considering for your wedding. <strong> You may find that the hotels are more expensive during Mardi Gras because that's a popular tourism time.</strong> You may want to contact the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau to see what events are being held and what the occupancy percentage is in the local hotels. Hope this helps, and good luck!
Posted by janmlandry[/QUOTE]
I totally forgot, but definitely this.
Nov '12 September Siggy - Bridesmaids!