Florida-North Florida

Holiday Weekend Wedding?

How do you feel about weddings on holiday weekends?  We are considering having our wedding on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend (cheaper on Sunday), but I have read online this may be poor planning for a variety of reasons.  For one, travel for guests can be pricier (although my FI travels all the time for work and usually the Friday before and the Monday of holiday weekends are more expensive, Saturdays are usually cheap).  Another drawback is that people may not want to spend one of only three summer holiday weekends attending our wedding.  I hadn't thought of that myself, because living in Florida- it's always nice out- all weekends are the same for me!  But, all of our family, and some friends will be traveling from PA/NY/NJ.  I think most of our Florida friends would be okay with it.Will guests think of our wedding as a wecolmed vacation to Florida on an extended weekend, or will it be a major PITA for people?

Re: Holiday Weekend Wedding?

  • edited December 2011
    I know if it was me, I wouldnt mind. Its not like I do anything special for Memorial Day. It would be diff if it was like Easter or something.
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  • edited December 2011
    I think it would be nice also your out of town guests could make it a little vacation and they would not have to take off work on that Monday. it may be a pain traveling around the holidays, but its not thanksgiving or anything so it shouldn tbe too bad. I would say go ahead and do it!
  • jagore08jagore08 member
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    edited December 2011
    I had my wedding on the Sunday of Memorial weekend this year. We sent save the dates so people wouldn't make plans then realize our wedding was the same weekend. No one had a problem with the date. And we did save a lot of money having it on a Sunday.
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  • jendawn80jendawn80 member
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    edited December 2011
    I wouldn't worry at all. I'm getting married on the Sunday of Memorial day weekend! Because it's not really a "family get together" holiday I decided it would work best so that it gives guests an extra day for travel on Monday when they would normally have to take off work. I think people will find it convenient and I've met many other brides that have gotten married on Memorial weekend. I chose Sunday more for religious reasons (can't get married on Saturdays until after sundown) and honestly I'm not finding it cheaper at all since most vendors charge the same no matter if it's Sat night or Sun (at least in my experiences so far). I would definately recommend save the dates to give people enough notice. Good luck!
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  • jamiemarie33jamiemarie33 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thanks everyone!  My FI will be very happy with these answers.  He loved the idea of saving some money, but then I told him I wasn't sure it was a good idea.  Jen- the reason we can save money is the venue where we are probably going to have the reception doesn't have the same minimums as they do for Saturday nights.  For all the girls who are having/had their wedding Memorial Day weekend, did you specifically mention on the STDs that it was on Memorial Day weekend?  Thanks!
  • jendawn80jendawn80 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    My mom and I debated specifying it was Memorial Day weekend, but I decided not too (was trying to make a rhyme, but since it's not the actual Memorial Day I couldn't figure out how to make it work).  The magnet has the date and then I made my own little note card to go in each envelope that had a poem.  We've already spread the word that it's Memorial Day weekend, so hopefully when people get the STD they'll look at their calendar and realize it as well.  The food/bev minimums were lower at some places on Sundays , but when you have 100 people it seemed like you are bound to go over the minimums anyway so they didn't matter. I'm sure it depends on the venue and the costs per person though.  For example, my reception venue has a $8000 sunday minimum for the small ballroom I'm using, but the charge per person is about 100 before tax and service charge, so I'm actually looking at a round $16000 just for food/alcohol.  I also found that a lot of people consider Sunday on a holiday weekend just like a Saturday night.  Maybe you'll have better luck with saving money! 
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  • katiek200katiek200 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Just a word of caution- some vendors may charge more because its a holiday weekend. Its less likely for memorial day weekend, but I would check to make sure.
  • jagore08jagore08 member
    5 Love Its Combo Breaker First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    On our STDs we just put the date. We figured that people would look at a calendar to see when the wedding was. [b]KatieK[/b] Welcome back! Haven't seen you in a while. Hope Miami is treating you well.
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  • Emily&ChadEmily&Chad member
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    edited December 2011
    Just do it! =)
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  • duncanpowersduncanpowers member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Sounds like a plan to me :) Yes, the travel might be slightly more expensive, but if you're sending out STDs far in advance, people can start watching for sales on airline fees and still get a good rate.Just don't send out an STD to anyone you'll wish you didn't invite later, because some people do go right ahead and buy a ticket immediately for those very reasons.
  • edited December 2011
    I've been in weddings the past 2 Memorial Day weekends.  One was Saturday (2009) and one was Sunday (2008).  While it did kind of stink to loose my holiday weekend, it was definitely great to have the extra day to travel/recover.  And in hindsight, all I really missed out on was at best a Memorial Day BBQ.  I think you should go for it!
  • sligarhillsligarhill member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We Did!! We got married this Memorial Day weekend and it was amwesome! We had over 100 people travel from out of state and about 100 locals. Everyone is still talking about how much fun they had at our wedding. We planned events for the whole weekend. Everybody (even some locals) stayed at one of two hotels SeaHorse and Courtyard Marriott Oceanfront. Friday we had lunch at Sunny Carribe with everyone that had already made it to town then we all moved to the Courtyard Lobby (it was raining) and greeted all guests as they made it in to town. Saturday we had our rehearsal at the church at 10am and had a brunch in place of a reharsal dinner at the place we met on a blind date (Culhanes Irish Pub) The plan was to have a "bar-cycle" with all guests after the brunch (we informed guests of this in advance and provided them with numbers to call to reserve bike rentals) we eneded up riding trolly's instead of bikes (rain) and it turned in to an awesome party. It was so fun to spend the whole weekend hanging out with all of our friends. Our wedding was on Sunday at 5pm. Everyone had so much fun at our reception! Since Monday was a holiday people stayed up with us until 3am. It was great! Do it! Everytime we see someone that attended our wedding they talk about how much fun they had that weekend.
  • jamiemarie33jamiemarie33 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Yay!  Thanks everyone!  I'm so excited :)  We have a tour of the venue we are most interested in and as long as we like it as much as we think we do, and they are available that date, we have a date and a location!  We're looking at Memorial Day weekend 2011, so I'd imagine we have a good chance, but you never know.  *Crossing my fingers* Thanks again, I went from being unsure about the date to excited for the three day weekend!
  • how early did you send the save the dates should it be earlier due to holiday weekend planning?
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