Friday after the 4th?? Can't decide!

emmyroo · February 2012

So, we are trying to decide between having our wedding on a Friday or Saturday. After visiting venues yesterday and seeing how much cheaper it could be on a Friday (especially at my favorite venue - I LOVE it!), I'm seriously considering a Friday wedding. I still want to keep it early in July, but the first weekend is right after 4th of July, which is on a Thursday in 2013. I kind of think it would be fun to have the rehearsal and dinner earlier in the day on Thurs (the 4th) then have a bbq or cook-out for dinner (cheap and easy!) and go and watch fireworks after. Then have the wedding on the 5th. Since the 4th is on a Thursday, some people may already have Friday the 5th off.

If you were a guest (not also invited to the rehearsal), what would you think? What if you were in the wedding party and would come to the rehearsal on the 4th? Should we keep it that weekend, or move it to the next one? (we'd also be on our honeymoon over FI's b-day if it was the next weekend) Thanks in advance for your opinions!

[Deleted User] · February 2012

I was hoping to have mine the Friday after the 4th, but my favorite venue is completely booked that day, so I opted for the next Friday, the 12th. I think its a great idea, and your rehearsal dinner/celebration sounds fun! Just remember if you have a lot of guests coming into town, hotels might be more expensive that weekend, and I'm not sure about vendors availability for that day too (band, DJ, florist), you never know they might take advantage of having a long holiday weekend.

WildMagelet · February 2012

What time of day is your wedding? As a guest I wouldn't mind it as long as it was late afternoon or evening. Holiday aside, the later the better in terms of Friday weddings - not everyone gets that Friday off and my decision to come would be based on location, time of day, our relationship, and how much PTO I had available to me.

If we were close enough for me to be in the WP, I think what you have planned sounds fun. I enjoy BBQ and fireworks so it would be a win-win for me.

WalkersFurMama · February 2012

I am having mine on the 5th and had almost the exact same thought process. First, think about your most important guests (family, bridal party, etc.), do they have standing 4th of July plans that they do every single year? If the answer is yes, check with them (chances are they can be flexible). Luckily, that wasn't a problem for FH and I so we went ahead and set the date. We figured that anyone else we invited would be there if they wanted to regardless of date. We had to go with a Friday if we were going to be able to afford our venue, wanted a June/July wedding and with my teaching schedule the 5th or 12th would be the earliest we could go. So, rather than our guests possibly having to take time off of work two weeks in a row we decided that wrapping it all up into one weekend would be best. Our guests can do what they wish on Thursday, come to the wedding on Friday, and still have Saturday and Sunday of the holiday weekend to head to the lake or whatever they like. We are also doing the 4th of July rehersal with lawn games, a cook-out, boat rides on the lake at my aunt's house, and fireworks after dark. I'm very excited!

thatjess · February 2012

Alot of guests have to travel for ours but we are doing Friday evening wedding for the local people so they can still work if they want to. Firework rehearsal is my plan! DF is 4th lover.

tipton&snyder · February 2012

I think the Friday the 5th would be a great idea. We are having a smaller wedding due to it being our second wedding and are wondering about doing it the Wednesday night before the 4th. We are also looking at the benefit to having it during the week for a huge price break. Would love to get your opinion.

onelastpost · February 2012

7/5/13 is our choice as well! Both venues we have spoken with have it open, but we are pitting them against each other in a bidding war presently

Having a July wedding on a Friday represented a HUGE cost savings for us, so we jumped on that date pretty quickly. Most of my family/friends are local, but my fiance's are not. We plan to send out save the dates to all out of town guests about a year in advance (and spread the word locally via email) so everyone has enough time to request off, start saving, and plan for 2-3 nights in our fair city. I am a little concerned bc Philadelphia has a HUGE celebration every year for the 4th of July. It looks like in 2012, it will be 2 weeks long, ending on July 4th, so hopefully the same will go for 2013. I will be booking our room blocks ASAP to make sure we have the rooms we need set aside!

keyaira04 · March 2012

Four year ago, my Matron of Honor held her wedding on 7/5. It was really prefect. Everyone was already in town, the fireworks were great and the clubs were jumping! I came to the rehearsal and party after-wards, but I'm one of those friends that felt the date was about her, not about me. So who cares it was a holiday; tomorrow was my BFF's day. I do remember that year 7/4 was a Friday and 7/5 was a Saturday.

Now it's my turn and we have also selected 7/5. We will have a small wedding, so most of it was to ensure some people would un-invite themselves (sounds mean, but we need to save money) due to the date. I've only heard one person to date state they would have to take the day off, but this was more of a reminder to self than a complaint. My only concern has been it's my MOH's Anny, but they felt it was a honor for us to now share a Anny with them.

Lastly, I got the idea from my MOH after her wedding to have a Friday wedding, if possible, to save money. The venue was about $500 cheaper due to Friday and I am finding everyone say that no Fridays have been booked for 2013 in our area yet, which is sweet. We are in a mid-size city, but the second largest in the state (I know that sound weird). I hope the price and availability continues to work in our favor. We are having a early wedding, but the date has been the 'golden ticket', not the time.

I hope this helps.

amphilli · May 2012

I was having the same dilemma, but we decided on booking July 5th, 2013 for our wedding. It will give our guests extra travel time since a lot of our family will have to travel, and we decided to have our rehersal dinner on the 3rd so we can just spend time with our out of town guests on the 4th.

Only issue so far has been our church not wanting to do the wedding over the holiday, but they since agreed to do it. Good thing:)

amphilli · May 2012

I was having the same dilemma, but we decided on booking July 5th, 2013 for our wedding. It will give our guests extra travel time since a lot of our family will have to travel, and we decided to have our rehersal dinner on the 3rd so we can just spend time with our out of town guests on the 4th.

Only issue so far has been our church not wanting to do the wedding over the holiday, but they since agreed to do it. Good thing:)

Friday after the 4th?? Can't decide!

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