New Years Eve Wedding!

LittleSpoonn · December 2009

What do you think about a New Years Eve wedding?

How do you think the turn out would be?

I always thought itd be romantic based on the whole idea of beginning our married life together with the New Year!

FI is down. Esp for moving it back (Originally mid year)

jagore08 · December 2009

I think if you gave your guests plenty of notice and if you don't mind some of your friends and family not coming (due to standing plans or whatever) then I think it's a great idea. Just remember that prices are going to be high for many vendors (like the venue and caterer) because of the day.

LittleSpoonn · December 2009

I figure since prices are typically down in the Winter that they'd rival that of prime wedding season prices...

MyNameIsNot · December 2009

Personally, I would never consider it. Travel is difficult and very expensive at that time of year, and a lot of people will have holiday plans and not make it.

Also, you are asking vendors to work a holiday, and possibly give up their own holiday travel plans. You pay a premium for that. While it isn't peak wedding season, it is peak party season, so you are going to be competeing with a lot of private parties for vendors, so you wouldn't get the benefit that other winter weddings get.

If you've got the money, it's your wedding. Talk to your nearest and dearest and find out how they feel about it, and talk to some venues and vendors to get a read on availability.

katanne9 · December 2009

if you can afford it, i think it sounds like a blast!! who doesn't want to go to a fun party on new years?? so many opportunities for fun details as well

redheadfsu · December 2009

New Years Day is going to be very expensive. Plus you need to give LOTS of notice. You know the people you are going to invite, so only you know if they have standing plans and if they would enjoy a new years wedding.

duckie1905 · December 2009

Personally, I would not attend a NYE wedding unless it was my best friend (who would never do it anyway) or an immediate family member. Travel that time of year is very expensive and that's on top of the fact that I've already traveled for Christmas and probably Thanksgiving too. Not to mention, DH and I have standing NYE plans with friends and I'd really hate to give that up.

With that being said, if you are okay with the potentially inflated cost of vendors, sites, etc and you understand that many of your guests may feel the way I do about NYE weddings then go for it.

pandasquishy · December 2009

Did you post this somewhere else? I just answered a question just like it yesterday.

Anyway, we're having a January 2nd wedding and we have a 50% decline rate because of the time of year and travel expenses. Now I knew the decline rate would be bigger than normal, but if I had known it would have been that much I would have picked a completely different date.

LittleSpoonn · December 2009

Oooh, no.

I didn't double post.
Strange though.
Over 50%, eh?
Well most of the family lives within />5hrs.
And its mainly family so I dont think our decline rate will be so high but taking inflated costs is a good point.

JK10910 · December 2009

Travel and hotels are expensive during the holidays (even New Years). Vendors will be more expensive because it's a holiday. And I'd expect you to be throwing a kick ass party if it was on NYE. Like awesome food, open bar, lots of dancing kick ass party.

BecW2be · December 2009

I started planning a NYE wedding for about 30 people, and it was going great until FI's best friend/cousin became pregnant and couldn't travel from the UK after mid-Dec. We really wanted her there, so we changed the date.

I think if it's a small, intimate wedding, it could be awesome. I even had invitations designed that had a tab you could pull and our single names changed to Mr. & Mrs. W, and the year changed from 2008 to 2009. It was the hardest thing to part with when we changed the date.

Brie2010 · December 2009

I have mixed feelings on this.

The good: It's always expensive and a pain in the butt to go out on NYE because everything is so crowded. It would be nice to go to a wedding, where booze/food/dancing would be free and I'd probably still have fun. People are usually ready to party on NYE, so I would think it would be a good time since people would be in the party spirit, so to speak.

The bad: Expenses this time of year are really high, so I probably couldn't afford a flight and/or hotel right after having to fly home for Christams. Weather probably wouldn't be an issue for you in Florida, but in my area it would be really risky because of ice and snow for people to travel. As a bride, the date would probably book pretty far in advance, and vendors would probably demand higher prices for having to work on a holiday. I'd also have to think about prioritizing--would I rather have a "cool" wedding date, or would I rather have more of my friends and family coming?

Congrats and GL!

lyndausvi · December 2009

Personally I would not be able to attend because of work. Even if it was our own siblings DH and I would not be able to get off work to attend. No matter how much notice you give. It's DH's busiest night of the year.

If work was not an issue, I'm not really sure. I guess it depends on where it was. You said some of your guests are less than 5 hours. Well more than 30 minutes is a long way on NYE. The roads are full with crazy drivers, hotel rates are sky high, babysiters rates are high, if you can even find one. Not sure I want to deal with that.

I woud expect a blow out with free booze, awesome food, great entertainment. I would be disappointed with anything less.

As the bride. I would imagine NYE would be expensive and you might even have a hard time finding a location. I could be wrong. But I can't see any of the restaurants down here closing for a private party unless they are paying some serious money, as they make a lot of money on that night with regular guests.

RaiKai · December 2009

I have been to a couple NYE weddings and had a great time.

We are having ours on the 2nd and have not had much of an issue, for which we are rather fortunate. It's on a weekend so work was not an issue for most of them. All our guests have found great seat sales for either NYE or New Year's Day. It is also off season, so the rooms at the resort were all a great price.

It's also a small wedding (invited about 20, 16 attending) and so we talked to each of them beforehand. The only ones who could not make it were unable to come due to certain work commitments surrounding the upcoming Olympics.

duckie1905 · December 2009

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_just-engaged-proposals_new-years-eve-wedding?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:683Discussion:d95d2d53-3923-4608-9b76-b76f3c730c44Post:ba63c951-c14d-4df0-9c26-ee47b265032a">Re: New Years Eve Wedding!</a>:
[QUOTE] I woud expect a blow out with free booze, awesome food, great entertainment. I would be disappointed with anything less. Posted by lyndausvi[/QUOTE]

I hadn't even thought about this...excellent point. If I was going to attend a NYE wedding it had better be a blowout. Awesome food, booze flowing, going until at least 1 (and probably preferably a little later) with great music, etc.

Honestly, and this is going to sound awful, but I'd be pissed if I wasted my NYE at a wedding with bad food, cheap booze, and bad music. If you want to throw something on NYE I think you need to be ready to dish out the cash.

skichica622 · December 2009

Honestly I personally wouldn't do this. Of the people I know that have gone to NYE weddings of family members, they've all gone grudgingly and been annoyed that they couldn't spend it with their friends. Sure they did the right thing by going, but if I were the bride I wouldn't want to think that anybody was thinking "gee I'd rather be ___ instead!"

pandasquishy · December 2009

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_just-engaged-proposals_new-years-eve-wedding?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:683Discussion:d95d2d53-3923-4608-9b76-b76f3c730c44Post:371e4402-11b6-47ac-9329-b48d757bcacc">Re: New Years Eve Wedding!</a>:
[QUOTE]Oooh, no. I didn't double post. Strange though. Over 50%, eh? Well most of the family lives within />5hrs. And its mainly family so I dont think our decline rate will be so high but taking inflated costs is a good point.
Posted by LittleSpoonn[/QUOTE]

<div>My family lives an hour away from FIs family, we don't have much family on either side that is out of state. The wedding is in my city and a decent portion of his family RSVP'd no, and will not be making the hour trip. Yet we have friends from different states and even a different country making the trip. Every situation is different, I think it's hard to tell what will happen until you get your RSVPs.</div>

SpookieCat · December 2009

My Mom remarried on NYE 5 years ago now. They had a really good turnout for my mom's side of the famiy who are all local but my stepdad didn't have many people from his family willing to make the 4 hour trip.

After 11 they made it into a NYE party - they brought out the hats and all the bells and whistles. Keep in mind the weather - we had the party during a snowstorm but that's not overly surprising for Ottawa.

ExpatPumpkin · December 2009

Since you mentioned the possibility of saving money as one of the perks of the date, it sounds like you may be working with a budget... Would your budget cover a premium open bar, a multi-course plated meal, elaborate decor, and live music lasting past midnight? Anything less and many of your guests may be very disappointed...

As other posters have already pointed out, people would expect a blow-out party on NYE since they'd being giving up other plans to be there. And there's the increase in travel expenses to consider. If your budget can cover it, and if the majority of your guests are local, however, then it might just be the date for you. Otherwise you should really think about it...

squirrly · December 2009

My cousin did it a few years ago, and it was supremely irritating. I would prefer to spend New Year's Eve eating a meal of my choosing, with friends of my choosing, etc. I don't want to pay $400 a night for my hotel room at your wedding. I don't want to pay double for a flight to get there. I don't want to get stuck in the airport one way or the other due to snow and ice. I don't want to cut short my once-a-year visit with my parents and grandparents at Christmas. Depending on my job, I may not get vacation time at the end of the year (finance & IT often don't - many work 12/31 and 1/1).

In my view, anything between December 15 and January 15 is off-limits. Please, please, please pick another date.

mocha beans · December 2009

I wouldn't like it either. I only know a few people who I would like going to a NYE wedding for, and it's only because they are very social people and pretty much everyone we know would be going to the wedding also. They'd be the friends we'd spend a normal NYE with anyway. Otherwise, I'd be declining, or going and be grumpy or leaving early to meet up with the friends if we could.

It probalby won't be cheaper, as others are right that you're going to have to go top shelf premium everything. Awesome band or DJ, open bar, great food. Unless you're prepared to meet the high standards that people have for NYE, I'd pick a different date.

kjane12 · December 2009

I'd go! And totally party! I think it's a lovely idea. and romantic, too. Go for it.

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