Friday and sunday weddings

Hi Shelia,

I was on the same boat as you! My fiance and I really wanted a Saturday wedding as well, but we just got engaged 2 weeks ago, so we're pretty late to the game for 2017 weddings (Couldn't he have just proposed earlier?! lol).

We are about to make a deposit to our venue for a Friday wedding. Most of the places we looked at offer promotions for non-Saturday wedding which really helped with our budget (now we can invite a bit more people than we planned!). We will have the cerermony and reception at the same location. I am anticipating that the ceremony will be all family and close friends, and other guests will come for the evening reception (after work).

Don't worry too much about pleasing everyone, as long as it works for you and your Fiance, that's what matters! (Plus, if your guest want to attend your wedding, they will make an effort to make that happen! - that's what other brides have told me!!) I think most of your guest will be willing take the day off, if not half day to attend your wedding though

Also, I think people prefer Friday weddings over Sundays. I agree, most guests will not stay on Sundays because they have work the next day.

Good luck with your wedding planning, and hope everything works out!

Hi Sheila I totally understand your dilemma... I think it really depends on everyone's situation and the type of work they have. Have you thought of also asking this question to your guests through your wedding website?

You can create polls and see what your guests would prefer between a Friday and Sunday.

How To Create a Poll or Survey on your Wedsite

And how about a Friday or Sunday on a long weekend? Did the venues have availability for those?

Let us know what you'll decide on! I can't wait to hear all about your wedding plans!

Hi Sheila! Welcome to the community

Let me say:

1- the Ancaster Mill is stunning- you have great taste

2- You are so considerate! Almost too considerate!! I think if you send save the dates in advance, you don't need to worry about surveying your guests! A save the date will allow them to plan for a Friday or Sunday. Remember this is YOUR day, so if you want a certain location- you get it girl! I Promise your loved ones will make their schedules work for you....I've done it for friends, and I know they would do it for me.

3- I would probably prefer a Friday, to avoid going to work the next day, but much like guests who might take the Friday off to attend a Friday wedding, anyone who really wants to will take a Monday off for you! Long weekends are also a solution. A freind of mine did that, and still did not have very many people decine the invite.

Hope this helps a little- remember, be considerate of your guests....but don't forget this is your day! Looking forward to hearing how your plans progress

Hi Sheila! If I were a guest I would prefer to attend a wedding on the Friday vs the Sunday. However I wouldn't be too worried about guests and their opinions only because this is your special day! I think that as long as you send save the dates and invitations out early enough, this will give your guests an appropriate amount of time to either get the time of work or make some sort of plan to be there. If they really want to attend your special day then it shouldn't matter to them what day it falls on as this day is about you! If you are extremely concerned about this though then there is always the option to maybe change the date - I don't know if the date you have picked out has any special reasoning behind it or not, but it is always something to consider! Anyways I hope this helps you in some way!

Hi Sheila, I can relate to this as I almost consider a Sunday wedding. I have been to a wedding on a Sunday and some guests did stay late even if they had to go to work the next day. Please don't let your fears get the best of you, as the guests that you invite on your day will make the effort to come out whether it is a Friday or Sunday event.

I definitely wouldn't get any guests opinions involved, it will be too many opinions! But asking VIPs (ie wedding party & parents & possibly grandparents) is a great idea!! I hear long weekends have a higher chance of guests not being able to come, since some people plan things REALLY far in advance for them, and probably why it's the only Saturday still available (unfortunately).

Thank you for all your responses everyone. They are so quick and thoughtful!

I'm not too particular about the date, myself so I don't mind having it on a Friday or a Sunday, I'm just worried that my guests won't be able to make the necessary arrangements that come with choosing a Friday or a Sunday.

One of the venues that I'm considering, that only has Fridays and Sundays available is The Ancastor Mill (so goregous!!) others, like the Nestleton Inn, only have the Saturday of the Civic Holiday long weekend (which might pose problems if my guests are going away during that weekend.

I've talked to many venues in the short time I've been engaged (less than a month) and I'm struggling to find availability and while many venues will put me on hold, it's only for a short time and this means I don't have time to visit all of them before the dates are released again.

Does anyone survey their guests beforehand to see what works best for them? I feel like this might be a huge undertaking in a short time. My fiance and I have considered just asking the wedding party and close friends and family to see if it will work for them at least and once we book the wedding, we will hope that others can make it, too.

Samtam makes an excellent point about the rehersal dinner!! Though I'm skipping it so my wedding party (which mostly live out of town) don't have to take any extra time off.

Brunch reception would be delicious... though I would not want to be up at like 4am getting hair and makeup ready for an early ceremony (but I'm super not a morning person )

That is a tough decision! As a guest, I would prefer a Sunday. One of my fiance's friends got married 3 weeks before us and had a Friday wedding and since he was a groomsmen, he had to take a half day for the rehearsal on Thurs and then a full day off on the Friday of the wedding. Normally I wouldn't mind but since it was so close to our wedding, that's cutting into his vacation time for our wedding and honeymoon. And I agree that you never know with traffic on a Friday and you don't want to worry about your guests arriving halfway through the ceremony.

I think it depends on the type of wedding you want. If you want the reception to go late, then you would probably want to find a Saturday somewhere. If you do go with a Sunday, you could do something different like a brunch wedding. I went to one a few years ago and it was fun to have french toast instead of the traditional wedding meal.

So it depends on what's more important to you, having the date or the venue. (Our date has a lot of personal meaning to us so I understand not wanting to change it!) Good luck and keep us posted!

Hey Shelia,

Welcome to the community!!! Friday and Sunday weddings are becoming more and more popular now-a-days. Personally I would prefer a Friday wedding over a Sunday wedding (long weekend from work, not have to worry about work the next morning), and I would ulitmately rather move my date and have a Saturday wedding in the off season (which is what we ended up doing when I was debating this very same thing, haha). I guess this also depends on what you are thinking for your wedding. I really wanted an outdoor ceremony, so a Friday night wedding would have made that impossible (no one would have been able to see, it would be cold, bugs). It is a lot to consider.

I guess the best approach would be to make a list of location, budget, "feel" of wedding, season of wedding, and maybe rank them by what is most important to you and FH.

Do you have some ideas for venue?