Imagine the Possibilities, Consider a Friday or Sunday Wedding

When choosing your wedding date, consider you and your wedding guests!

Saturday may be the big day for weddings, but Friday and Sunday are catching up in popularity. We’re here to catch you up on some of the pros to booking a Friday or Sunday Wedding.

Before we do that, check out this great video of S + T’s Sunday wedding. You’ll get an inside look to how lovely a Sunday wedding can be.

Availability

Popular wedding spots get booked up for one or two years in advance on prime days, so couples often face the decision to either postpone their wedding or abandon their dream venue. Some services will be booked too, like your preferred DJ, caterer or photographer.

Pricing

Saturday nights demand premium pricing, so you may be able to save money by booking on the off-peak days. Check with your venue for discounts, and be sure to check with your other vendors. Some vendors, like wedding planners, may not accept more than one job per weekend, but others may be happy to book two or three events per weekend. In any case, careful shopping may yield a savings of 15-20%.

Wedding Day and Life Schedules

Fridays and Sundays each lend themselves to a different kind of wedding party. Friday weddings will typically start late in the day, corresponding with the dinner hour, to accommodate guests who travelled or worked a part or full day on Friday. A Friday night wedding might skip the sit-down dinner in favor of cocktails and heavy appetizers, to emphasize the party atmosphere. Evening weddings are the perfect venue for elegant attire, so if that’s your style it’s a better choice than Sunday. If your heart is set on a raging dance party, nighttime is the right time.

“It sets the tone that your wedding is about the party,” Carley Roney, the editor in chief of The Knot, tells the New York Times. It also is significantly less kid friendly, so consider whether that’s the kind of party you want, or arrange an alternate kid activity.

Some brides and grooms appreciate that a Friday wedding gives them earlier access to the space for set-up and decorations. On a Saturday, you’ll seldom get more than a few hours in advance to set up, but some venues grant Thursday access for a Friday wedding.

A Friday evening wedding frees up the pre-wedding crunch. If the gathering doesn’t start until 6 or 7PM, the bride and groom can enjoy a more relaxed day with their wedding party. It’s wonderful to not have to rush, and it’s important not to plan too much, so you’re not exhausted by the start of the ceremony. Book spa treatments and a nice lunch to build some leisure into the day.

Once the wedding is over, you can enjoy your guests, especially those from out of town, for the whole weekend.

Sunday Brunch or Swaray?

If a Friday night fête sounds too late and too much, how about Sunday? Follow a sit-down brunch with outdoor games for a family-friendly event. It needn’t be austere–mimosas, Bloody Marys, and spiked coffee can cultivate an atmosphere of celebration. However, if a teetotaling event suits you, a morning ceremony is perfect. With an early start, the official party can be over by four or five o’clock, and you can still rock an after-party and be in bed by eleven. Older guests and families with kids will be pleased.

Brunch isn’t the only option for a Sunday event. Even starting as late as 4PM allows six hours of festivities before 10PM rolls around.

A Sunday party allows extra time with out-of-town guests before the ceremony, and you can doubtless persuade some of them to take on helpful volunteer roles.

Travel

Out-of-town guests may find it easier to travel late on Friday or Saturday and take Monday off to travel home, and they may get better deals on airfare this way. Plus, lots of folks find it easier to take a Monday off than a Friday.

Opening your options to Friday or Sunday can have plenty of benefits. Be sure to check the calendar to verify whether it’s a holiday weekend, because that could impact price, availability and ease of travel.