Like Friday weddings.
I always looked at Friday weddings and thought, "Wow, this person must be saving a lot of money having it on a Friday."
It's not really that big of a savings, to be honest. Every venue I've seen is about $1,000 cheaper if you pick a Friday over a Saturday. It's not making your reception half price. And $1,000, that's like chump change when the average wedding is around $30,000.
But you can make that $1,000 go pretty far. For a wedding where the cost is $140 per head, you can invite an additional seven people at that price. Or, for a place where open bar is $12 an hour per head, that's an extra hour of the bar (if you have around 80 guests). Or that's your wedding favors. Or invitations for 200 (assuming the average of $5 a pop). Or you can just save it.
Before you start counting your money saved, you need to consider your guests. Having a Friday wedding means that you are asking everyone to take a half day from work (or a full day for your bridal party). You are going to be hosting your rehearsal dinner on a work night. Is that $1,000 savings worth inconveniencing many of your guests?
For a destination wedding, though, the day of the week doesn't really matter. Everyone is going to be on vacation anyway, so you can realistically have it on a Tuesday and it's all the same to your guests.
It's not an easy answer, but then again, nothing as far as wedding planning is easy. You have to do what is right and best for you and your groom, but you also have to consider your guest list as well.
BRIDAL BABBLE: Friday weddings. Do or don't?
I think it depends on your wedding. I have a bridal couple getting married Friday, July 5th because it is a 4 day weekend for many. Friends of ours had a Friday wedding because all of their guests would be with an hour of travel time. I don't think Friday weddings are appropriate if you have guests traveling in from a long distance personally. Here in central Missouri, a Friday wedding can mean a savings a much more than $1000. When I planned my wedding, several venues were literally 1/2 to 1/3 of the cost to host on Friday.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with this article, and also with the previous poster. For some individuals, a friday wedding might work better for them. Also, if you can get it for 1/2 the price, I say go for it! But you have to take a lot of things into consideration.
ReplyDeleteI don't really like Friday weddings. If you have a Saturday wedding and ppl are out of town then they can get away with only taking Friday off to travel where Friday they then have to take Thursday and Friday off.
ReplyDeleteI think I would have a Sunday wedding over a Friday wedding. I think there are just so many factors considering and one would be how many guests are local and how many are not.
I did a Friday wedding, while it did save me money, we mostly did it because the place we wanted was booked every Sat for the entire summer. Most of our family was within a hour drive, so it wasn't a big deal, and our wedding was pretty small. I know it won't be for everyone but for us it worked.
ReplyDeleteI think assuming that OOT guest don't care if a wedding is on a Tuesday, Friday, or a Saturday is unrealistic. A guest could travel in for a saturday wedding with only half a day off (depending on locations of course), but a Tuesday wedding is 3 days off. I think Friday weddings can be a blast but do require a bigger committment from traveling guests who will have to take off more work.
ReplyDeleteWe're saving $8,000 on the venue alone ($40/plate for 200 guests) by having it on a Friday vs. a Saturday.
ReplyDeleteI am now considering the possibility of a Friday wedding - mainly because the venue we really want is completely booked for every Saturday and we will be doing all the planning on pretty short notice as far as weddings go. The majority of my guests will be OOT so the whole time I've been struggling with the thought of inconveniencing people. But after really thinking about it, the people I would absolutely want there, would probably be okay with it. Plus, as the article said, it'd give more time to spend over the weekend with our guests. I've been stressing so much about accommodating everyone else (which included attempting to find a venue where most of my guests are - that I really didn't want) that I kept forgetting it is actually our day. And if getting our dream venue means something a little less convenient for some guests, then I think I just have to accept that.
ReplyDeleteAlso, knowing that a good portion of these people will take a few days or a week off for something like a concert or some other fun event, I don't feel that guilty about asking them to do so for my wedding day. Especially if I can provide free booze!