Friday night vs Saturday night and daytime vs night weddings

We’re doing a Friday night wedding. The ceremony will be at 6:00 with the cocktail hour following immediately after from 6:30-7:30. We have quite a few people coming from out of town so they’re planning to take the day off (and possibly the day before). If people can’t get out of work, they may miss the ceremony, but should still be able to make it for the reception!

Thank you Rebecca!!

It's a know your crowd thing. Are the majority of your guests in the area? If so I think it will be fine. If most have to travel, I would expect a much lower turn out than normal.

View Quoted Comment That’s a good point, Almost everyone is local. Thank you for your help!

Last 3 weddings I went to were on Fridays. I did have to either take a day off or half day but for most ppl who attended it was no big deal esp knowing in advance. I went to all ceremonies that were at a church 2-4pm but if I couldn't, the couples wouldn't mind if i couldn't attend understanding ..work...adult life..bills lol
Receptions were all after 6pm which is easy enough and people did let loose a great deal knowing there is a weekend ahead to recuperate
I was in one Sunday wedding and it was amazing but it did end before 8pm. There was little dancing but lots of chatting and a more relaxed calm vibe. Which is perfect for some crowds.
So if you are looking for a big party w drinking and lots of dancing I'd say Friday is a better bet.

We have been to several Friday night weddings and while it’s not ideaI I would rather do that then go to a Saturday wedding then ended early. If you have a crowd that will want to dance and cut loose a bit I would go with Friday night but if the crowd isn’t in to that than maybe a day wedding is better.

Hello,

So my FH and I have 2 dates in mind, either having it on Friday Or Saturday. We are still looking at more venues to see which one works best for us, and prices as well since we do have a budget as well. My sister-in-laws wedding was on a Friday and we did have to take the day off because she had church early at 230pm but the reception wasn't until 6pm (Big gap). Everything turned out perfect though so that why is why we are considering a Friday, from 13000 to 25000 its a big difference. Consider your options. The people who really want to attend will attend either on Friday or Saturday. Like they have told me, people want to find an excuse to take a day off from work LOL

I think both options are really good because when it comes to Friday night people can party and be okay for the weekend but a Saturday daytime wedding means you also are able to get a higher attendance rate

I've been to all types of weddings: Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Some in the morning and some in the evening. Some 5 minutes away and some across the country. And honestly, none of that has really bothered me.

As long as you've got good music and good food, everyone is bound to have a good time.

I’ve always been to Saturday weddings, but ours will be on a Friday afternoon. We chose Friday because my sister is currently a resident at a hospital and could only take 2 days off since it’s a DW. So she’s flying Thursday, the wedding will be Friday, and she would fly back Sunday.

I've been to a Friday, Saturday and Sunday weddings.
The Friday wedding was a bit stressful because the Ceremony was 45 mins away from the Reception and traffic was terrible not to mention there was no parking because the location was in the city.
The Sunday wedding was good, it didn't feel like a Sunday and I took the following day off.

If you go with a Friday I would suggest considering the location and where most of your guests are coming from and the time of your event(think rush hour traffic).

Good luck with your planning.

Our wedding is a Sunday evening but ours is also a destination, so it won’t matter since everyone will be traveling. I think as long as you realize that some people will decline, do what makes the most sense. Very few people will decline based on the day of week alone.

I was going through the same thing! We decided to do Sept 6, 2020. Its a Sunday so we get cheaper prices but its Labor Day Weekend so its almost like a Sat wedding bc most people are off Monday. At first I was stressing bc my fiance was saying people do things on Labor Day weekend but I got to the point where I can't please everyone and theres no date that will work for everyone so we took the leap and are giving people a years notice and just sent the save the dates out to give people more time. A lot of vendors have said this is becoming super popular bc its easier for out of town company to travel in! I did go to a Friday wedding and I'm not a fan only bc I work so I felt like I was rushing and wasn't able to attend ceremony and made it just in time for dinner, other people like it though.

Definitely depends on your crowd. I really wanted a Saturday wedding but it would have cost about $7k more to meet the catering minimum for our venue, so we went with a Friday afternoon. However, a good number of my friends are also my coworkers and we all have half days on Friday. Most of my family members are retired, or if they aren't, are more than able to take an extra day off work. So I knew that it would not be a big problem for most of our guests.

We're doing a Friday night wedding in July. Most likely a 5:00pm start, which gives them to ability to work a half day if they'd like. If people actually want to go to the wedding they will make the effort is the way I look at it. Otherwise, they're missing out! I also like the idea of having Saturday and Sunday to recover