Friday night weddings

We are having a Friday wedding and everyone we've spoken to about it has said that they are totally fine with it because it's a Friday and we gave them more than enough heads up. I would talk to any VIPs on your guest list if you're truly concerned but a Friday shouldn't be an issue. We are having our ceremony during the day but I have seen a few Friday evening ceremonies starting around 5 or 6. Ultimately it depends on the kind of wedding you want and what your venue can accommodate

Even if the majority of your guests work M-F, I think a Friday wedding is fine. I wouldn't have it start before 6pm tho.

We do Fridays all the time. People will come. They'll plan for it.

Most of my venues do 6:30 starts, but honestly, I'd think most people will take an afternoon or a couple of hours off to get home, get dressed, and show up. Keep in mind that if you're planning on doing outside photos, you don't have a lot of light after the ceremony is over.

We are having a Friday wedding. I've been to several and never had an issue with it. They've all been over the summer, though, and my work schedule tends to be a bit more flexible in the summer.

ETA: We do plan to start before 6:00pm for two reasons: 1. The ceremony is at a church and the guests will have to take time to travel between the church and the venue (no gap, though) 2. I'm hungry (hangry most of the time) by 6:00pm on a Friday, so I want guests to have food by then!!

Pros: A bit cheaper than a Saturday wedding; I say a bit because they're becoming more popular and I'm sure the prices ought to catch-up at some point.

Cons: People work on Fridays as it is part of the work week; they might not be able to get time off and would have to work prior to the wedding.

We hold Friday weddings a lot during the summer; not so much during other times of year, unless it's a long weekend. For the beginning of October, I think you could still have a good turn-out, but keep in mind that kids will be back in school by then and may have school commitments (concerts, sports, etc.).

I would say to keep your ceremony and reception venue(s) as local as possible. A DW/OOT wedding is most likely not in the cards at this point for 2017; it could be if you pushed the date off a bit.

You're also going to have to start it on the later side as to allow those with average working hours (I know not everyone works 9AM-5PM) enough time to go home after work, change for the wedding, and then travel to the ceremony venue.

We are having ours on a Friday night, mainly for the cost savings but also because the minimum was higher at our venue for a Saturday night. As long as you start the ceremony after 6PM I dont think there should be too many issues.

Even if you had the wedding on a Saturday, there are people that work weekends. The people closest to you will find a way to make it as long as you give them enough notice.

Ours is a Friday as well. Because of this, we're starting the ceremony on the later side - 6:30 pm. cocktail hour will be 7-8 and the reception 8-midnight. As long as people know the date enough in advance it'll be fine.

As a guest I never mind having extra time to recover before work on Monday lol

Awww we were originally planning for October 6. I heard Friday weddings are still good, but we have so many guest flying in from out of town that we didn't want them to have to take off work for so many days so we changed t to Saturday. I guess it depends on how many out of town guest you may have to consider and the time you have everything start. Generally if you are having a reception start at 6 or 7 then maybe have the wedding start at 4 or 5 (depending if its at the same venue).

My wedding ceremony is going to be at 5:30. I know it's tough because people have work, but those who want to be there will comw. Otherwise I'll see them at the cocktail hour/reception

We're having a Friday wedding. No one seems to mind, especially with advance notice.

We have a Friday wedding. We ran it by families, no one had a problem with it. We're stating before 6 because almost everyone has to travel and take the day off anyway, if we had mostly local people we'd start later.

I think Friday weddings come down to know your crowd/guest list. Almost everyone that we've told the date to is coming, and several families have booked hotels already, before STDs being sent. However, we only invited family out to aunts/uncles/first cousins, and the BP. If your guest list includes more extended family or coworkers, you might have a higher decline rate.

We had a Friday wedding and it was great, no cons. 115 people came and partied all night, then still had the whole weekend to relax and recover.

Sorry I'm so late. We're having a Friday wedding at 7pm cocktail hour will follow immediately after. Ceremony & reception will be at the same venue

My wedding was on a Friday. Large turnout. I liked having Sat and Sun to recoup!

I don't see a problem with that. You may find that some may miss the ceremony if it's starts before the end of the normal work day but hopefully people can work around that.

Definitely try and do it later in the evening. I don't think it's a deal breaker though.

Oh heck yea! I've been to a Friday wedding, a THURSDAY wedding and --- believe it or not in June I'm going to a WEDNESDAY wedding (um granted the wednesday wedding is destination in europe so a bit of an exception heh). People will do their best and take the time off if they can. If they'd rather save that one Vacation Day for their own vacation time then whatever... let them have their one extra day of vacation time and they can miss out on the awesomeness of your wedding! If they really want to come but just can't swing it because of their schedule -- WELL those people should definitely understand why you had to book it friday for YOUR schedule - right!? Those of us on shift work or with demanding jobs totally know that we're at the whim of the job. Whether its the wedding couple or the guests, the understanding will go both ways. =)

One of my sisters did a Friday night wedding, had more declines than she was expecting but she also had it several hours from home. She sent out save the dates a little earlier to allow people to forecast their time off.

Or wedding will be on a Friday night also..I think it's a great alternative to Saturday.