Friday vs. Sunday Wedding- Help!!

At first I was leaning towards Friday, but then you said destination. 400 miles is a bit of a drive. If you went with Friday, people would also have to take Thursday (or possible split the travel time between Thursday after work and Friday morning). If you go with Sunday, people would only have to take 1 day off work.

View Quoted Comment I agree! Did you ask guests if they’ll attend (it’s a far drive)?

I think this really depends on the vibe you want to have for your wedding. If you want to have that fun party vibe, then I would go with a Friday evening wedding (the later the better for those who have to work and/or travel). If you want a more laid-back vibe, then a Sunday morning/afternoon wedding could totally work (maybe a brunch wedding?).
One of the big advantages of having a Friday wedding is getting the weekend started early. And if people are traveling, they can stay after the wedding for a little mini vacation. The biggest con would be conflicts with work. Biggest pros for a Sunday wedding would be that some people would have to take less time off work, and it means you could host a welcome party on Saturday. The biggest con would be that people will have to work on Monday, so they would either have to take that day off work or leave the wedding early to make it back home at a decent time. It would also likely mean you won’t have a party vibe, if that is what you are going for.
We are having a Friday evening destination wedding. We didn’t initially plan for a Friday wedding, but we wanted to have the wedding on our dating anniversary, and because of Covid reschedules it ends up on a Friday this year. Unfortunately, we haven’t experienced any sort of price decreases due to it being on a Friday- all our vendors charge the same prices for Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (Mon-Thurs is discounted). Luckily, none of our guests have had any issues with traveling during the week for a Friday wedding, and everyone plans to stay the whole weekend to extend the party. We are also starting the ceremony later in the evening, so that guests have the option of only taking Friday off work (or they could even choose to take a half day, since the flight is only 2-3 hrs). I would say to just make sure you give everybody as much advanced notice as possible so they can plan accordingly with jobs, etc.

How long is this 400 mile drive???
That makes a huge difference. Our destination wedding is 560 miles from us and takes 8 hours (even with 75-80 mph speed limit), so we are having ours on a Saturday because it is easiest for everyone. Both Friday and Sunday would be very inconvenient if the drive is over a couple hours

Mhmm very interesting!! We faced the same problem too! We figured why pay extra for a prime day of either Friday/ Saturday?! We decided on a Sunday evening from 5-11pm. We thought we could do a lot of wedding events with family & friends that friday & Saturday before the wedding that would still cost less than the prime day inflation. Things like the rehearsal dinner.. a welcome party...

Having that average 400 miles will allow people to travel however they choose without taking off of work! Where is it going to be??

I think you should choose whatever feels right.. its you and you FH big day.. if you don't want to deal with your mother.. do what makes you and your FH is charge & comfortable! I hope this helps!! & happy planning!

Why not a Saturday brunch wedding? Although it's still a Saturday, brunch is at least 1/2 cost of dinner and many venues reduce rates for Saturday afternoon vs evenings. That way your guests don't need to take time off work either. My daughter had a brunch wedding/reception and it was over by 4:30. The older crowd still had the evening to relax and the bridal party and friends rented a party bus and continued the celebration around the city.

View Quoted Comment No, I have not asked any guests to attend yet. Most will be coming from a neighboring state to where our venue is.

View Quoted Comment This wedding will be in the desert, so it is HOT 🔥 but it is also during monsoon season.

View Quoted Comment A Sunday brunch wedding wouldn't work for us primarily because during August (monsoon season) it is when things will get to a scorching heat, and the venue starts August weddings in the evening.


If the venue was larger and had more air conditioning, I would definitely consider a brunch wedding.

I think there’s a lot of wisdom and insight in the responses from people that have already replied. Regardless of your day, with traveling, people are likely going to miss work (whether the Thursday before or the Monday after).
Something I’ve been learning the more I reach out to vendors is less about the day and cost versus their overall availability. It’s easier to book for a Friday/Sunday versus a Saturday wedding (which isn’t what you’re looking at). If you have vendors that offset costs, it might be because of the month and if it’s considered peak season or not for them 😊

I live in Orlando so many of my family and friends will becoming from NJ. I will also have many local friends. I felt that we had to do a Saturday. This way people didn’t have to take a day off work to attend our wedding. Fly in Friday, wedding Saturday, fly home Sunday.) Everything is more expensive, true, but we were willing to pay that. (Granted, this is my second wedding , and We are older and paying for it ourselves so it gives us a bit more flexibility.)

It really depends on what you want. If other guest are willing to possibly take off work Thursday to make the drive for Friday & if your wanting to party hard I would suggest Friday. But Sundays can be fun too unless people have work the next day and you plan on having a fun party wedding lol. So it’s really up to you. I would talk to the close main guest that you want & kind of see what they are willing to do or want to. I had mine on a Saturday but my venue wasn’t very pricey just cause it’s in a small town & they had major discounts.

Because you are asking everyone to travel a long distance, they will have to miss at least one day of work either way. Confirm with your VIP guests (best friends, relatives you have the closest relationship with, etc) what works best for them.


Bear in mind that not all venues and vendors offer discounts for Friday’s. Discounts in most areas are Monday to Friday which is difficult for many.
Those who want to attend will do whatever it takes to get there. But they need 6-12 months notice with invites se t at 6-8 weeks to confirm.

We chose a venue that is 2hrs away from most guests. And although the venue new what are wishlist dates was they didn’t tell us or mention before coming to tour that all Saturdays were booked that month. We were 7 months out from our wedding month we wanted. About half of guests are from where we are and the other half are out of staters. We went with a Sunday on a holiday weekend (Memorial Day) bc some people already have Monday off. Something to think about.

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Ahhhh!!! Praying for good weather for you Elly!!

I just want to thank everyone for their insight and prayers! It truly means a lot.

After discussing it further with my fiancé, we've decided on a Sunday wedding since it would allow more weekend time for guests to travel to the location. It would be easier to "justify" taking a Monday off from a typical 9-5 than starting the weekend early. With enough advance notice, some guests might be able to make a mini-vacation for themselves.