Friday wedding attendance rates

Just an FYI:

I was a bridesmaid in a wedding on a Friday several years ago. From what the bride told us, she was expecting 250 according to the RSVPs. The ceremony started at 6:00p. The bridal party took the entire day off because the couple wanted to get photos outside before the sun went down. I personally was upset about having to use a vacation day for someone's wedding. Maybe, including a bridal party 25, 75 people (I'm being generous) made the ceremony and about 100 the reception. The couple was heart broken. Most of their families were unable to make the ceremony. However:

FH and I went to a wedding on a Friday (6:00p) and all 300 guests were at the ceremony and the reception.

If you are going to have a wedding on a Friday it all depends on your guests. If they can make it, they will be there. If they can't, they won't.

I think this will depend a lot on who your guests are, how far away they live, and how much time you give them to plan. We are having our wedding on a Friday and I am expecting a very high attendance rate. All of our guests are coming from out of state (okay, 2 live in state but a few hours away), but they are mostly family. We are only inviting about 15 friends. We haven't even sent out our wedding invites yet, but most of our guests have already reserved lodging for the weekend so I know they are planning on coming. I was expecting to have about 100 guests (we are inviting 120), but it looks like some of the guests that we were expecting to decline are actually coming so we may be closer to our 120 than I expected!

If you are inviting people who you aren't very close to and who live far away, they probably won't come, but the people who are close to you will come regardless of the day you schedule the wedding.

I wouldn't invite more than you are comfortable with. Can your venue host 175?

Should've added: 90% of the guests live within 15 miles of the ceremony/reception venue. The only ones coming from out of town are my dad and my MOH. The venue does hold up to 200, but I feel it looks a bit crowded at 200. 150 would definitely be better! Ugh I'm nervous they're all going to show up...

It's always a wild guess until your RSVPs come in, regardless of the time, day, and anything else. 75% of our guests were OOT. Our RSVP rate was 100% yes. That was one thing that everyone swore would not happen. Oh well, it did. But then there was a bride recently who had 75 or so guests RSVP yes and 20 showed up.

But if I remember correctly, your wedding is in MD, right? That would worry me more about a Friday wedding, than the fact it's Friday per se.

We are getting married on a Friday...but it is the day after fourth of July...I think July 4th falls on a Friday in 2014 (it is a Thursday this year)...maybe you could check into that? Our guests are almost all out of town and seem really happy about our Friday wedding...basically, they can travel on Thursday, Do the wedding Friday, have Saturday to explore Austin, and come home Sunday. The wedding party is getting in on Wednesday...I suppose some people are taking off a couple of days, but honestly, not one has complained. People seem really excited to visit Austin.

@Mrs S yes, we're in Maryland. Why would that worry you? If it's proximity to DC/Baltimore, we're 2 hours away from both. We're way out in the boondocks of southern Maryland

I guess I'll just budget for all 175 and if less show up, yay additional honeymoon funds?

AH OK, then you should be OK :-) DC area has the worst traffic in the country (I didn't make it up), and Friday afternoon is really tricky. But if you're in southern MD and most of your guests are around there, you will be fine. Anyway, it is a good idea to still budget for all 175.

We are getting married on a Friday and our ceremony starts at 4pm. Our guest list is also more than we originally planned (170 now). It truly upsets me (sad/mad) when someone says " oh I hope it is late in the day because I work". - ugh. Well. I work too. In fact, I am a manager so believe me when I say ever so graciously you have you save the date at Christmas time so you can plan ahead. What it will come Down to is who you invite. Ours is a lot of friends who will be in town the day before.

No kidding about the DC traffic! I went to college inside the beltway, and getting back to my quiet country roads after graduation was the BEST. A handful of guests will be coming from up the road, but the vast majority of us are down here!

You know, my H and I decided to move in together because once I went to his house from my campus, which was about 30 miles, it took me almost 5 hours. I got stuck on the beltways and I got homicidal :-) But I digress, as usual haha.