Friday Wedding

How many of your guests are local? Could you have it late enough that your bridesmaids would only have to take a few hours off to get ready?

I've been to one Friday wedding. It was outside of Atlanta at 5pm and about a dozen guest or so (myself included) missed the ceremony because of a bad accident that shut the interstate down for about an hour and a half. Because of the DH said we couldn't have a Friday wedding.

I'm having a Friday night wedding! None of my guest complained at all and I saved a few thousand dollars all around. Most of my guests are local, the ones that are not are close enough to get here in 6 or so hours driving so they're taking the day off and I haven't heard any complaints! If they really want to be there, they will find a way to be there.

I'm having a Friday wedding a lot cheaper than sat

If you are going to have a friday wedding, make sure it does not start before 7pm. That way people can leave work, change and have time to get there. Friday weddings are pretty common these days. How many of your guests are OOT though?

I had a friday wedding and it was great!

Pro

-you have your choice of vendors because they are less likely to already be booked

-cheaper prices

Con

-All my imidiate family and wedding party were fine with getting time off. Our wedding started at 3pm, but we met up for pictures at noon, so it was a full day off for the wedding party, parents and siblings. No issues. This is listed as a con though, because some of my extended family wasn't able to make it because of work. They couldn't take the day off. Those who are important to you will find a way to make it work.

I'm having a Friday wedding and I am super happy with our choice. The venue was cheaper and I love friday weddings.

Edit to add no one has complained. We did set the date about 15 months ahead of time. Also our ceremony is outside and we are getting married at 4.

My dads side of the family is from PA so they would have to take a couple days off but those are my only out of towners, everyone else is within an hour.. It would also be an outdoor ceremony so I couldn't do it TOO late due to lighting.. Glad so many others are having Friday weddings, that makes me feel better about it

We do Friday weddings almost every weekend in season; Thursdays too.

You'd probably wan to do it around 6:00 or so, or do it inside.

But don't wait because you think vendors don't book Fridays; we do.

Friday weddings happen all the time. Actually, when a thread is started asking, "Friday or Sunday Wedding?", I'd say the responses are two to one in favor of Friday weddings.

The pros are that you're going to have that TGIF factor going into a Friday night wedding. Sunday weddings are nice, but for most guests, the work week is looming and more than a handful of them will be watching the clock. Honestly, I'd rather go to a Sunday afternoon wedding than a Sunday evening wedding.

As far as Fridays are concerned, the biggest negative is that your wedding will be happening at the end of a work day. For your non-VIP guests, that means either dressing up their work clothing, bringing a change of clothing, or heading home first to change into something appropriate. It could also require guests to take off early to make the ceremony (some will, and some will just show up at the reception). Then, there's the Friday rush hour traffic to deal with (in my area, that's an issue -- especially if the wedding begins, as many do, between 5:00 - 6:00 PM. If you're in a rural area -- not so much).

So, it's really up to what you're envisioning. If you want a party that might lead to an after-party, go for Friday. If you want a party that might be a little more sedate (or a little shorter), go for Sunday.

ETA: Celia made a good point. As far as having your choice of vendors on Fridays, that's really not the case with us. If I had to pick the more popular booking day, it would be Saturday. However, we've done plenty of Friday weddings this past year, and in the coming year, we already have plenty of Fridays booked.

Honestly, I'm currently invited to two Friday weddings in the next few months. I'm not going to one because I can't get off of work, and the second one I'll only be able to get there in time for the reception. I have to travel for both, and one is on my last day of school (I'm a teacher) and I can't miss the last day. I would never complain to a couple who decides to have a Friday wedding, that's just my personality... But I think the argument of if they want to be there badly enough they'll come is flawed. I want to be at both of these weddings, but living 2+ hours away and not getting many personal days because I already get the whole summer off makes it near impossible.

I'm Friday- I picked b/c we wanted a certain date- 2015 would have been a Wed- this year is a Friday- so it worked out.

I'm totally okay with it and we are very small so it's less of an issue- I'm having better luck with vendors generally as well.

Some cons would be that some guests might not be able to accomodate the timings (as mentioned); but also, I don't know about you and your guests, but from my experience by the time Friday rolls around I'm so tired that I'd probably still attend but I'd more than likely call it an early night if I worked that day (but that really depends on the age and energy of your group).

A big pro though is that the cost is usually much less.

We're having a Friday night wedding that will be starting at 6:00. The bridal party only contains a best man and MOH and both are from out of town, so would need to take time off anyway. The guest list is pretty small and somewhat local, so they know what traffic is like in our area. There are quite a few options to get to the church and the reception, so unless something major happens, getting to both should not be a problem. I think I would have gotten more comments from people if we would have had a 5:00 wedding. That's usually at the end of people's typical work day and would most likely require someone leaving work early. At least with a 6:00 start, it does give people the option to head home first before coming to the ceremony.

Friday the 13th here! I think we're going to start at 5:30 with cocktail 6-7, reception 7-10/11. There will be some elderly that I'm sure can't stay too late anyways.

My wedding is on the Friday of Labor Day Weekend. I was in your shoes...we loved the venue and wanted a September 2016 wedding and this was all they had left that month. Our ceremony starts at 6:30pm and so far, I haven't heard any complaints. Actually, the thing I keep hearing is how happy people are that it's a long weekend and they get the extra day to recover from our wedding!

ETA: we are saving a lot of money on catering for it being a Friday and other vendors are offering discounts without me even asking because it's a Friday.

Before my venue upgraded my Friday to a Saturday for free we were having the Friday. Everyone was okay with the Friday wedding and I was excited about it we planned to start at 6.

Thank you everyone! I think I am going to go for it! unfortunately the venue is no cheaper for Fridays though :/

My wedding is on a friday and not a single person has complained or had trouble with needing to take off work. If you give them enough advance notice, I think you should be fine

We're having ours on a Friday. The main reason was because Sat. June 25 was already booked. Most of our guests are local and venue is literally 10 min. from my house. The bulk of the guests are mine and are teachers... so. After planning began I realized that many of the OOT guests (most of them family) will still be in town on Saturday so that's another reason to get together! We don't leave for our honeymoon until Monday, so we have a few days before taking off to Hawaii!