Friday weddings? Are they worth the money saved?

We recently RSVPd"no" to a Friday wedding. We'd have to drive over 2 hours to get there and, since it's during our busy work season, we both can't take time off on a Friday. So I guess it depends on whether your guests are local or not. Non-locals are probably more likely to skip a Friday wedding.

Friday is not always cheaper and some venues charge the same as a Saturday. I have attended many as a guest and the parents of the couples mentioned that there was nearly 100% attendance. The only exception was an out of state LDS wedding with early Friday morning ceremony no one was allowed to attend and dinner time cake only reception, so that had barely anyone in attendance.



People have traveled for weddings since the beginning of the time and if they want to be there, they will find a way. Make sure you send save the dates to your finalized guest list at 6-12 months so they can request time off, which people do every day but no one will get their final work schedule before 4 weeks which is just in time for when rsvps are due.

We are having a Friday wedding, but only because we chose a very significant date to us, and since we have had to postpone twice due to Covid, that date now falls on a Friday. We haven’t run into any issues with people not wanting to attend because it’s a Friday, but we are also having a destination wedding, so guests will be traveling and staying 3-5 days. I will say though, having it on a Friday really hasn’t saved any significant amount of money. We did save a little bit on our venue, but that is pretty much it. Our photographer, videographer, caterer, florist, hmua and cake baker all charged the same amount regardless of it being a Friday. So if your main reasoning for choosing that date is saving money, I would reach out to your other vendors to see if it’s worth it. If you are worried about poor attendance, I would reach out to the guests whose attendance is most important to you to see if they would be able to make a Friday wedding.

We are doing a Friday wedding! We intentionally chose a Friday, since we're doing a semi destination wedding, and we wanted our guests to have all day Saturday to go sightseeing in the area before heading home on Sunday. We didn't save a whole ton of money by choosing a Friday, but vendor availability was also better for a non-Saturday wedding. Most of our guests are planning to attend, though we understand if people aren't able to make it due to location or date. My sister had her wedding on a Friday as well, and most of her guests were still able to attend. If you choose a Friday, be prepared for some people to decline, though people may also decline a Saturday wedding due to other plans, so I honestly would choose whatever date works best for you and your fiance.

I would definitely recommend a Friday wedding! We just had ours on July 2, 2021. We postponed from July 10, 2020 (also a Friday). We had 75% accept the invitation. Honestly, only one decline was due to it being a workday. The others declined due to COVID, distance, or unplanned situations (surgeries, babysitter bails, etc). The sad fact is people will find any reason not to come if they truly do not want to go. We sent out Save the Dates for both dates so people are aware of the date. Plus if they can go to your wedding on a Friday and then still have their two day weekend, I say that's a win-win.

As for money, a few vendors charge the same price, like the DJ, hair and makeup, and the photographer, but we still saved near $4,000 by having a Friday vs Saturday wedding. Plus a lot of venues allow you to setup the Thursday before, which saves a headache on the day of your wedding. Lastly, I found it much easier to book vendors for Friday dates.

If you have a lot of out-of-town guests or your venue is more than a 60-90 minute drive, you may get some declines. Personally, for a party vibe I think a Friday wedding is great!

We had a Friday wedding this past June and it was great. Our guests liked not having to give up their weekend and have two days to rest after all the celebrating. Our out of town guests still made it and it wasn’t an issue for them. Have your wedding on the day you want and is more affordable for you and those who can will show up.

I was MOH in a Friday wedding on September 17. They had originally planned for a Saturday, but had to postpone twice before due to the pandemic. They originally planned for about 125 guests and had a little under 70 show up. They had 6 people decline after saying they would come (and after their final headcount was due), including two people the day of the wedding. They also had a groomsman fly out the day of and his flight got delayed and he missed all the pictures. They went with the Friday to avoid minimum spends and were kind of over their wedding by that point, but if it was me it would have been stressful/disappointing.

While I didn't personally plan a Friday wedding, my cousin did as did a friend of mine. I was in grad school at the time of my cousin's wedding and had to get a TA session covered to be able to leave town on time, and was definitely a bit annoyed by it. The friend is getting married in Colorado on a Friday and I had to RSVP no, as I would have had to take an entire day off for the drive (or shell out the extra cash for a plane ticket and rental car).

I think it really depends on how hurt you'll be if you're missing a bigger chunk of your guest list than you would with a Saturday wedding, you know? But I like Brittany's point about maybe being able to set up on Thursday!

I personally have never been to a weekday wedding but i will say that i think friday evening ones aren't so bad!

A lot of people who work the "standard" M-F have no problem leaving a little early on Friday. Also, if leaving early isn't an option, Fridays are generally easy to get off because it just means wrapping up the work week a little early.

Plus, having it on Friday means people still have their full weekend to chill out or do whatever they do to recover before returning to work Monday.

Our wedding is on a Thursday. It saved us over 3K and frees up the weekend for our guests.