Guests leaving early for a Sunday wedding!!!

We're getting married on a Sunday from 1:00 - 6:30. A lot of our out of town guests have already voiced that they're turning it into a long weekend getaway, so I'd suggest putting local things to do on your wedding website.

And I second PPs in seeing about an earlier time slot.

There are only a few things you can do. Offer hotel blocks at a discount and perhaps plan something fun/good later in the evening and let your guests know "something fun to be planned later in the evening" or something and they can decide if they want to stay for that.

Our venue was $3500 more to have it on a Saturday. It was worth it 100% and we never thought twice about it. We wanted to accommodate our M-F working guests and out of town guests. Saturday was the best way to do this. The though of saving a few thousand dollars didn't sway our decision.

Sunday means an early night for a lot of people and there's nothing you can do to change that. If I lived locally to the wedding I'd leave around 8 and limit my drinking. I wouldn't travel for a Sunday wedding unless I was VERY close to the bride or groom. In that case, I would take Monday off work and stay at the wedding longer.

If you want something that people are going to stay later too, what about a Friday wedding?

This is why I chose a Friday over a Sunday. I've gone to an out of town Sunday wedding with a bunch of friends and we all stayed over and took off the next day. But the last hour of the reception really died and suddenly cleared out. Everyone staying over had a great time, but looking back I completely understand why people left early.

I've also gone to a Sunday wedding locally. Most people stayed until the end, but I didn't drink as I couldn't take Monday off and had to drive home. The bride and groom really tried hard to make an after party happen, but on a Sunday night that's tough to do.

Either way people will come to your wedding and have a great time. Just mentally prepare yourself for it to be a different feel than a Friday or Saturday event.

What about a Thursday? I think people are more likely to take off Friday and extend the weekend than Monday. I think a Sunday wedding just isn't going to feel the same as a Saturday. Personally I never let work stop me from going out and having a good time. I can handle being dead tired and hungover for a day but that's just me.

There are other things that go into Saturdays that people fail to take into account, namely minimums which can be double and availability. We are currently booking 2019, which is insane early for officiants, but many more people are choosing longer engagements so they can save for their weddings.

And again; not everyone works M-F, 9-5; in fact, a great number of people don't.

Sunday weddings are held earlier in the day and end earlier. They are usually just lunch and cake receptions. A lot of venues don't even allow events to run later on Sundays. People won't want to drink and party so much as much, either, as Sundays are usually a recoup from weekend and get ready for workweek day. I know for me, I would only show up for ceremony and lunch, then I would go home to take care of housework and laundry. ETA: as other's have mentioned, it would be rude to ask your guests to stay late and take the day off, especially since you did opt for a Sunday wedding only to save money.

We're getting married on a Sunday and it's an OOT wedding for nearly everyone. I know all my friends are taking Monday off so I'm expecting it to have the length of a standard Saturday wedding. If it were in town, I would expect more people would be leaving early to to try to make work on Monday.

We're actually not saving a dime having it on a Sunday, it's just all the summer Saturdays were already booked when we were venue hunting, and we didn't want to wait another year to get married. I think it just depends on your crowd and whether it's a local or destination wedding.

If you pick a Sunday night you can't expect people to stay late especially if they have to work Monday. If you want a party atmosphere do it on Friday.

Yeah, I'm having a Sunday wedding that is going to be 3 hours away from mostly everyone. It was $3,500 less and also the only weekend day available (all Saturdays in September were already booked and I booked my venue almost 2 years in advanced).

The majority of my guests have already stated they're making it a big weekend bash (my dad's side of the family is renting a 30 person house)! I also rented a cabin for the entire bridal party Friday-Monday, so that too will be a blast.

Don't sweat it. If people can't take Monday off the next day and have to leave early, it is what it is, but I can tell you it will probably be a minority. And like Celia has mentioned, 9-5 jobs aren't the norm anymore. The tech industry is a wonderful, wonderful thing (I'm in it )

We considered a Sunday wedding because of the price drop but only wanted to do it if we could bookon a Sunday before a holiday (i.e. Labor Day, Memorial Day, New Year's Eve, etc.) All those were booked so we skipped the Sunday idea because of the reason you're concerned about.

We're having a Sunday brunch wedding, because I have OOT guest who are driving back home that same day. I plan on my reception to end no later than 4p.

A lot of people probably work on Monday. So people might leave early. That's the risk you take when you have a Sunday wedding.

Now I don't work M-F necessarily because I'm a nurse. But a lot of people do. There's nothing wrong with a Sunday wedding but you just need to accept that some people might leave early. You saying anything on the save the date isn't going to change that they might have things going on the next day.

We are having a Sunday wedding as well. The ceremony is at 3, and the reception ends at 9. The feedback I've been getting from our guests so far is surprise that it's on a Sunday, followed by relief when I tell them it ends earlier. We have a good amount of people staying overnight for the weekend, and many who are local who will stay to the end knowing they'll still get home at a decent time. It seems to be working out really well.

My wedding is a Sunday. My timeframe is 2-8 ceremony and reception. You're right, hosting a Saturday party was like 4K more expensive. If I wanted to actually feed my guests and give them free alcohol I had to make the choice. I personally don't care if they leave right at 8 or earlier. I'm just glad they came.

You can't tell people to stay later. It's not fair. Be grateful people are celebrating your day with you. What difference does it make if they leave at 8 or midnight?

My story:

Our wedding was a Sunday in September.

The reception space (and open bar) were paid for to last from 4 to 10.

The dance floor was empty by 8:30 and most of our guests were gone by 9:00.

I always envisioned my wedding being a dance party (because that's how most of our friends are), so I was a little bummed by the end of the night. That's one of my biggest wedding regrets, having a Sunday wedding.

I'm having a Sunday wedding from 4-10. Monday is a Holiday so most of the people will still have free - if not, I don't think that 10pm is that late either... I do not understand the necessity of having a wedding to go to so late... If you want a longer wedding, start earlier.

ETA: It depends on your audience too - we are Latinos, so I'm sure I will need to extend my open bar because people will not want to leave, no matter if they have to work the next day...

I really, really, really wanted to have a Saturday wedding. It was one thing that my fiancé and I really wanted. Unfortunately, we didn't get that. NOT BECAUSE THE VENUE IS CHEAPER (its actually 100$ cheaper and its still EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE per plate) but because the venue we wanted (and we looked at 8) did not have ANY Saturdays available. The only Saturday they had available was Thanksgiving weekend (cant expect people to show up - Thanksgiving is a big deal for everyone, it certainly is for me) and another Saturday was the weekend of Christmas ( we were afraid people would not show up as a lot of them told us they were going away to visit families in other states/countries, whatever.)

ALSO - I did not want to freeze my azz off taking pictures on a freezing December day. So that only gave us an option of doing it on a Sunday.... I am kind of scared at times, but then I remember that NY-ers love to party, a lot of my friends have already told me they're taking off the next day and I have quite a few out of town guests.

I had a friend who got married on a Sunday and EVERY SINGLE GUEST showed up ( she invited 225 people) and they ALL stayed until 1AM... when I told her my concerns of having Sunday wedding, she reminded me of it and told me not to even stress it. She is coming, so her and her husband will most likely be staying late, too!!

My reception starts at 5:30 and itll most likely end at 10:30-11:00PM

ETA: by the way, I forgot to add that my venue barely had any Sundays available... so you (and I ) are not the only ones with Sunday weddings!! My venue literally had 2 Sundays available between August and December!!

If your guests are from out of town, then it won't make a difference if it's a Sunday or a Saturday. They'll still be staying in a hotel, and they'll probably stay just as late. Local people might leave early, but I would think that a lot of people would stay. Also, not everyone works M-F.