Is a Thursday night wedding an issue?

It's a risk since it's in the middle of the week, people who do attend will probably show up for the ceremony, dinner, and then leave shortly after.

We're doing tons of Thursday weddings. I did one last week; the ceremony was at 6:00, and I'd say that there were no more no shows or latecomers than any of my weekend weddings; there were close to 130 people there.

If only the people who are really close to you come...well....isn't that perfect? I think so. It's vastly, vastly cheaper in my area.

And I too, don't understand the weeknight thing; people go out on weeknights all the time.

I would only go if it started after 6 pm (and I would still need to leave work early even if it's that time) and were within 20 minutes of us. Unless you were my best, best, best friend of all time and I'd do anything for you, then I would take off that day and the day after. But not everyone can take off work so easily.

I dunno, maybe. It is within reason for me to go to a 6pm wedding that is within an hour of where I live. But....I would definitely duck out early and wouldn't "party" much since I would have to work the next day and it's unlikely I would take the day off work.

Also, that's about a week before Easter, so people may have travel plans.

I would go but I would leave early; 9ish.

Don't people ever go out on a weeknight? Don't people ever have to get a babysitter on a weeknight?

Actually no, not during the school year.

Thank you ladies for your input. The venue I had in mind would literally be about 20-30 minutes away from most in town. The majority of everyone being invited lives in queens, long island and Brooklyn. The only people needing to travel would be some of my family and they are in New Jersey. It's an idea. I am still waiting to hear back from the venue on price. If it's not a huge difference, then I wont even consider changing the date at all. We shall see.. Oh decisions, decisions lol !

I agree with the majority. You would have to be close for me to go. Some days hubby doesn't get off until 7/8.

Really? @Celia Milton, you give me some hope!

You're both teachers, but do you have children? It appears not. My son is 8 and there isn't time during the week to go anywhere. He has a lot of homework, piano, etc etc etc.

If my son were....2, could I take him to a comedy club? Sure. Would I? No, it's not fair to the adults who want to enjoy themselves. At that point, sure it would be possible to hire a babysitter, but then again, the schoolyear wouldn't matter in that case.

I'm a teacher like you, Matt, and I like to be home by 8. That said, I have to be at work at 6:30. I absolutely hate going out on weeknights (I don't even go to the movies) if I have work the next morning.

My husband, who is also a teacher, doesn't have to be at work until 8:30 and he's a night owl. He'd stay whereas I'd leave early.

I can understand a weekday night if it were a destination wedding aka beach wedding when the guests flew there and are already expecting to take days off. I wouldn't be too happy about it if were a local wedding though. I would have to take Thursday off early and take Friday off altogether. If I didn't take work off I would leave early.

That's great for them Matt. But we have too much to handle in our household to do that as I said (homework, piano, etc) and I don't live near family. If my kid didn't have an hour or more of homework a day....such as not during the school year.....I could leave him with a babysitter. And it's not like I don't trust them; he's in daycare right now in fact. It just doesn't work out with our schedule.

Thursday night weddings are not much different than Friday night weddings. Some people will be slightly inconvenienced by having to leave work early, but people do it for couple's they care about. If you give people a few months notice, they can plan to take Friday off from work and have a 3 day weekend if they want to party at the wedding. Otherwise, it is not that big a deal, many people go out for dinner/drinks on Thursday nights. Even those with kids in school.

If you are getting an awesome price, and your important guests are able to be there, then go for it.

You make a valid point @MrsZ. Thanks.

I had a friend who did a Thurs. night for religious reasons...I was not able to go because of work and that was the case for a lot of people...in order to accommodate working people, the ceremony started at 7pm and the reception at 9pm. So for those who were able to make it on a work night, they all left early (2 hours early). Something to think about.

I'd be careful with one thing Mrs. Z said - give them enough time to plan to take a day off.

Sometimes brides say, "They've known for MONTHS to take the day off from work!" Just because they know, doesn't mean they can or want to.

So if you don't get the acceptance rate you were hoping for, please don't say that they've known for months and could've gotten the day off.

Wow I must say I am pretty shocked at all the decline replies, Thursday weddings have become extremely popular at least in NY. Regardless of the day if it were a family or friend I would be there, for someone to invite me to their wedding that would mean we are pretty close and they want to share their special day with me.

I have a friend getting married on a Monday the end of this year.

Our wedding too will be on the Thursday before Memorial weekend. I say pick whatever day works for you and your FH.

I would only come if you were really close family or very close friend.

Thursday weddings mean I would probably have to leave work early, find a sitter, and then maybe take the next day off depending on the time of your wedding.

Let me add, for those saying "if you know far enough in advance, you can take off work/leave work early.". That is simply NOT an option for a lot of people. For many, it can mean missing out on a day's pay, plus the expense of attending the wedding, needing to pay a sitter, etc.