is a wedding 2 days after Christmas a terrible idea?

I don't really travel or anything for the holidays so that part wouldn't bother me. But as a person whose birthday is on Christmas Eve, and Our dating anniversary is the 24th as well, you kind of lose out on any kind of celebration of anything other than Christmas and that sucks. So for that reason I wouldn't want to get married anywhere close to Christmas.

That is basically Christmas weekend and people don't just celebrate on the 25th. As many others have said, I don't think this is a good idea. I would not travel for a 12/27 wedding just due to cost!

Yes. Yes it is. For the reasons stated above. Also, another guest perspective- holiday weight. The last thing I would want to do is put a dress on and dance at a wedding after consuming cheese, cookies and eggnog over the past 48 hours.

If you're planning a wedding for the gifts then just save your money and elope. Ew.

Yeah, I made sure I planned my wedding around a time where I made sure I would get the largest amount of ca$h from my guests.

Yes too close. Why are you choosing the Tuesday after Christmas? If there is no special significance then move it to earlier in December or late January.

I do believe you run a risk with a date. And some good points were made that it's not only a busy time for your guests it's also a busy time for you, and that businesses tend to not be open their normal hours; so getting last minute items may be difficult. It is a time where money is scarce for most people, and generally are already committed to family functions.

Yeah, I'm kind of curious too. Why the 27th? Could you do it on one of the weekends before Christmas? Or maybe one of the weekends in January? Maybe New Year's Eve if you have the budget to give people a huge party?

I won't swear to it, but it seems there was a poster here who said she planned a weekday wedding in the week between Christmas and New Year's because all her guests were local and they were all teachers so that was the best time to do it and it wasn't as expensive because it was held on a weekday. If that applies to you, then I think it's fine. But barring that, maybe try to make it on a weekend?

I think it kinda depends on your family. If your family is pretty spread out in different areas, but everyone always travels home for Christmas it could work. It actually might be a good way to help them avoid traveling an extra time. But travel is expensive at Christmas, so it is inconvenient for anyone that wouldn't already be traveling. Check with your VIPs, if they are the ones giving you push back then I would say no.

I'd either decline or, if I were very close to the couple, I'd go but be very annoyed. The few days around Christmas is pretty much the only time I have to spend with my family. A wedding would cut that time and also be stressful because I'd likely have to plan multiple trips in a short time (home to family and then wedding).

Also, on top of the added expense of traveling around Christmas, it's just a major, major headache. Don't make your guests go through that.

So we are only inviting one person who is non-family and that is my best friend of more than 20 years who has to come over from Germany. One of the reason we picked so close to Christmas is that she hasn't been home for Christmas since she moved to Germany, so we thought she might be able to see her family too. Also we have many family members that are teachers and students so we wanted it to be when school is out. Also, my fiance's family generally don't get to see all of each other for Christmas and neither does my dad's side so we thought it would be a good way to get everyone together for the holiday. And lastly, my fiance gets time off for the holidays but very little time off otherwise, so picking a date is tough. We are planning to subsidize part of hotel costs as part of our budget, and most of the out of town guests can drive to our location in 5 hours or less. I really don't care about Christmas vs wedding gifts, I thought it was funny that that's what my friend instantly went to. I didn't think about places being closed for last minute needs though. But anyway, that's pretty much our thought process for why that day.

Ooh I have to agree that a 12/27 wedding not a good wedding date, and not because of the "crappy gifts". Put Christmas aside ... what about people's New Year's Eve plans? It is a busy, busy time of the year for everyone. I have to say, I would almost definitely decline a wedding invitation on 12/27, except for only my closest (more like immediate family) relatives.

For a little perspective: I got married in mid-October, got home from our honeymoon on 11/01, and I was overwhelmed at how quickly the holidays were upon us so soon after our wedding. I was exhausted to the max. I felt like I never got a breather. I am just now coming down from it all.

Alexandra, I just read your most recent update. The fact that it's all family definitely helps, and I'd say it might be doable . . . if not for the fact that guests are already giving you negative feedback. You make it sound like it is convenient for them, but they wouldn't be complaining about the date if that were true.

Yeah, I decline all weddings that are around family gathering holidays- ex. Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Personally, it's the few times a year that me entire family comes together so it's more important to me. It just creates added expense and stress for a lot of people around holidays.

@Elizabeth that was me! Although having a lot of teacher/student guests and the savings were more so nice bonusses/reasons it worked than anything else. We did it because DH is a medical resident in Iowa and we wanted to get married back in Canada. He has to take his vacation as a Monday-Friday block. He used the weekends on both ends to travel. We did have some OOT guests, but they were all VIPs who were more than happy to come home for Christmas (mainly my siblings and his aunts).

OK @Alexandra since I just did this I want to weigh in.

From your update it looks like most of your guests won't really have a problem. If people are balking talk to them and find out why, but also explain why you are looking at that date. For us, it was about our ability to get married at home and be able to invite guests at all (any other weekday wedding probably would have been very tough to pull off).

You will be stressed right before the wedding and stores will be closed. I was off work from noon on the 24th, but had to make sure all last minute things were done before then. We did have a few people unable to attend due to work or travel, but it was minimal (minus the guests we knew likely wouldn't be able to come no matter when we had the wedding).

DHs parents didn't like the idea originally for all the same reasons. However, we told people about 8 months in advance and the few people who did have to fly were able to watch for sales. In the end both families were very happy because people ended up spending Christmas together when that normally doesn't happen.

I wouldn't change a thing about our wedding. We had a great turn out, I think around 140. We were of course prepared for lots of declines, but were pleasantly surprised. We ended up with extra money in our budget too because we got some deals having the wedding on a Tuesday. I don't think our wedding would have worked any other week of the year and I think it would have been very difficult with a different guest list.

All that said, if you want your family there you do need to discuss it with them. Even though we didn't feel like we had a lot of choice we ran our date by our VIPs first. If they really had not been able to attend we likely would have tried to figure something out. If your family really don't think they can manage it you should take that into consideration. If they are worried they won't be able to give you a 'good gift' then assure them that is not important to you and not to worry.

ETA I see a lot of people saying they would decline your wedding unless you were a close family or friend. I have a big family so our wedding was on the larger side, but everyone was either a very close friend, aunt, uncle, or first cousin. For us it brought family together during the holidays.

Holiday weddings are highly circumstantial. If it is only local family and your one friend from Germany, I don't think you will run into too many issues with declines. I would suggest you talk to your family about the date before setting it in stone to gauge how they feel about it.

Our wedding was the Saturday following Thanksgiving to accommodate our traveling guests. And, like Rhonda I had trouble catching a break. (I still haven't made it to Thank you cards, the struggle is real) Keeping it small kept me sane, but it was a much bigger undertaking than I expected.

@KB Ironically we have to travel the farthest, we live on the west coast and 98 percent of our family is in the south east. So we will have to go out there a week or so in advance. The 2 people who didn't like the idea aren't guests, but they did get me thinking. Luckily our families are really small so we are hoping to keep the guest list under 40 people. But yeah, I think we should run it by parents etc and get their feedback.

Thanks for all the feedback!

No problem Alexandra! My DH had the second longest trip to get to our wedding. We were married in Nova Scotia, Canada and he traveled from Iowa. How south is your family? My biggest stressor was weather. There was a storm two days before the wedding, which made the drive tricky for some semi-local guests (few hours away).

If you want to see how my wedding was I posted a BAM with photos from guests and advice https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-forums/bam-non-pro-edition/cf35f066ddf4d001.html

Pretty!!

They are pretty deep south, we are alternating between east Tennessee (where his parents live) and Atlanta (where my family is). I'm talking to the bff in Germany today to get her thoughts on the date.