Opinioins on a Friday afternoon wedding?

Does you wedding have to be over at 5pm?

I think that if you really want a small wedding then this would be the way to go. I would just make sure that the people you really want to be there will be able to take the time off. I would hate to see you plan it and then your MOH or mom can't get off work.

Well, getting out of work could be a problem for any of your guests with jobs. We chose a holiday weekend for this very reason, so that our family might already be off of work and therefore not use their vacation time for our wedding. It looks like your wedding might be near Easter (I didn't look at a 2012 calendar yet). You could use Good Friday like we are doing.

Ouch...while sticking to the budget is important,if I were super close to you, I would make every effort to get off work. However, sometimes people can't afford to take off and/or are just not allowed to take off. You need to know this going into the situation, and perhaps give everyone an STD wayy in advance to prepare for taking the time off of work.

@Cherie M.: The wedding does not have to be over at 5pm, they just have different rates for evening and weekend weddings.

I just noticed but if I did 8 hours it would be the same price for an afternoon or evening ($800) ceremony and reception. I still want the same kind of wedding I was planning just scaling it down where I can to cut costs. Since we will have a baby a big wedding is not a concern to me now.

*bump*

Well our wedding is on a Friday as well during 4th of july weekend, which most people will take that time off anyway for a 5 day weekend. Those that are the most important to us will be there and thats all that matters and the same with you. I don't think its a bad idea at all in fact, i think its great because you will have the wedding that you want at a more affordable price point.

Those that really want to be there will find a way. I'd ensure that the guests you REALLY want there- bridal party, immediate family, etc- can get off work ahead of time.

I would suggest doing some sort of after party either later that night, or on Saturday night (even something casual at someone's home or a bar) for the guests who could not attend.

The only issue I see is people have jobs so everyone would have to take off of work. If it's just going to be a small wedding why not do it at a home, a park or a restaurant that has a banquet hall. Otherwise the only thing you'd need to do to make a Friday afternoon work is give people notice WELL IN ADVANCE so they can put in their vacation time at work.

I do plan on giving advanced notice to everyone I am going to invite. I am only planning on having 30 - 50 people. Only about 4 -5 of the children are in school, and another of handful that I am inviting have their own business or work for themselves. (they do the work as well)

The only people who probably (about 95% sure) wont show are FH immediate family b/c 1)they will have to travel to Texas and 2) His mom already made the comment a while back that if it's in Texas she wont come.

I didn't read everyone's responses so I'm not sure if this has been said or not, but we were once thinking of doing a Thursday evening wedding to save money. I didn't like the idea of it but we would have had something so much nicer on a much lower budget since we weren't doing on a weekend. We ended up picking another venue, but the guy at this one made a good point...."Whoever loves you and wants to be there, will be there for you." I think you can't get any truer than that! I think if you give them notice then those you care about and who truly care about you will make the time to be there for you no matter what time or day your wedding is

M&M I totally agree!