Thursday or Friday Wedding

And schedules they're not going to be able to come - and they had 2 years' notice!

With either a Thurs or Fri wedding, know that people from far away might not be able to come. But I think Fri before a long weekend you'll have more luck with AND will be more enjoyable for those that are able to make it than a Thurs night.

I know $2000 is a lot of money, but Thursdays are REALLY tough for guests.

I’d say go for the Friday before, it just makes more sense logistically. Then your people will only have to take one day off to get there and will have the whole weekend to get home. Having it the Thursday after a long weekend could make it more difficult for people to come.

Picking the date is so hard, and you’re never going to please everyone - I think you and your FH should just pick one and go with it – maybe discuss with the people you most want to be there and make sure they’re cool with it. The people that really want to come will find a way to work it out and those that can’t – won’t. That was our philosophy and we’ve gotten an overwhelmingly positive response to our date.

Where does this attitude come from of "Well, if they can't make it too bad for them, less money I have to spend on their food."

Yikes! I sure hope I don't have any friends that feel that way about inviting me to their wedding!

Also, even if they really, really want to be there, people may not be able to. So saying that if they really wanted to be there they would is total BS. Would you expect your friends/family to lose their job or not be able to make their house payment because they don't get paid for time off?

Pumpkin about less money was a joke, was being sarcastic. there are always exceptions of people who would not make it even on a saturday. its unfortunate and totally understandable with jobs. my point was if thats then point then weddings wouldnt happen if one person said they would not make it because work and the bride and FH decided to change the date. my end point, cant ,make everyone happy and cant accomodate everyone's needs but those those whom as a bride, care about being there.

Right pumpkin, that's what I was saying..Friday weddings are hard enough let alone a Thursday..If someone feels that way they shouldn't be inviting those particular guests in the first place.

yes-we can't please everyone..but the thing is on WW so often people just brush the day choice off as "well people who really care will show up anyways." trust me I've seen it a LOT. and it's simply not the case, sometimes people that care just as much or even more than the guests that came can't come for very good reasons.

@ sarah- not eveyones schedule is like yours. How can people expect a bride to cater to everyones schedule/ new jobs?

@abiti- i find that you and I think a lot a like lately! Weird.

Ab- mybe I mistated my point. clearification: I agree with u that some people who care might not make it for good reasons. im not saying just because they care so much they will make it no matter the circumstance. things happens, things change. anything can happen. but I am not going to change my date because of one person or a handful of people.

In my first post, I did mention that I asked my family and friends who I wanted to be at the wedding first before finalizing on the date, because to me, those are the people whose feelings about the day matter since I trully want them to be there.

I would never expect you to cater to all your guests schedules. However, I would expect you to at least try to make it easy for a large majority of your guests. If 50% of your guests are coming from out of town, don't have a Thursday wedding. If 10% are, then ok. But be reasonable. I want my guests to come to my wedding and have a good time, not be worried about having to take time off work or pay extra for their hotel.

Oic, ya that IS good you checked with people, I just mean like generally on WW I've seen people brush it off..but to each their own..and for the record, if she's on a very tight budget, then ya saving 2000 is HUGE and she should do it on a Thursday..I know it would be for me.

About 75% of my guests are from out of town. I live in oregon they are from UT, CA, and spain.

Tuesday didnt seem to be a problem. I did talk to the "must haves" to make sure a tuesday would work- they were all for it, anything to save money! It also saves them money because flights and hotels are cheaper

But again- it depends on your guests and no one on WW knows them! Talk to them before you book. I mean you dont want to have it on a certain day and only have 10 people show!

Yes. if its about budget, i agree have it on a Thursday. like Anjuli said it depends on your guests. because for us, we considered work schedules and stay at homes and school. we were going to do it April but most people have school and with kids they cant go out of town. but we r doing it summer and most of our guests are coming as a vacation and staying for a week because they want to see the city with their families/kids. so its a vacation opportunity for them.

Thursday BEFORE a long weekend is perfect. Thursday AFTER one will be problematic.

I would do a thursday, if that will help out that much, cost wise! If the people you care about want to be there, they will! It's your big day, and they wouldn't miss it for the world.

I am a Thursday Bride! Besides everything being up to 60% cheaper I actually took a pole of my guests of which weekday would be better and they voted for Thursday. We have guests that are coming from all over to our Florida wedding (Maryland, Canada and Georgia to name a few). Our out of town guests did thank us becuase wed flights are cheaper. We made sure to send save the dates early so everyone could prepare. We have not had any declines thus far but our guest list really only includes people who are very special to us.

I think a weekday before a holiday is a great idea. I am getting married the day before Thanksgiving and the price difference is a few thousand dollars. Very worth it. I think if you give your guests enough notice, they can make their own arrangements and have time to save up both vacation time and money to come to your wedding.

I prefer the Friday. After Friday, I can enjoy my weekend and have a good rest.

Since my FH and I are paying for this all ourselves, the prospect of saving $2000 on the venue is too good to pass up. We still have some things to talk about, and I think that we will send a little facebook survey to our out of town friends, but after all these great comments I think we are gravitating toward Celia's suggestion of the Thursday BEFORE the long weekend. Budget wise it just makes sense. Thank you again for all your help! I am really looking forward to exploring the heck out of this site!