Consider a Weeknight
There are so many things about weddings that people have such strong opinions about. Sometimes I wonder where these opinions even come from- if we really care about them or if we just feel like we HAVE to do it this way because that’s the way you do it.
I witnessed a great example of this a couple years ago when I helped a friend get ready to get her bridal pictures taken. I helped her curl her long hair in beautiful, loose curls. She looks amazing.
The problem arose when we met her mom at the photo shoot location. My friend had planned to wear her hair down for her bridals and then on the day of her wedding she would wear an up-do and her veil. When her mom found out she didn’t plan to wear her veil for her bridals she almost had a heart attack. After all- you have to wear a VEIL! You’re a bride! Brides wear veils!
So, she wore a veil and covered the perfect hairdo we’d worked all afternoon creating. Not because she wanted to, but because brides are supposed to wear veils.
There are so many more examples of this when it comes to wedding planning, but today I’d like to focus one that, in my opinion, wastes a whole lot of money. This particular opinion is that weddings need to be on a weekend.
Now, I understand all you Saturday brides. You want all your close family to be able to come to your ceremony without taking off a day of work. That’s very thoughtful of you and I think that’s a great plan.
What I don’t get are all the Friday brides who planned their wedding on a Friday merely because Friday is when most weddings are held. Now I know a lot of people have good reasons for a Friday wedding- a strict work or school schedule that doesn’t allow any time off for your or your fiance for example. However, if you’re thinking of having your wedding on a Friday and you have no good reason for it- please consider the following.
Many wedding services offer a weekday rate and a weekend rate. You could save literally HUNDREDS of dollars on just your photographer alone. If you plan on having your reception at a reception center or hall you are bound to save at least a few hundred more. Many other wedding services will offer a weekday price cut as well. Not to mention the significantly lower prices at Bed and Breakfasts or hotels that you could be staying in for your honeymoon the following evenings.
With that in mind, let’s consider the fact that your guests will have to take a half day off work whether your ceremony is held on a Tuesday morning or a Friday morning. As long as your reception is over by 10pm, your guests will have plenty of time to get home and get enough sleep to get to work the next morning. And there is, of course, the fact that every one’s weekends in Utah are filled with weddings all summer long. By having your reception on a weekday you’re less likely to say an early goodbye to most your guests who are leaving to catch another reception the same evening.
I guess my point is that, while there are so many decisions about our weddings that we make simply because- the decision of what evening your wedding will be held is one that can really affect a lot of things. Make sure you are informed before you settle on something simply because that’s how everyone else does it.
