There is a lot to consider when choosing your wedding date. Here are tips to make sure you make the best choice for your wedding!
Don't decide your wedding date until you've booked your venue
If you decide on a specific wedding date before you've searched for and booked your venue, you are hugely limiting yourself. Not every venue is going to have that specific date available and you run the risk of the venue you fall in love with not having your date available and now you have to go with option B, C, D, etc. Wait until you've found the venue you absolutely love and ask what days they have available during the season or month that you're wanting, and then choose a date based on that. The same goes for if there is a specific vendor you are dead-set on having for your wedding.
Narrow down your wedding date options by season or month
Although I don't recommend choosing your specific date too early, I do recommend narrowing down it down from the 365 days of the year to a specific season or a few months. It's best to do this after you've decided your wedding style/theme. If you're wanting a beach wedding, spring or summer will probably be best. If you're wanting to do dark colors like burgundy or navy blue, fall or winter may be better.
Narrow down the day of the week
After you narrow it down to a few months out of the year, now narrow it down to a day of the week. Do you want a weekday wedding? Weekend? Friday or Saturday? Thursday or Sunday? Most people automatically default to Saturday but that may not be the best day for some couples. Consider your guests when deciding this. If the majority of your guests have typical 9am-5pm Monday-Friday jobs then yes, Saturday would be best, this way they don't have to request additional time off from work. However, if the majority of your guests work in the hospitality industry like restaurants, retail, hotels, etc. a Friday or Saturday is going to be very difficult for them to get off from work because those are their busiest days. A Thursday or Sunday would work better for them.
Consider your budget
The wedding venue is likely going to be your largest expense so consider your budget when deciding your date. Friday and Saturday are almost always going to be more expensive than Thursday or Sunday. Also, every state has an on-peak and off-peak wedding season and the wedding venues price their packages accordingly. For example, in Arizona, summer is our off-peak, and fall and spring are our on-peak. So a date in July will cost considerably less than a date in October.
Stay away from holidays and major events
Even if you are wanting a winter wonderland themed wedding, I still recommend not actually having your wedding on Christmas, any other date in December will do just fine. Although your guests love you, not everyone will be willing to sacrifice that time with their children and family to attend your wedding. And even if they do, you don't want to be seen as selfish for forcing your guests to make that choice. For major holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving, you'll want to stay away from that entire week because a lot of people will still be out of town with family or still recovering financially from the gift giving. For smaller holidays like Mother's Day or Veteran's Day, it's safe to just stay away from that specific day. In addition to the holidays, you also want to also avoid major events like Super Bowl Sunday, election day, or school graduation weeks.
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