saturday day wedding...need your help!

[lucy.lucy.80]

we are thinking of having a saturday day wedding (mass 10-11 reception 12-5) in Oct 2008 for several reasons...cost, availability, and also so the elderly people attending will not have to drive home in the dark. Several reception sites said their night weddings do not start until at least 6pm and assured us 1 hour difference will be fine.

Is anyone else planning a saturday day wedding?!? Did you find it difficult to book vendors?? For everyone else how would you feel about attending a saturday day wedding??

Any imput would be helpful. Thanks!

 

[CrownJewel]

I would perfectly happy to attend a Saturday DAY wedding!!! You''ll definitely get lots of natural light for photos! I am having a Sunday DAY wedding, which is definitely difficult. But at the venue we wanted, they only had a lower price for Sunday afternoons. And FI may have some relatives coming in from Israel who observe Shabbat.

A friend of mine had her wedding on a Saturday afternoon, and everyone had a GREAT time.

 

[Gypsy]

Sounds great to me. Some vendors will give you day time wedding discounts too, which will be nice!

 

[zoebartlett]

I''d be fine with attending a daytime wedding, and in fact, I''m having one myself in July.

We''re having a daytime wedding because having it at our venue in the evening would have cost us a small fortune (it''s at a restaurant and we''d have to guarantee that we''d bring in the same $$ as they would during their regular dinner schedule).

Our ceremony is at 11:00-approx. 11:30, with a cocktail hour immediately afterwards. The reception will start after that and will go until 4:30. I''m actually really happy about that because then guests can still have plenty of time afterward to spend the rest of the day how they please. We''re probably going to do some sort of casual after hours party at another restaurant near the hotel, for anyone who wants to attend. Some guests, particularly those from out of town may choose to see the sights also, so having a daytime wedding allows them to that.

 

[partyjewels]

I would definately attend a Saturday DAY wedding! I've been to a handful of them and they were always fun, and sometimes you end up going out with a group after the wedding for dinner or just extend the party at someones house, or in one case after a day time family wedding, FI's immediate family all came over for drinks and a fire pit at our house, so it was nice!

 

[Fancy605]

Saturday day weddings are what is typical in my area. It''s always fun because after the wedding, I like to go out with my friends who are also attending the wedding. Plus, it is MUCH easier to travel to and from an OOT Saturday wedding when it is in the daytime than it is when it ends late at night.

The couples I have known who had Saturday DAY weddings have really enjoyed having the extra time after to spend leisurely saying bye to everyone. It seems less rushed than an evening wedding. Plus, more people are usually able to stay for the entire event.

 

[lucy.lucy.80]

Thanks so much for all the imput!

It is very helpful and reassuring. It will also cost us $4000 less for the reception which I think is a great incentive!

By the way Zoe, did you have any problem booking your vendors (ie DJ,photog) b/c they were already booked for a night wedding??

 

[anchor31]

We''re having a day wedding on a Saturday (ceremony 11-12, reception 1- on August 2nd and we had no problems at all booking. I love the idea of spending most of the days with my groom and I prefer getting up early than going to bed late... It''s also great that people wil be able to drive home sooner. Plus, I''m pretty sure there''ll be less drinking!

 

[zoebartlett]

Hi Lucy,

I''m not sure what our DJ''s or our photographer''s plans are after our wedding. I''m not sure if they have other jobs to do after our wedding or not (we booked both fairly early I think, so it wasn''t really an issue -- it never came up, actually). We''re getting married at a restaurant and they only do one wedding each day. They have certain hours for a daytime wedding and other hours for a nighttime wedding.

 

[dtnyc]

My friend had a Saturday day wedding this past August, and I know that she and her DH were able to save a bundle and had no issues getting vendors , etc. Also depending on how you are charged for your bar, people will drink less during the day so you can save there.
One thing I would encourage you to do is to make sure YOU get to the church on time! She was about 45 minutes late, and well let''s just say that those of us who had to drive a 1/2 hour to get to the church and had risen early on a Saturday morning weren''t too happy! It wasn''t her fault (but her mom''s) but it was still really rude. I felt bad for her, but it definitely had the guests grumbling in the pews.

 

[Krissie]

I think it sounds great, and it''s something we contemplated. One word of warning - a lot of venues will try to book out the Saturday night (in addition to your Saturday day booking), and may require your event to end by 4 pm.

 

[Class n Sass]

My wedding is May 24, 2008 and it is during the day on a Saturday. The ceremony will begin at 10:30. The cocktail hour is from 12-1 and the reception from 1-5.

We choose to have the wedding at this time because we saved $40 per person at the reception venue. I wasn''t totally sold on the idea at first; however I did want to save money. Also here in NYC most weddings are in the evening. It has turned out that I really like the idea of a daytime wedding. As others have said it gives plenty of time for us to continue to mingle with our guests as many people will be staying over at the hotel. So many weddings end at 10/11pm and the bride and groom are so exhuasted that they immediately retreat to their room.

I did not have a hard time booking vendors at all. I ended up getting a band that would have easily cost over $10K for under $6K. I think it''s worth it. I figure a party is a party and a good time is a good time no matter the time of day