Your wedding day is going to be one of the most exciting, emotional, and significant days in your life. It is also going to be one of the most expensive and nerve wracking. Planning a wedding can be a stress filled experience, particularly when it comes to costs and schedules.
Naturally, you want a big turn out of friends and family, so you will necessarily need to find a suitable venue that can comfortably host all of your guests. But competition for the perfect wedding venue can be fierce, and that can push up rental costs while reducing the choice of available venues.
So, what is a couple to do? Simple, reconsider the day and date of your wedding. Simply planning your wedding on an off date can ensure that you get the venue (and vendors) you want at a price you can afford.
Off Day Bookings
By far, the most popular day for a wedding is Saturday. It fits in with most people’s schedules, so naturally appeals to couples planning their big day. However, there are only so many Saturdays to go around, and there are more couples looking to book their wedding venue for a Saturday than for any other day of the week.
That puts the Saturday wedding at a premium, causing venue rentals and vendor’s fees to increase proportionately. But what about those other weekend days, eh? What about Fridays and Sundays?
For couples planning their wedding, booking on a Friday or Sunday offers some very real advantages. First of all, there are considerable savings to be had by booking on an off day. Secondly, you will have a greater flexibility when hiring vendors.
Finally, off day weddings offer fewer scheduling conflicts, making it easier to get the venue you want at the time that fits in with all of the day’s activities.
Booking the Venue for Fridays and Sundays
One of the most important considerations any couple deals with when planning their wedding is the choice of venue. As we’ve seen, there are dates and times that are constantly in demand, and venues can charge a premium for those dates. This can make it difficult for couples to book the venue they want a price that comfortably suits their wedding budget.
The most popular times and dates for weddings are Saturdays in Spring and Summer. Those dates are going to be in high demand, and you are going to be competing with other couples for the venue’s availability. Not to mention paying a premium price for the pleasure of securing the hall on the day you want.
However, if you shift your wedding back a day to Friday, or forward a day to Sunday, you are much more likely to be able to book the venue you want. Moreover, because those days aren’t in as great a demand there’s a good chance you’ll be eligible for some significant discounts that can help you stay well within your wedding budget.
Wedding Vendors and Off Day Bookings
Hiring vendors for your wedding is much the same as booking the venue. The more competition for the day and time, the fewer your choices of vendor and the higher the costs of the service.
But again, moving your wedding date to a Friday or a Sunday can have a significant impact on your choice of wedding vendors and the fees you will pay. This includes everything from your caterer to your florist; from your wedding photographer to car rental.
A simple shift in your preferred wedding date will open up a larger pool of vendors, while keeping you within your budget limitations.
Wedding Day Attendance
One of the chief reasons couples choose Saturday as their preferred wedding date is to make attendance more convenient for their guests. Fair enough. But looking at it clearly, are your friends and family really going to miss your wedding if it’s not on a Saturday? Of course not. They’ll be there whatever day of the week you choose.
Friday, being the end of the work week, is a particularly great choice. It gives your guests a good excuse to take a long weekend off from work, and gives them Saturday to recover from the wedding reception.
Sundays don’t offer as many benefits as Friday, but they’re still well suited to most of your guests’ schedules and they fit in particularly well with weddings structured around religious services.
In Conclusion
When it comes time to plan your wedding, it pays to think out of the box. Reconsider the preferred time and date of your wedding, and think about booking on an off day.
Simply shifting your wedding day away from a Saturday in Summer offers very real benefits. Not only will booking on a Friday or Sunday help you keep within your wedding budget, it will also give you a wider choice of vendors and venues.
When it comes time to start reviewing venues and interviewing vendors, check out the very real benefits that come from booking on an off day.
