holiday weekend wedding

[sillyberry]

Hi BWW - please forgive me for prematurely venturing over here!

BF and I are working on the ring part, but would like to get married next summer and are concerned about the location not being available if we wait too long. So here''s my question:

What do you think about weddings held over a holiday weekend, in this case Memorial Day? Are you happy you have more time to travel, irritated that you might have to miss other holiday plans, annoyed flights are more expensive, or something else?

We would be getting married in Chicago, which is where he grew up and where we met. About 95% of his guests are local, whereas probably 75% of mine would have to travel from points scattered around the country. Chicago is a great city, so we would hope that people could make a weekend of it (and would invite everyone to a welcome dinner and possibly a day-after brunch). I personally would be happy to have an extra day and not be so rushed, but I may not be typical.

Thoughts? Thanks a bunch, and I hope to be over here officially sooner rather than later!

 

[getting excited]

I personally do not like when weddings are on holiday weekends. Everything is more expensive and just creates more complications for guests. I realize this is probsbly a selfish way to look at it, but I am just not a fan.

 

[slg47]

I disagree...I like it over holiday weekends, people have more time off, it is easier for them to travel. I just went to a wedding this Memorial Day and it was wonderful! It was actually on Sunday which was fine since people had Monday off.

but...just depends on your guests.

 

[stephbolt]

My sister is getting married Labor Day weekend and we haven''t heard any complaints. They are actually doing the wedding on Sunday so I''m glad to have Monday off to help them get stuff together and get back home.

I attended a Memorial Day wedding a few years ago, in Nag''s Head, NC. It was fantastic! Tons of the guests made a mini-vacation out of it.

The one concern would be that airfare and hotels can be higher during a holiday weekend. Try and give people as much notice as possible to allow them to bargain hunt if need be.

 

[lilyfoot]

Date: 6/21/2010 9:47:01 AM
Author: stephb0lt
My sister is getting married Labor Day weekend and we haven''t heard any complaints. They are actually doing the wedding on Sunday so I''m glad to have Monday off to help them get stuff together and get back home.

I attended a Memorial Day wedding a few years ago, in Nag''s Head, NC. It was fantastic! Tons of the guests made a mini-vacation out of it.

The one concern would be that airfare and hotels can be higher during a holiday weekend. Try and give people as much notice as possible to allow them to bargain hunt if need be.

That would be my concern as well. Is there another weekend you could use?

 

[zipzapgirl]

If I have to travel more than an hour, and plan to stay over in the area anyway, I''d prefer a holiday weekend. Our vacation time is so dear as it is that a vacation day is hard to sqeeze out once they''ve all been planned. If that''s what you''ve got planned for the weekend--ie you "main event"--then having that extra day is awesome to spend with friends and family.

One the other hand, if the wedding is local, then it does mean you''ll be staying home and it probably won''t be as exciting.

I think the answer you reach will depend on how big the wedding is (fewer guests means that more people will see it as *the* focus of their weekend) and how far people need to travel.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I got married over a long weekend and it was great. All of our guests had to travel at least 2-3 hours to get to our wedding so it was nice to give them the option of making a weekend of it or just having the freedom to still have time to do things on their own outside of the wedding. Sometimes I feel as a guest a wedding can take over the entire weekend, you have to pack and travel, sometimes attend events in addition to the wedding ceremony and reception, etc. It's a big time commitment.

We got married on the Sunday of July 4th weekend. Friday was the observed "holiday" that people had off of work, but even so it turned out fine. Many people chose to come in for the whole weekend and do 4th of July somewhere new, and others chose to drive down for the day. No one I spoke with said they had an issue taking the next day (Monday) off. In fact, it was easier because it was a long weekend so their employers sort of expected people to tack on extra days.

ETA: Hotels *may* have been more expensive as it was a holiday weekend, but we negotiated our room block rate well in advance and it wasn't an issue. The rate our guests got was about $30 less than the standard rate and they were all happy with it. Also, most vendors have published rates based on the day of the week (i.e., Saturday is most expensive, followed by Friday, followed by Sunday). Holiday weekends aren't always specified under separate prices in contracts, so you can often get a Saturday night-like affair (night time wedding with open day following) for a Sunday night price.

 

[zipzapgirl]

I agree with the other poster who said that it makes a difference where the wedding is. If it''s a fun place where you can stay entertained for a weekend, then the long weekend sounds better and better

 

[Clairitek]

Since you''re getting married in a fun place to be for 3 days or so, I think its just fine. I second all of the posters above me who said to give your guests as much notice as possible of the date so they can book well in advance if they are going to go.

 

[Iowa Lizzy]

I''m having my wedding on July 3rd and there are definitely pros and cons.

We are seeing a fair amount of guests who are declining because of plans they have for the holiday weekend. That''s kind of a bummer. We didn''t see any issue with hotel prices being jacked up because we set aside a block of rooms at a specific price many months in advance.

The town we''re having it in will have fireworks downtown that night outside the ballroom where our reception is being held so we''re really pumped for the free entertainment. I say, if you want it on a holiday weekend, go for it!

 

[RaiKai]

It sort of depends I think.

DH and I had our wedding on the New Year's long weekend. The Friday was the holiday. It worked perfectly for us it was a very small wedding (i.e. 16 guests) and 100% of the people had to travel. We had it at a resort & spa on the West coast of Canada, and we really wanted people to sort of see it as a "weekend away" where they happened to attend a wedding for a few hours on the Saturday. We also invited people to join us for brunch Sunday if they chose to and we hung out together when we wanted, and such (most of us are scattered all around and do not see each other often so it was fun to catch up!). We did check with our intended guests beforehand (I mean it was a small list so these were people we really wanted there!). Our guests were able to come for the entire weekend (some came Thursday and left Sunday, others came Friday and left Monday) and relax after the Christmas holidays. It was winter, but the weather was mild out there and there was an outdoor hot tub, pool and a spa to enjoy, as well as a neat town local to the resort to go and tour.

It was actually cheaper for both rooms and the venue and so on since it was off-season.

There were a couple people who could not attend - but this was due to certain work obligations rather than the weekend itself!

We are going to a wedding however over Canada Day long weekend, and it is a bit of a pain as it is an 8-hour drive away, so we have no choice but to go up there for the weekend and camp or stay with someone even though the only "events" are those on the Saturday (i.e. the wedding). DH had to book the entire weekend off as a result (he generally works over the weekends) so it will "cost" more than gas money, and a new dress, and so on to attend. We are looking forward to going, but, you know, it would have been easier to justify if there was stuff all weekend and we could have made it a full weekend. However, DH and I get so few entire weekends together now with his work so we are still looking forward to it, even if we are driving for a lot of it! If the wedding was LOCAL and he had the weekend off, we would not be that pumped to attend as we would rather be out camping or hiking or something (but we could always go somewhere a couple hours away and drive back for wedding) to take advantage of a weekend together.

I am not sure what their RSVP rate is so far. I imagine fairly high as a lot of their family lives local to them. But we will see.

So, um, that was the long way to say, it all depends I think on the plans, the wedding, the guests, and so on.

 

[AustenNut]

I''m fine with holiday weekend weddings. A few years back my cousin had his wedding on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend in Chicago, and it was well-attended. We''re having our wedding on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and so far only one person has mentioned it as an issue. Our wedding is in New Orleans and we already know some people are making mini-vacations of it. (About 90% of our list is from out-of-town and will have to fly in.)

Basically, I''d do what you want to do. Those people who want to see your wedding will come regardless of when it is. And so long as you''re okay that there are people who would rather maintain their holiday traditions than come to your wedding, you''ll be fine.

 

[fieryred33143]

I consider Memorial Day as one of those holidays to get together with friends and just hang out. Memorial Day, IMO, is perfect for a wedding. Most people have the time off and besides doing a bbq, most do not have major family get together or plans.

If it were Christmas, New Year''s, or Thanksgiving, then I''d probably have a different opinion.

 

[vc10um]

Date: 6/21/2010 12:39:35 PM
Author: fiery
I consider Memorial Day as one of those holidays to get together with friends and just hang out. Memorial Day, IMO, is perfect for a wedding. Most people have the time off and besides doing a bbq, most do not have major family get together or plans.

I agree with fiery. Memorial Day isn''t a "big, family holiday" in my book...it''s more a day to get together with friends/local loved ones, fire up the grill, and enjoy being free...and what better way to celebrate our freedom than by getting married?!?!?

I might suggest you look into a Sunday ceremony since this is a weekend where you know you will have Monday off. That way, people can travel Saturday and Monday and not have to take any additional days off if they are tight on vacation time.

 

[stepcutgirl]

I''m getting married this NYE and so far all I''ve heard is how cool it will be to have all the family (his) together for a holiday. My family is all local but his is spread out and no one has complained yet. We too got a block of rooms (even for locals, open bar for 6 hours!) for a discounted rate and everyone seems very happy with that.

I say if you want it, go for it.

 

[mrscushion]

Date: 6/21/2010 9:50:19 AM
Author: zipzapgirl
If I have to travel more than an hour, and plan to stay over in the area anyway, I''d prefer a holiday weekend. Our vacation time is so dear as it is that a vacation day is hard to squeeze out once they''ve all been planned.

I agree with zipzapgirl. That''s how I''d see it, too.

I''m getting married over Labor Day in Italy and, judging from the response rate, people seem to like it and make an end-of-summer-vacation out of it.

 

[sillyberry]

Thank you so much for all your thoughtful input! Very interesting to see a variety of responses - that''s what makes this forum great. I will definitely take all your suggestions and feedback into consideration!

I''ll keep you posted.

 

[yssie]

We have a number of out of town guests, so we chose to have ours on Memorial day this year, and we''ve heard that a lot of people were happy not to have to make alternative arrangements for work.


Our venue is a hotel, though, so guests don''t have to worry about higher room rates, but if that wasn''t the case this would need to be a consideration.

 

[Haven]

Date: 6/21/2010 12:39:35 PM
Author: fiery
I consider Memorial Day as one of those holidays to get together with friends and just hang out. Memorial Day, IMO, is perfect for a wedding. Most people have the time off and besides doing a bbq, most do not have major family get together or plans.

If it were Christmas, New Year''s, or Thanksgiving, then I''d probably have a different opinion.

Ditto. We were married on the 4th of July (it was a Friday) and we didn''t have any issues with people being out of town or having to spend more money on hotels.

 

[katamari]

Like everything wedding related, it is so dependent on many other things.

I don''t mind attending weddings on holidays and generally enjoy it--especially if it is for family, since I try to spend the summer holidays with family anyways. It is starting to wear on us a bit, though, as this year and the previous year, we had weddings on Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day. My job is pretty flexible, so I am less dependent on vacation time, but I do feel for DH. Part of what he enjoys about holidays is being able to call the shots about his time use. When you are going to a wedding, especially an OOT wedding, you are as tied to the wedding schedule as you are to a work schedule, and especially if there are associated events.

 

[megumic]

We''re getting married on 10.10.10, which falls on Columbus Day weekend and also happens to be a Sunday. No complaints so far. I suppose it will stink for those who do not have Monday off and perhaps the traffic will be stinky, but nobody has complained thus far! (Well, my brother complained we were getting married on a Sunday, but then he put his foot in his mouth REALLY FAST because he got married on a Friday!!!)

I would be happy to attend a wedding over Memorial Day weekend. I prefer having more time to settle in, travel, recoup after the wedding, etc.

 

[Prana]

I just got married on Saturday May 29th (Memorial Day Weekend) and it was fantastic!!! An extra day off at the end of the weekend allowed us to have a family BBQ on the following day, and allowed for our out of town guests to regroup and recooperate before returning to work on Tuesday.

I have no problem with holiday weekend weddings. I''ve had friends get married on 4th of July weekend and everything was splendid.

I don''t see it as being a problem, but I might be a little biased