Sunday Weddings

[Caribou]

Anyone have or go to a Sunday wedding? What did you think of it being on that day?

 

[jcrow]

depends on religion. i don''t think some allow sunday weddings.
are you considering a sunday wedding?

 

[Tybee]

I went to a wedding once that wasn''t on a Saturday.
Now for the life of me, I can''t remember what day it was. It was either a Sunday or a Thursday. Either way, it was lovely. The only difference it made for me (as a guest) was that I had a few less cocktails than I might have because I knew that I had to work in the morning. Honestly, that was better for all involved!!
The only real problem I can foresee is for your out of town guests to travel back. If you have few to no out of towners, it might be a great way to go.
I''m getting married on a Monday. I kind of think it''s funny for one, but the main reasons are 1. it''s cheaper for us. 2. We''re having a destination wedding, and it allows our friends and family time to get there etc. 3. We''re having a destination wedding in the Caribean, peoplel are not going to be there for just the weekend.

What are your reasons for considering a Sunday wedding?

 

[regalada]

I''m having a Sunday wedding too, mainly for economic reasons since the reception room for a Sunday is $2000 cheaper than on a Saturday. Ours is a destination wedding and about half of the guests live at the destination so it''s ok for them to have it on a Sunday. The traveling guests will be staying longer at the destination so it does not matter to them either, plus flying out on a Monday or Tuesday from the Caribbean will be cheaper than Sunday.

Regalada

 

[fountainfairfax]

I had a Sunday wedding w/ my ex and thought it was a great day to get married (although my sister later told me that she hates any wedding that isn''t on a Sat night- it ruins the weekend if it''s on a Sunday, Fridays are too tough to get out of work early enough to get ready.)

Out of consideration for guests having to work the next day we made sure the ceremony started early enough (1:30, I think) and since the ceremony and reception were at the same place, everything at the country club was finished by 7-7:30 (although everyone went back to my in-laws later on and had a late night anyway.)

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 12/20/2005 1:08:57 PM
Author:Caribou
Anyone have or go to a Sunday wedding? What did you think of it being on that day?

I had a Sunday wedding, and I''d do it over again in a minute.....I actually prefer that it was Sunday.

1) My guests could travel into town on Saturday instead of rushing Friday night.
2) Less competition for venues and vendors
3) Better pricing due to being an "off" day.

 

[peonygirl]

We''re planning to have ours on a Sunday afternoon because we wanted an afternoon wedding and Saturday afternoon was out because we''re Jewish. I''ve been to weddings on both Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons, and they were all great.

 

[Mara]

I think it depends on your guests, where they are traveling from, do they have the extra time to take off etc.

Friday is a popular off-day as well if everyone is local.

We got married on a Wednesday, but in Hawaii everyone was there already....most people came in between Saturday and Monday, and stayed til Friday or Saturday.

You can save a significant amount of money with an off-day wedding!

 

[Caribou]

Thanks for your responses.

Yes, we are most likely having an outdoor Sunday wedding. For a couple reasons main one being that it''s cheaper. The other reason is that my fiance and I are pretty laid back (some would say boring

) and a lunch type reception is more us......we are exciting about our wedding but something very simple and intimate is more us. We won''t have a DJ becuase we think it''s a waste of money. Neither one of us dance and the last wedding we went to (his cousin''s) no one danced....well until they were all pretty wasted. We will have beer and wine but nothing more. His family is about 2.5 hours away (not to far to drive home, if they wish)...so we were thinking of having it memorial weekend (won''t be definite until after the new year), that way our guests wouldn''t have to rush back after if they didn''t want to and they would still have Monday to enjoy time off work with their own family.
He is Lutheren (sorry about spelling) and I am Presbyterian (again...spelling) but neither one of us are practicing right now. So that isn''t a problem.

Thanks again for responses. PS''ers are the best!

 

[Caribou]

Date: 12/20/2005 1:55:12 PM
Author: Mara
Friday is a popular off-day as well if everyone is local.

We were thinking of having a Friday wedding but because his family is 2.5 hours away (or mine.....depending on where we have it) that just wouldn''t work. Oh well.

 

[SarFarSuperstar]

I''m having my wedding on the Sunday of Columbus Day weekend (October 8th). Most of my family does not live in the area and we thought it might be easier for them to travel during that weekend and some might already have the day off. Also, a lot of our guests are students (we recently graduated) and my fiance is a works for the State Senate so they will all have Monday off of school/work.

I don''t think we saved much as far as the reception goes but October 8th also happens to be his grandmother''s birthday (she passed away several years ago but I have her engagement ring) and also my grandmother''s birthday (who also passed away)- so it''s a special date for us for many reasons.

Our ceremony will be at 1:30 and the regular church service is usually over around 11-11:30.

 

[selflove]

I just went to a Sunday wedding last month. Ceremony was at 4:30 and dinner/reception around 6:00. Some people left early, like around 8:00 people started leaving, b/c of work the next morning.

 

[onedrop]

I was a Bridesmaid in a wedding held on Sunday because the bride is Jewish. I thought it was just as good as Saturday personally. I was coming from out of town so it gave me a chance to settle in, get my hair done, visit with friends/family, etc. Many other people traveled from out of town as well and there did not seem to be any empty seats due to the wedding being on Sunday. People will be there because they love you regardless of the day! Dare to be different!!!

 

[Blue824]

Date: 12/20/2005 2:02:21 PM
Author: Caribou

Thanks for your responses.

Yes, we are most likely having an outdoor Sunday wedding. For a couple reasons main one being that it''s cheaper.

....

so we were thinking of having it memorial weekend (won''t be definite until after the new year), that way our guests wouldn''t have to rush back after if they didn''t want to and they would still have Monday to enjoy time off work with their own family.

At quite a few venues Sunday weddings over holiday weekends do not receive the typical Sunday discount... At least that''s the case where I work and also what a couple of my co-workers have found out through their current wedding planning. I mean, it probably depends on the venue and how in demand it is, but you might just want to double check on the rates for the holiday weekends.

 

[Logan Sapphire]

Date: 12/20/2005 2:08:32 PM
Author: SarFarSuperstar
I''m having my wedding on the Sunday of Columbus Day weekend (October 8th). Most of my family does not live in the area and we thought it might be easier for them to travel during that weekend and some might already have the day off. Also, a lot of our guests are students (we recently graduated) and my fiance is a works for the State Senate so they will all have Monday off of school/work.


I don''t think we saved much as far as the reception goes but October 8th also happens to be his grandmother''s birthday (she passed away several years ago but I have her engagement ring) and also my grandmother''s birthday (who also passed away)- so it''s a special date for us for many reasons.


Our ceremony will be at 1:30 and the regular church service is usually over around 11-11:30.

I also got married on Oct 8 (I actually had to look at my ring engraving to make sure I had the right day!) but our date was on a Friday. We also didn''t save anything for having it on a holiday weekend, but we also did get hitched in supposedly the #3 most popular US place to get married. We don''t have the significance like you do for Oct 8, but it''s nice that the weekend will always be a long weekend for us, due to Columbus Day,

 

[eks6426]

Caribou

Your wedding plans sound a lot like mine were in July 05. I had my wedding on Sunday, July 3. We chose a city that was mid-point between both families and was the city where my husband went to college. We picked Sunday because stuff was cheaper, and it also gave us a breathing day. We drove down Friday after work (4 hours away), then had a leisurely Saturday meeting with vendors & making sure everything was set up. Then had time to relax before the rehearsal dinner.

We actually had no alcohol at our wedding because his family doesn''t drink & is offended by people who do. We knew no one would dance, so we skipped that too. Instead, we held the wedding outside, under some trees we were thinking "elegant picnic." The reception was in a park-like area. We even had frisbees & balls so the kids could play & run around. Our menu was grilled chicken, hamburgers & hotdogs (for kids). We actually had someone man the grill so everything was fresh & hot. Then we had a buffet table with gourmet salads & fresh fruit. Instead of a cake, we had our mother''s make our favorite desserts from our childhood...and put out a card explaining it on the dessert table. Everything was served on china & the tables were set with white linens & flowers. Most of our guests have told us they had a great time and they truly remember it compared to so many of the banquet/dance style weddings that had attended.

That being said, the biggest hurdle to a Sunday wedding was finding an officiant. Neither my husband nor I are very religious so we didn''t have anyone local who''d be willing to travel. Judges in the county we married would only perform ceremonies in the courthouse. So, we had to find a minister in the city where were got married but did not live. It took a lot of hunting, but through family & friend connections we found a minister in a city 30 minutes away from our wedding city to marry us...problem was he had his own church services to do first. We actually had to move our wedding time so that he could preach to his regular congregation first then drive over. So, just a word of caution...find someone who can legally perform the ceremony & agree on a time before you print up invitations. Good luck!

 

[curlygirl]

I went to a Sunday wedding in February. It was Presidents Day weekend so everyone had that Monday off so it worked really well.

 

[FireGoddess]

My wedding was on a Sunday. We did this because many of DH''s friends own restaurants and simply could not get away on a Friday or Saturday...so Sunday it was. The rental for the venue was also somewhat cheaper, which helped. Almost everyone from my side had to travel, and most of them just flew back on Monday, or made a vacation out of it and stayed a few days to go to San Francisco or Napa. It worked out well. For those that had to go to work the next day...I guess they had to drink less and leave earlier...but that''s a tradeoff I guess!

 

[JCJD]

Ours was a Friday wedding. We had it at 7pm so people could get home, get ready, and have a snack before coming to the wedding, since we were only having hors d''oeuvres at the reception. We didn''t invite many out of town people, so it worked. We also got a ton of Friday night discounts!

I was at my dear friend''s wedding this past Sunday, and it was great! You''ll save on the bar bill, as Tybee mentioned, and you''ll probably get a bunch of discounts too, less so if you''re having a summer wedding perhaps. The wedding began at 5 and we were home by 9:30, after dinner and a good amount of dancing. Some people were leaving by 7:30 (mostly the nurses going to work at 6am Monday), but there was still a nice sized crowd left.

I think you should go for it. If people really want to be there, they''ll make it happen.

 

[Caribou]

Blue824 - Thanks for the information. I was kind of wondering that myself with prices being higher..also the fact that one of the places we are considering is a community center park kind of place. I''ll keep that in mind when getting prices..thanks again.


IslandDreams - That sounds like a perfect wedding!!! One of the things we were also considering is going half between my family and his. We live by my family but he has a larger family, so we will consider having it there or somewhere in between also. But your wedding sounded really intimate and romantic.

Thanks again for everyone''s imput, I really appreciate it.

 

[pebbles]

I think if you''re planning on having a low-key, less hoopla type wedding a Sunday afternoon would work great.

I have been to both a Sunday early afternoon wedding, and a Sunday late afternoon wedding. The early afternoon wedding had a hors'' dvores (sp?) reception, didn''t have a DJ (they had a CD player with instrumental music) and it was very relaxed. It was a smaller wedding, maybe 80 or so people, so it worked out very well. We were probably home by 6pm.

The late afternoon wedding, in my opinion, wasn''t as nice. The ceremony was I believe at 3pm, so by the time we got to the reception and ate it was closer to 7pm. A lot of people that had little ones started to leave early as it was not a holiday weekend and there was school the next day. The couple had a DJ and open bar, but hardly anyone danced nor drank. I guess it just felt kind of weird having all the hoopla on a Sunday evening when everyone knew they had to get up and go to work the next day (and I was one of those that had to be at my job at 7am!).

What Blue said is true about many venues not doing the Sunday discount for holiday weekends -- in fact, around me more and more venues are not giving a Sunday discount AT ALL. My cousin is looking to get married in Oct. 2007 and is gathing information and she was surprised that many places are no longer giving a break for having it on a Sunday. Guess the word is out!

You mention possibly having your wedding on Memorial Day weekend. Be careful with holday weekends -- one of my friends was chastized for having her wedding over 4th of July weekend a few years ago. A lot of people do things with their own families and weren''t thrilled with the fact that they "had" to go to her wedding instead. There is no date that will please everyone, just make sure those closest to you that you really want there are fine with it. There are a lot of other holidays like Mother''s Day and Father''s Day that fall on Sundays as well, so take that into consideration as well.

 

[YumCarrots]

We''re having a Sunday wedding as well. Labor Day weekend of 2006. We figured since everyone has that Monday off, our guests will still be able to stay late and enjoy the party. The main reason we went with a Sunday wedding was because of the substantial price difference. It was a $15k price difference between a Saturday evening wedding and a Sunday wedding. So the choice was easy.

What do you guys think of having the wedding on Labor Day weekend? Do most people travel or go out of town? We''ve talked to a lot of our close friends and they all said it''s a good weekend to have it.. and they''re happy to know that they can rest up on Monday.

 

[selflove]

YumCarrots--I think Labor Day/Memorial Day/Presidents'' Day/MLK weekends are great for weddings where I live. Most of my friends where I live in LA don''t go away for the weekend so since I have a lot of family back east, it would be perfect for them to travel here, and take off only 1-2 days from work. However, if I had gone home to Wisconsin to get married, that would have been a terrible weekend for the family b/c everyone goes out of town on Memorial day and Labor day weekends. So people almost never plan big events for those holiday weekends b/c no one wants to stay in town for just one day/evening. I guess you gotta figure out what works best for the people in the area where you live and for the people who you expect to travel to the wedding.

 

[pebbles]

Date: 12/21/2005 3:55:06 PM
Author: YumCarrots
We''re having a Sunday wedding as well. Labor Day weekend of 2006. We figured since everyone has that Monday off, our guests will still be able to stay late and enjoy the party. The main reason we went with a Sunday wedding was because of the substantial price difference. It was a $15k price difference between a Saturday evening wedding and a Sunday wedding. So the choice was easy.

What do you guys think of having the wedding on Labor Day weekend? Do most people travel or go out of town? We''ve talked to a lot of our close friends and they all said it''s a good weekend to have it.. and they''re happy to know that they can rest up on Monday.

I totally second what SelfLove said.

It just depends on your family and friends. I have several family members (like aunts and cousins) and friends that go away for those weekends so for us, they probably wouldn''t have been thrilled for us to have our wedding that weekend. Like I said earlier, my friend that had hers 4th of July weekend got a lot of grief for it.

If your family and friends are fine with it, then that''s great! I just know mine would have not been so happy.

 

[eks6426]

Mine was on 4th of July weekend in 2005. We had a few people complain & a few who couldn't come. Since our wedding was out of town for everyone (including my husband & I) many people just used it as an excuse to get out of town for the holiday weekend. I was surprised at how many people stayed to do things in our wedding town. Everyone was within driving distance though, so if they wanted to get back for the actual 4th of July, it was only 4 hours of driving away.

Caribou--feel free to PM me on more of the details of the wedding/reception. It was a lot more intimate but casually elegant at the same time.

I forgot to add that we did the whole planning process very quickly. We were engaged in March 05 and married in July 05--basically only 4 months of planning. We took one trip to our city to scout out photographers, florists & meet with cateres & venue folks. Everything else was done via email.

 

[aljdewey]

Caribou, I guess early or late pm depends on just how intimate you plan to go.

My wedding was about as intimate as they come - only 30 people including us! Because our wedding was so intimate, the people who came were all *extremely* close to us, and all of them opted to take Monday off anyway and make an extended weekend out of it.

Seems like there are many similarities for you and me. Alcohol wasn''t a huge presence at my wedding either (half of the guests are dry). Planning a DJ/dancing as the main activity didn''t fit us either since my husband doesn''t dance and half of my guests were single. Since it was a summer night, we instead did a 2.5 hour harbor cruise on a schooner and had a catered meal aboard. It was WONDERFUL.....people still talk about what a unique wedding we had.

Guests truly relaxed and enjoyed being on the water where it was cool. The harbor is SO protected that even the most staunch land-lubbers didn''t have a problem - smooth as glass.

 

[monarch64]

Our wedding was on a Sunday...we had the ceremony at the reception site outdoors at 12:30, then did the receiving line right inside in a glassed-in room (it was actually the "plan B" room incase of rain). The bar was right there in between the B room and the dining area, so as guests got through the receving line they could grab a beverage and something to nibble on, then find their table. Many of our guests from out-of-town stayed until Monday, and our friends who knew they would be "imbibing" took off work that Monday as well. We wrapped up the reception around 5:30 and my new husband and I went straight to our hotel, where the "partiers" met up with us to spend a few more hours. It actually worked out well for our out-of-town guests that we married on Sunday, because it gave many of those who hadn''t seen us for a while the chance to spend time together on Saturday, although for those who get married on Saturdays that time seems to be spent at Sunday morning brunches.

The money issue was important for us, too. I hadn''t started out wanting to get married on a Sunday, but I found a ceremony/reception site I couldn''t live without that happened to be way out of my budget on Saturdays. It was half price on Sundays, so that was the decision maker.

 

[Caribou]

I would LOVE for the wedding be 30 or less people but his mom has a large family so that''s not going to happen. I''m hoping to get under 100 people.

We are going to ask his mom whether she thinks Memorial weekend will be a big deal for her family. My thought is, this is our wedding..it''s not like we are asking them to come to our 3 year childs birthday party...I don''t think it''s a huge inconvience for us to have a wedding on a holiday weekend..especially when they will ahve 1.5 years notice. If they don''t want to come, then that''s fine....less people for us to feed.

I''m kidding....sort of. We know that the important people will be there regardless (moms, dads, brothers, friends, grandparents...etc) not that the other are less important.

Hopefully we''ll have a set date this week.

 

[HOUMedGal]

Caribou, we''re on the same wavelength!

Our wedding will be on a Sunday (April 29, 2007) at 1pm. We will have brunchy type food, limited alcohol (maybe just mimosas??) and a less formal, more comfortable feel. We won''t have a DJ (I''m wanting a string quartet or maybe a harpist for the wedding music and for background reception music) and we''re considering having the wedding and reception at my parents'' house. They just built their retirement home, and it''s just beautiful!

I considered having it a bit earlier in the day, like 11am, but moved it to 1 to avoid conflicts with church (for the local people, at least). I also like the idea of people not having to rush after work on Friday to get here...I''d rather have them come in on their own time Saturday, spend the night, and then be able to leave on Sunday after the wedding and get back to their homes at a decent hour. Or, if they''re only a couple of hours away, it''s feasible for them to just come in for the wedding and not have to spend the night!

I think Sunday is a great day for early afternoon weddings, especially if the reception will be simple and it won''t be an all out party where people are drinking a lot and staying to the early morning hours. Not that there''s anything wrong with that, it would just be hard to do that and then get up for work on Monday!

 

[JCJD]

Date: 12/21/2005 3:55:06 PM
Author: YumCarrots
What do you guys think of having the wedding on Labor Day weekend? Do most people travel or go out of town? We've talked to a lot of our close friends and they all said it's a good weekend to have it.. and they're happy to know that they can rest up on Monday.

Both my mom and my dad got married Labor Day weekend, 1 year and 2 days apart from each other in fact. It was great, I was able to be home from college and OOT relatives and guests could relax a bit more on the 3 day weekend. Plus, they can take annual anniversary vacations because none of them have to work that weekend!