Choosing a Date

This isn't rocket surgery, so I am only going to advise on two things: length of engagement, and non-Saturday wedding days.

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Length of Engagement

There are a million great reasons to wait to get married. However, one tremendous upside to a short(er) engagement is that it will give you a lot less time to second guess your decisions.

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Non-Saturday Wedding Days

Often times it is cheaper to get married on a weekday or a Sunday, and you will likely have better vendor availability on days besides Saturday. There are benefits and drawbacks to weekday or Sunday weddings that should be considered before choosing your date:

 

Weekday weddings, including Friday weddings, will likely give you a smaller price tag, but you are putting the onus of responsibility on your guests to take time off from work. You know your guest list best, and this may be a totally fine consideration for your guests to make - especially in countries that have more leave than the US. But consider if any of your guests may have recently started a new job with limited (or no) time off. 

 

Also, consider traffic issues if you are in a larger city or urban environment, and try to schedule your event to start on either side of five o’clock traffic (which, for Seattle, starts at 3:30pm and goes until 6pm).

 

Friday weddings are great for shorter, cocktail party vibe weddings. Consider starting your event with a cocktail hour to give your guests a “soft landing” in case there is traffic, or they are coming straight from work.

Sunday weddings also have a smaller price tag, but guests may be less committed to a “party” vibe if they have to work the next day (although some may elect to take the next day off work anyways!). In my experience, a Sunday wedding can still have all the energy of a Saturday wedding, but it is best to make the wedding start and end slightly earlier (my suggestion is that it ends no later than 9pm).

 

Between you and me, I will choose a Sunday wedding a hundred times over a Friday or weekday wedding.