time off pre-wedding

From my experience talking to all of my brides I get the impression that most tend to have the whole week off - for a Saturday wedding and you have one day less so really you will be having only 4 days off. The grooms on the other hand I have found only usually have 2 days off before. (shows who does all the wedding work ) Only you will know how much you need to do and if you can even have 4 extra days off - finance or entitlement wise.

The last thing you need before your wedding is extra stress if you are trying to a lot in a short space of time.

I think it depends on how much you will be doing in the run up to your wedding.

My friend got married recently and only took 2 days off beforehand, that was plenty for her.

I am planning on taking 3 days - we get married at midday on the Saturday, so I will have Weds to do any last minute preps, Thurs to pick up flowers and drop to my friend who is putting them together, then go and get my nails/waxing done. Then Friday will be last minute prep in the morning, and venue set up in the afternoon.

However, if I get to the week before and realise that I still have tons to do, I will take the extra day or so. Have a chat with your manager to agree to keep him/her posted on what you need, I'm sure they can be flexible if you need it and give them prior warning.

If you're doing the flowers yourself, you'll want to pick the blooms up a couple of days before to allow them to open by the day, and keep in mind that whilst you're doing those, what else needs to be done?

Maybe you can delegate to your very keen friend whilst you're at work!

Good luck! x

How lovely of your friends to take the time off to help! Personally, I've chosen to take the week off and my FH three days. This is based around the fact it's a DIY wedding and I'm the crafty one, and also he gets less time off anyway. I've saved up my leave, so I'm rather hoping I'll get a bit of 'me' time as well, and can of course book my nails and any other beauty appointments for that time!

On the other hand, I've had friends who have only taken a few days off before and one colleague of mine worked right up until the day before! And went and got drinks with us after work!

So I suppose that once you've taken into account how much time you can afford to take off work, it's your personal preference. I would have thought take a day off to do the flowers, and maybe a day or two more for emergencies? Also, your wedding may not be until 2pm, but you want to enjoy the experience of getting ready and hanging out with your Best Woman and other girls. The time will fly, I'm sure. so best to book as little to do on the morning as possible.

If the Best Woman has taken the time off to help, perhaps you might want to chuck in a day to hang out with her? You could go to a spa or get your nails done or something?

All the best! X

Hi All,

thanks for replying, and great to know what you're planning to do with your time too, puts me a bit more at ease!

I have a bit of time to think about it, but it might be better to take a bit more time than i'm planning just in case, but whoever said to chat to my manager- that's a good idea, they're pretty flexible so i'm sure it will be ok if I change my mind a bit closer to the day.

I've been so organised so far that I guess i'm feeling a bit cocky about it all hahaha! must remember this is quite a big undertaking!

thanks all and good luck to you all in the run up to your big days :-)

I get married 1pm on a Saturday and i'm off the day before, maybe a half day on the Thursday if I have enough flexi available. I mostly have a few beauty bits that I can do around work that week, and then on the Friday pick up my flowers and put all the necessary bits at the hotel. I'd be climbing the walls if I was off all week.

I honestly think it depends on how much of the wedding you are doing yourself, flowers cake etc, and also the type of work you do. For example my friend who works 9-5 mon to Fri with maybe one weekend in four thrown in took from the Thursday off for her Saturday wedding . I on the other hand work night shifts (did with my first wedding too) and I will be taking the whole week off for my Friday wedding x

Hi I’m getting married on Friday 21st September and I only have the Thursday off now now I’m thinking that’s a mistake lol

Depends what you have left to do.

I married on Bank Holiday Sunday just gone. Took Friday off and went back today.

The main thing for me was time off after.