Is it ok to have a Friday wedding?

You need to know your crowd - how many people are going to need to book time off and how easy will it be for them to do so?

We had a Thursday wedding, but the majority of our guests were either retired or self-employed, and for many of them, a midweek wedding was actually easier to fit around work than a weekend one would have been. But I know other people for whom it would be a real struggle to get time off.

Me and my h2b are getting married on a Friday people screwed faces up but I came to the realisation that the people that love you will be there and book the time of people that don't will just make excuses.
Hope that helps xx

Some people have fairly strong opinions on this and having a Saturday wedding etc.
I’d say it depends on your crowd, numbers, and what’s most important to you.

We’re having a mid-week wedding as a lot of our wedding guests inc. all our closest family members, are shift workers and getting a Saturday off can be a nightmare, whereas those who work the Mon-Fri 9-5 gig (outside of maybe teachers and a few others) generally find booking leave more flexible.
I’ve also found having a mid-week wedding in July sooooo much easier supplier wise, as I know for Saturday weddings, some suppliers would have been fully booked 2yrs out, so thats worked in our favour.

Fridays are an increasingly popular day to get married now (hence why there's often not that much of a price difference). If your guests care about seeing you get married then they should totally be fine with it! In fact, I would appreciate a Friday wedding as it means I still have the weekend to myself. It does of course depend where people are travelling from - we decided against a Friday wedding in the end purely because we live in London but many of our guests are from Northern England/Scotland so they would have had to take the Thursday off as well.

We're having a Sunday wedding but because of the location everyone is having to book the Monday off work - I haven't had a single person complain about it. Either way the people who truly care and want to be there, will be there. Do what feels right for you and if anyone really makes a fuss just be honest with them and tell them it's too expensive on a weekend and that you are on a budget but want everyone you care about to be there, that in itself should tell your guests that you're thinking of them!

My best friend got married on a Friday. 3 of her bridesmaids (including me) were teachers, so she was very worried that we wouldn’t be able to come. All of us were able to take the day off (unpaid of course) because we were part of the bridal party - if we’d been normal guests we wouldn’t have been able to, and I also had a clause in the policy saying I wouldn’t be allowed it if I was the bride 😂.

Also consider if someone can’t take time off, is the venue somewhere that they could come along after work? My friend said even though I was a bridesmaid, if I couldn’t get the day off I’d just have to join later, which I respected because she just did what was right for them.

Ultimately, I would say do it if it’ll create your dream wedding, book it.

We got married on a Monday. We had over 80 guests and only 2 declines. Since covid, so many people have much more flexible working patterns. My brother for example, worked a few hours in the morning and then worked longer days later in the week. A lot of our friends don't have typical Monday to Friday jobs so just flexed their shifts and didn't have to book time off. There were a few who booked a days leave.
If your guests want to be at your wedding they will. My bestie travelled from Australia to come. My step sister took her 2 boys out of school for a day. Your guests will come.

I don't think there is anything wrong with a weekday wedding. If people want to be there, they will make it happen.

My wedding is on a Thursday and everyone has accepted the invitation, except 2 people. My wedding means many people will be booking Thursday and Friday off. We fell in love with our venue and went for a Thursday because the weekend prices for a summer wedding were way beyond our budget. We have people coming from Scotland, Isle of Wight, Wales and Luxembourg. So people are travelling to come still.

Similarly, my friend in Wales is getting married next month on a Thursday. I have booked 3 days off work to go to her wedding.

If you want to go for a Friday, then go for it. If people want to be there, they will book a day off to come.

Hello Claudia!

The people that you love and love you will arrive with bells on even if you held it on the moon at midnight.

Fear not.

A.

If you can't afford or find availability for a Saturday wedding, Friday's are definitely the next best thing. It's typically the easiest day of the week for people to book off work.

However, I stuggle to agree with the "if people love you then they'll be there" comments, because of course people will try, but some people have very limited annual leave, strict work policies about who can take leave at the same time, how many weddings/holidays they've already committed to that year etc. so there will always be some people who simply won't be able to make it not because they don't care but because they can't make it work and that's something to just bare in mind.

That being said, as a guest I'd probably prefer a Friday wedding to a Sunday wedding - once you've taken the day off you know you can stay out as late as you want, have the whole weekend to recover, recharge, travel home... When people have work the next day that's when it can affect the vibe a little with people conscious not to get to drunk, leaving early to get a good night's sleep.

In short: definitely don't see a problem with Friday, but don't hold it against your guests if they can't make it because it's a work day.