Midweek wedding negatives

Hi Laura

We decided on a Saturday, only because we have friends & family who are teachers and also school-aged children on the guest list and obviously schools are funny with kids taking time off!

But if you have no teachers or kids in your ceremony then as long as you give guests notice for work holidays & babysitters you should be fine.

The main negative is that your guests will have to take at least one and potentially up to three days off work. Plus parents of school aged children and teachers won't be able to come. I don't see many positives other than cost.

If you are inviting teachers/parents with children, perhaps look for a Thursday in half term or Easter? School dates for your area will be available on your local council website. I personally think Thursday is a tricky day as people will have to book 2 days off that week. Could you not do Friday, or is that as expensive as Saturday/Sunday?

We are having a Monday wedding in the 6 week summer hols as i work in a school. Everyone invited is coming and staying over so will have had to book 2 days annual leave. Some ppl wont be able to due to work or family commitments or lack of time off work, but with plenty of notice i dont see it as a problem. More and more ppl are having mid-week weddings, another bonus is venues are cheaper in the week so extra money can be spent on other aspects of the wedding. :-)

This^^^^^^^^ is a big deal from what I have been told by other couples.

Agree with what others have said. We've even booked a Saturday in easter hols so the school age kids and teacher usher can travel on the Friday.

I think that the Thursday before Easter would be cost effective but many people go away at Easter. I think the only positives are the cost from your point of view. The 'cost' for your guests could potentially be a lot more.

I'm shooting a school head teachers wedding on a Monday this August. I think brides are generally getting wise to the cost savings of weekday weddings. Of the 2015 weddings I have booked, half are on weekdays.

Maybe that's just because I'm in Yorkshire and up here brides are good at saving money!

We're getting married on a Wednesday this August. There are negatives, but most of our friends have found it easier to get time off on a weekday than a Saturday (nurses, service industry, etc. often find it easier to get week days than weekends as there is less competition for the day being booked off) Most of our friends are happy to take the time off and have made it into a mini-holiday from the Thurs to the Sunday. But, also, a few people are off on the Weds and straight back to work on the Thurs. We don't have any issue with people wanting to leave early, and we won't be having a bar extension. Our bar closes at 11, but it opens at 3, so plenty of drinking time for those that want to! The biggest issue is always going to be schools - teachers can get time off at the discretion of their employer, but that usually only covers immediate family (brother, sister, parent or child) and children can 'in exceptional circumstances' (again, usually, a wedding of a parent is allowed, but an aunt or friend would not be). There are plenty of school holidays if this does play a factor, but be aware that different school systems have different holiday dates!

You just have to be prepared that people may not be able to have the day off to come to the wedding, but that is the case whenever you get married.

I guess, in relation to getting married abroad, a weekday is a lot easier on people!

We got married on a Sunday. What happened for our party was that a lot of people left early so they didn't have to take the day off work the next day. That also meant they drank less during the evening.

So the dancefloor was dead by 10pm, by 10.30 almost everyone had gone home. Even the DJ had gone to the bar! Personally it didn't bother us since we were both knackered anyway.

From what I've seen from other mid-week weddings I've photographed this is quite common. So I guess you need to think about how much that would bother you and as others have mentioned, if you have family/friends with kids who go to school then that could also be a problem.

Hope that helps

The only negative I can think of is that not everybody may be able to get time off work to come.

I haven't had my midweek wedding yet 16 days to go!

For us, cost IS a factor - we have our wedding on a Wednesday. We saved enough to be able to afford to get a guitarist in to play at the ceremony and offer our guests a free bar as a result. So it's give and take.

Go for it! We're getting married on a Thursday in August next year. I am a school teacher so have lots of lovely holiday then and most of my friends work in schools and my other half works in retail so weekends are a nightmare for him and his friends. We want our dream wedding in our dream venue and a Saturday for our venue was over double the cost for a Thursday so for the sake of 1 or 2 days we opted for the huge saving and dream wedding. People on here I find are really negative about week day weddings and a few months a go people kicked off at me just because I said people that mean the most will do their up most to be there for your big day which I still genuinely believe. All of my friends and family are happy that I am getting married and are doing everything they can to be there. There will always be days that are awkward for some and you just have to except that. People will say things to you on here about the cost for guests for taking a days holiday and be quite negative about it but if it works for you and your guests then I say go for it! Just send your save the dates with plenty of notice! Our save the dates are all out already and our guests are already planning their mini breaks around our day. You'll find that people use it as an excuse for a few days away. I know that's what me and my other half did last year for our friends wedding (and it was lovely!) x

You don't mention when?

The main issue is teachers / parents and kids. I'm ok as mine is teeny so doesn't go to school yet.

BUT kids wouldn't be able to get out of school without hefty fines, parents could send the kids but would have to disappear at 3 to pick them up and teachers are a big no no.

Would you be looking in the holidays?

Hi all,

Thanks for your replies! Much appreciated

Well, my other half is police officer - so I would say a good 40% of our guest list are police / emergency services. Therefore, time off in the week is technically far easier than weekends. We are well used to friends having to leave events, or even arrive late due to shift patterns - part of the life I guess!

We're looking at an August Thursday, outside of term time. I have 2 children myself so would want it in the holidays - especially as my youngest starts high school in September 2015.

Laura

We're getting married on a Friday, we wanted a Saturday but couldn't get the registrar and the venue on the same date until about 2025! The only real negative has been my sister, who won't allow my 8 year old nephew to miss a day of school (the school have said it is fine...). Everyone else has taken a day off, I think with plenty of notice most people don't mind taking 1 day, maybe 2 or more is pushing it though. The only other negative is that I work with quite a few of my friends and so they can only come to the evening as I can't take down the whole department for the day!

I have asked the friends for whom I thought it may have been an issue, and no one is bothered at all In fact, everyone is using it as a good excuse to have a long weekend off!

Happy days!

That's what our friends are doing! We are also getting together the next day at a lovely little pub near our venue for a BBQ with all our family and friends who stayed over for an extended celebration before people head back home. Glad you feel better about your Thursday wedding!

As it's in the school holidays I would say no problem!

I know people say a midweek wedding means more time off, but so many people don't do 9-5 these days it doesn't make a difference to them!

A few of our guests (3 of the bridal party) are only allowed to take full weeks off and not single days (plus they don't get set days off and can't request certain days) so they will have to take the full week off to guarantee they can come! (nightmare!)

This is the case for us. My OH is also a police officer and we will have child guesys who are at school etc so we've gone for the weds after easter next year. It's just our immediate family and a couple of friends though, and they've all had loads of notice. The after wedding party is being booked around his chums shifts for a saturday over their rest days to maximise those who will be able to make it.

To be honest these days - no day is perfect anymore. You cannot please everyone. There are so many different workikng patterns etc that you have to go for what suits you and your guests the best.

I'm a teacher and I'm getting married on a Tuesday in the summer holidays this year. A lot of our friends work in schools, or have jobs where it is more difficult to get the weekend off (nurses etc). So far there's only been two guests who have said they couldn't attend because of work, but we were prepared for that. It has saved us several thousands on venue/photographer/transport etc getting married on a weekday, and it's meant we can have a nicer honeymoon and a nicer venue. I don't regret choosing a weekday at all.

We're getting married on a sunday, but in spain, so people have had to take time off for ours. Unfortunately, 3 invites went to teachers, two of whom have had to decline, one of whom is my FSiL and she's getting special leave to be at the wedding but won't be able to join in with all the surrounding days activities.

Have a proper look at your guest list and who might be badly affected by mid week - not only teachers, is anyone self employed who might lose money if missing a days work?