Here is a blog with some things to consider if you are thinking about planning your wedding on a Holiday Weekend.
The Q: I’m debating having my wedding over Labor Day weekend. The thing is, my family loves the idea because it gives us a long weekend to celebrate, but I personally actually HATE traveling over holiday weekends and having them committed to a wedding. Do you have any thoughts about this, pro or con? In your experience, is it better or worse for guests?
The A: Hmmm. This is a good one. One of the greatest weddings that I’ve ever attended as a guest was over Thanksgiving weekend. I was 25 and probably just prime to NOT spend Thanksgiving doing what I’d done my entire life AND the alternative idea of spending the weekend drinking and running on a beach in the Dominican Republic sounded absolutely perfect.
That said, I’ve also had endless streams of brides and grooms come and go from our offices lamenting spending Memorial Day weekend in traffic heading to a beach-side wedding or the cost of flights and hotel rooms to get to a hot-spot over 4th of July.
Ultimately, I think the best thing to do is to ask yourself a few questions about your wedding plans AND about your guests that should help you decide if this will be a great idea for your guests or if your invite will induce an eye-roll when the save the date comes in the mail.
1. Does your venue/ locale offer something special for the holiday weekend?
Obviously, your love should be enough, but if you are asking people to fly, fend off traffic, pay inflated hotel rates and miss a BBQ or other fun holiday activity… does your weekend offer something equally enjoyable. Last summer we had a wedding on the 4th of July in Manhattan. While most of the city runs for cover on long weekends in the Spring and Summer, this wedding had such an amazing location (right off of the West Side with FULL VIEW of the fireworks) that it was WELL worth asking NYers to stay and non-NYers to come to town. It was a once in a life-time experience for many of the guests.
2. Do your guests have the economic capacity to take this trip during a holiday weekend?
Travel and lodging over long weekends is often inflated. Before you make grand plans to head to an island over Thanksgiving or to the Vineyard for Labor Day, check out hotels and airfares and make sure that it seems like your plans are something that your guests (at least the bulk of them) can afford. If this isn’t an issue for your guests, than by all means, go ahead… But, a lot of guest resentment can result in worries about personal finance…
3. Would this make it EASIER vs. HARDER for my guests?
For some of our clients, it’s easier to have a Sunday wedding (for religious reasons) than a Friday or Saturday event. When that factor is coupled with a lot of out of town guests, it’s almost always easier for their guests if the wedding is on a 3 day weekend. This way people can come, attend the wedding and have a travel day afterward without having to take a day off from work. However, for other families, when the wedding sits on a Saturday evening over a three day weekend, you may just be making the Friday a traveling nightmare.
Socially, this is applicable as well. We are working on a New Year’s Eve wedding currently and I think it’s just PERFECT for this particular client (and would work for some of my friends as well). Their friends often spend New Year’s together and the family portion of the crowd has a history of weddings on New Year’s Eve. SO, not only is it a tradition, it also solves the never-ending dilemma of “What should we all do this New Year’s Eve?” And, in case you are wondering… that’s what WE’RE doing too!
So, hopefully if you run through these questions with your guests in mind, you’ll come to the conclusion that will make everyone shout with glee at the thought of spending a holiday weekend with you and your intended!
