Holiday Weekend Weddings

For some couples, choosing a wedding date is an easy thing. They pick a date that's important to them and leave it at that. For others, it can be a bit more difficult. Once you have it narrowed down to a specific month or time of year you may want to consider a few things before making your final decision.

While holiday weekends can be attractive times to hold a wedding, there can be some negatives as well. It can make the party- and time with your family and loved ones- last longer, which is wonderful, especially if you have a lot of out of town guests. It also gives them more time to travel without missing work and other weekly obligations. However, traveling on and around holidays does get much more expensive. Also, many families have holiday traditions and prefer to spend these days and long weekends together.

Casey and Will's Wedding
Photo courtesy of 217 Photography

You also have to consider your budget. Depending on the holiday, some of the professional services you'll need for your big day will be more expensive. For example, if you're planning a wedding around Valentine's Day or Mother's Day- your floral costs could be exponentially higher. Or if you're planning for a December or New Years Eve wedding- that will affect things too as many professionals are in higher demand for that stretch of time.

On top of holiday weekends, you may also want to avoid religious and cultural holidays. Some to consider are Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday/weekend, Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Chanukah and Kwanzaa. Also, be careful of Mother's Day and Father's Day (always Sundays), as these are usually days families spend together and people may be less inclined to travel if it means missing out on that day with their loved ones. And Thanksgiving weekend- lots of people travel or have family visiting and may not want to give up on that time together.

Annemarie and Jimmy's Wedding...coming soon!
Photo courtesy of Jennifer Childress Photography

While in theory, holiday weekends seem like a good idea, keep in mind the above- and the fact that some guests may not be able to come because of family obligations or their own budget restraints. There are a ton of things to keep in mind while planning a wedding, so try not to get bogged down by all of them. You won't be able to please everyone, so pick a date that makes you and your fiance happy, fits with the time of year you want and allows you to have the wedding of your dreams. At the end of the day, it is about celebrating your love, not the date you choose to do it on.

-Becky