5 questions to ask yourself when choosing your wedding date

It may seem like a simple step in planning your wedding however, choosing your wedding date comes with its own set of factors to consider. As one of the early steps you will take in your wedding planning journey, it’s one you want to get right. You don’t want to end up frantically trying to reschedule vendors, or resending invites, if you suddenly realise your perfect wedding date is not ideal after all.

1. Is it a date that will suit most of your guests?

A lot of thought, time, energy and cost go into planning a wedding, so the last thing you want to do is choose a date that you know won’t suit most of your guests. For example, if you know a lot of your guests vacation overseas during certain months, or if you have a friend/family member who has already shared their wedding date, it might be worth avoiding these time frames.

2. What season will it be and will the weather suit your wedding theme/style?

Before you lock in your date, consider what season it will be in the location of your wedding. Will this work for your wedding vision? A good example of this is if you’ve always envisioned yourself wearing a long sleeve wedding dress and fur stall, a summer wedding is hardly going to suit. Vice versa, if you want an outdoor garden wedding, you want to ensure you’ve picked a date where the weather will be most in your favour.

3. Will guests need to take a day off work to attend or leave early due to work the next day?

While more couples are choosing to host their wedding on weekdays or a Sunday, in order to save on costs, there are reasons why these days come at a cheaper rate.

A few of the pros: ‍

• Due to these days being less popular, you will usually find you save on per head costs and venue hire fees
• If you host your wedding on a Friday you will have two days to recover instead of one

‍A few of the cons:

• Guests may have to take a day off work to attend your wedding
• Guests may leave early if you are hosting your wedding on a Sunday, if they haven’t opted to take the Monday off
• If you’ve chosen middle of the week day, you may find some vendors will not offer their services during this time of the week

4. Does it fall on a public holiday/long weekend?

There are both pros and cons to hosting your wedding on a public holiday/long weekend. Ultimately, they give couples more flexibility to consider a Friday or Sunday wedding without fear of guests leaving early or needing to take time off work.

A few of the pros: ‍

• Longer recovery time (assuming you host your wedding at the start of the weekend)
• More flexibility around days, Friday and Sunday become like Saturday’s (depending on which end of the long weekend the public holiday falls)

‍A few of the cons:

• Sometimes guests already have holidays planned and may be unable to attend
• Public holidays and long weekends can incur additional charges from vendors to your venue due to having to pay staff public holiday rates
• You may find less vendors available on public holidays as you are competing for a specific weekend many other couples may have already booked for

5. Are there any major local or sporting events on the same date?

It’s important to check if there are any major local events, festivals or sport matches on the same date you are planning your wedding.

A quick Google search should let you know if this is the case and what time of the day they may impact your wedding. I’ve heard of brides who planned weddings the same evening as grand finals and as a result they were late to their own reception due to road closures and heavy traffic.

While this isn’t the end of the world, the last thing you want is to miss part of your own wedding or have you or your guests struggle to access your venue. A little forethought and planning could help you avoid some major inconveniences. You may also find less vendors available for catering, marquee and furniture hire, depending on the nature of the event.
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‍– By The Aisle Runner‍