Wedding Wednesday: Setting the Date

When it comes to setting the date for your nuptials there are two types of couples…

Ruled by the heart…
The date has special significance to them, perhaps an anniversary or a birthday of a loved one.

Ruled by the head…
The date fits in with:

• The availability of the venue
• The availability of their guests
• Their budget
• The seasonality of where they want to go on honeymoon
• The amount of time it gives them to plan

Our wedding day was Saturday 1st October 2012. We fancied an Autumn wedding as we wanted to space our celebrations throughout the year a bit (myself and Mr Love of my Life both have spring birthdays and our original anniversary (of our first date) was at the start of the year too). We both also love the feel of Autumn. We originally looked into September, but discovered we could save a substantial amount of money by shunting the wedding back into the next month. This fitted in with the weather of where we wanted to go on honeymoon, gave us chance to plan and, in the end, meant we had one of the hottest days of the year to get married on (who’d have thunk it – certainly not me when I was busy buying Pashminas!).

Saturday Wedding? Friday? Wednesday?
Then there’s the weekday vs weekend dilemma. For us, it had to be a Saturday wedding. It’s just the way I had already imagined it. If you are thinking of holding a weekday wedding, bear in mind..

• People will have to take time off work. In most cases this will be fine, but make sure you give people enough notice (especially for professions such as teachers where taking time off in the week isn’t always the easiest)
• If you want children at your wedding and you’re getting married during term time, bear in mind that school has to come first for them. Even if the kids aren’t invited spare a thought for the parents who will have to ensure someone is there to pick their kids up from the school gates.
• Traffic – there’s no rush hour on a Saturday, but traffic on a weekday morning can be challenging. Bear this in mind when pulling together timings for your big day and make sure you leave with enough time to get to the church on time.

How did you chose your wedding date?