Your wedding DOES NOT have to be on a Saturday…and no this is not crazy talk!
Whenever we get calls from couples looking for open wedding dates, we typically start the open date list off with the available Saturdays because 99.9% of the time the couples want a Saturday wedding. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Saturday weddings, they are great, but unfortunately, not every couple has that luxury. Unless you are booking 2 years in advance you may end up finding your DREAM venue and then dealing with the hard reality that they don’t have any Saturdays open for the month you would like to get married…..or not even an open Saturday in the same year you are looking! So unfortunately, this means you have to give up your dream venue and continue your search for the second-best option. Yeah, just kidding!! Hold off the water works for just a minute and hear me out. Who says you have to have your wedding on a Saturday, I mean I get that it’s the “norm,” but throw that thought out the window, because you weren’t planning on a normal wedding anyways….you were looking for something more along the lines of adorable, spectacular, special, a day you’ll never forget from now until forever and ever right? So, who cares what everyone else has done or is doing, this is YOUR wedding!!
As an Event Director at Kilbuck Creek, we have on many occasions had to gently give the news to a bride that there are no open Saturdays in say, September until 2035 (kidding), and its never fun to see disappointment on a bride’s face. But luckily for them I have a juicy secret that is going to give them their dream September (or what every month they wanted) wedding…but In order to accomplish this they are going to need to move their date to a Friday, Sunday, or dare I say it…..a WEEKDAY (play dramatic theatre music)!!!
Of course the initial response is….”Yeah I don’t think so, we were really wanting a Saturday wedding.” Well, I would like to have a million dollars deposited into my secret shopping account, but reality is such. So, when I ask them why it has to be on a Saturday (which sometimes they will give me a legitimate reason) here are the things I hear:
- People have to work during the week and may have a hard time getting off.
- I have out of town guests that might have a problem getting here on any other day then Saturday.
- I’m not sure if all my vendors would even be available on any other day then Saturday.
- Well…I’m not really sure, I just know that weddings are supposed to be on Saturdays, right?
So here is my response to those issues:
- If you give your guests far in advance notice of your wedding, then they shouldn’t have problems getting off work. The truth is though, if your wedding is important to them, they will be at your wedding. And if there is that 1 guest that has something that day they just cant miss, then are you going to throw away your dream venue, and some big savings just because of that 1 person? Unless that 1 guest is in your wedding party, then I would say your answer is heck NO!!
- As for the out of town guests, yes, they are going to have to take off maybe more than 1 day of work to make it to the weeding, but I think you are missing that big thing again…….EVERYONE WANTS AN EXCUSE TO TAKE MULTIPLE DAYS OFF WORK!!! And honestly, you need to stop worrying about how exactly everyone is going to make their travel and/or work arrangements, they are all adults and can figure it out. A lot of the “out of town” guests that you are worrying about so much, aren’t going to end up coming anyways….so why are you having a mental battle with this when there is no one else on the receiving end of the argument?
- As for vendors, odds are they are going to be just fine doing a wedding on any other day then a Saturday, in fact, they may just love it. It gives them an opportunity to have multiple gigs in 1 week, which means more money! Or even if its just yours that week, then it will give them a Saturday off….win win!!
- I get it, Saturdays are known for being the “proper” wedding day, and at the end of the day you aren’t trying to be a trend setter, you just want a beautiful day that everyone will enjoy. So, this is actually the hardest argument, because they may not have good rational of why they want it on a Saturday, their sweet little hearts just do! So, this is where my experience helps to get over this emotional mountain. We have had weddings on every day of the week here at Kilbuck Creek, and guess what……..drum roll……….they feel the exact same way as a Saturday wedding GASP!!!! Crazy right! The guest percentage is typically the same, the flow of the day is the same, the guests are just as happy, etc. When our staff is working a wedding on any other day but Saturday, it actually throws us off, because it just feels like a Saturday but actually it’s like a Thursday or Sunday or something. Messes with our minds a bit, but I hope you are getting the point. Whatever day you pick for your wedding is YOUR day….and everyone who comes to celebrate with you could care less what that actual day is…trust me!!
So, after reading this you might still be thinking, “well she makes good points, and she must be a wedding genius, but I’d still rather not.” And to that I say, you do you girlfriend. I’m not here to pressure my brides, I’m here to provide insight! I just don’t want anyone to miss out on what “could have been” because of a 24-hour difference in ceremony time!
Well, I hope you all found this to be helpful, and if while searching for your venue you run up against this situation, then you’ll be more mentally prepared to make a decision!! I’ll leave you with this inspirational quote: “You are confined only by the walls you build”
Thanks everyone!
Branigan Theden
Event Director
Kilbuck Creek