The COVID-19 pandemic brought an abrupt halt to weddings and events. Along with a lot of unknowns, the rebooking process is going through changes and experiences that we likely have never seen in the past.
While weekends were often the prime time to book for weddings, it’s becoming quite possible that this fact is starting to change. Rather than have wedding couples panic over securing a weekend wedding date later on in 2020 or deeper into 2021, there are many couples looking to book those weekday weddings in an effort to secure a date as soon as possible.
Are you surprised by the weekday wedding date?
More than a century ago, it used to be routine for couples to wed during the week. And, it’s currently not unusual in other cultures to hold a wedding on a weekday. According to My Jewish Learning, the third day of the week (Tuesday) was considered an especially auspicious day for a wedding.
While most couples will likely still reschedule their wedding date for a weekend, weekday weddings are in fact being scheduled and planned as this article is written.
Bron Hansboro, Owner, The Flower Guy Bron, was already seeing a rise in weekday weddings prior to the pandemic’s disruption. “Modern couples were choosing weekday weddings in an effort to create casual guest experiences and for cost savings. As a result of COVID-19, there will certainly be an increased demand for these previously less desirable dates. COVID-19 is not only impacting couples’ original dates, but it is also creating a great demand for all available dates for venues and vendors. While most summer and fall weekend dates are already spoken for, couples are having to consider weekdays to host their nuptials.”
Kristin Wilson, DJ&CEO at Our DJ Rocks is already seeing the uptick in weekday wedding bookings since the COVID-19 crisis. “If you look at the year overall for 2020, most wedding venues had a lot of their dates booked for the remainder of the year and even into 2021. So with most if not all weddings at some point in May through at least June and beyond pushing to the later half of 2020, there’s not much availability, so it’s forcing into weekdays.”
Kylie Carlson, Owner, and CEO of The Wedding Academy, suggests that once events are allowed to resume, there will be an initial rush by couples to find the first available date. “Many venues and vendors alike will likely be overbooked for months to come. The idea of a weekday wedding will be more appealing to couples, especially in wanting to stick with their original wedding plans as closely as possible.”
The good news according to Jen Avey of VP, Marketing at Destinations Wedding Travel Group is that many destination wedding venues already account for weekday weddings in their inventory. “Many times, a destination wedding celebration is a week-long affair so as long as your group is scheduled to be in the destination for an extended period of time, the day of the week for the actual festivities is a non-issue. For destination wedding couples, changing your wedding date from a Saturday to a Tuesday isn’t all that disruptive – after all, any day in paradise is a perfect day to get married! As long as your guests are already in your destination, any day of the week is perfectly acceptable to tie the knot. Better yet, rescheduling your destination wedding for a weekday may land you better prices on airfare and accommodations!”
Jamie Chang, Wedding Planner and Creator of Passport to Joy said the two major differences between a weekday wedding and a weekend wedding are timing and guest attendance. “Unless you’re having a destination wedding where people are coming out for multiple days, remember that guests have to work. Guests will be coming from work and getting up early the next day to go to work. This means your wedding timeframe will typically be on the shorter side as it may start a little later (to allow people to get there) and potentially end a little earlier (so people can go home). It is also likely to assume that fewer people will attend the ceremony but then come later for the reception.
Jen Avoy said to consider discussing an abbreviated itinerary to ensure all wedding details occur during weekday weddings. “Consider cutting your ceremony time in half (30 minutes tops) so you can maximize the time you have to mingle with guests (and dance!). Another consideration to an abbreviated wedding day timeline is to nix some of the traditional activities such as an elaborate cake cutting or garter/bouquet toss. Mother/Son and Father/Daughter dances can also be cut short or combined into one dance.
Emily Sullivan owner and lead planner of Emily Sullivan Events, has seen in the past that traditionally, a weekday wedding guest count is more intimate with a more relaxed feel. However, it’s now possible to see weddings of all shapes and sizes moving to weekdays and carrying some of the traditions of more formal gathering with them.”
Bron told us that pre-pandemic, the differences between weekend and weekday weddings were substantial. “Factors such as guest availability due to work schedules, the likelihood of guests staying for the duration and partying, getting the full value out of your open bar, and the overall stigma were more of a consideration. However, as we have all pivoted towards more virtual workspaces and time isn’t as much of an essence, I think weekday weddings will feel very much like weekend weddings. Additionally, the stigma has been erased with weekends being just about the only dates available.”
Weekday weddings are very much the same as weekend weddings from a service standpoint according to Jamie Chang. “How you treat your clients and the level of service you provide will all be the same. The only things that change are some logistics like accounting for weekday traffic or a shorter wedding timeframe or the flow of guests arriving given the weekday.”
However, Kylie Carlson does suggest that servicing weekday weddings will require a bit more logistical planning than usual. “Unless you have a full-time team, be mindful that securing workers may be harder with them jugging other work obligations. Additionally, traffic patterns may vary with rush hour traffic, lunch rushes, and parking woes. Start charting your routes and scheduling help now.”
For those wedding couples who don’t want a weekday wedding but can’t seem to secure a prime weekend wedding time slot, Nora Sheils, Co-Founder Rock Paper Coin, Founder Bridal Bliss suggests a unique brunch or even a late weekend event. Says Nora, “while guests tend to leave early for Sunday evening events, Sunday morning/early afternoon events are another story.”
Regardless of the day chosen for weddings as they are rescheduled, love is never cancelled and we can’t wait for weddings and events to happen!
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Originally posted on AllSeated's blog.
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