All past brides

Could you please give me some opinions on the advantages and disadvantages of having a day wedding instead of night. I am having trouble deciding because it is so much cheaper to have the wedding during the day. Thanks!

Re: All past brides

IM not a past bride. But I priced all options. I found that Friday nights where cheaper then Saturday Day weddings. I wanted a night time wedding so for me the price worked.
I went to a few daytime weddings. I had a great time. I liked the idea that you can plan somthing after because you have plenty of time. I also like the idea of pictures in the day light hours.

Re: All past brides

1/ day/time is not always a factor in the cost of your hall (it depends on your hall). Mine was the same.

2/ Day wedding (I did a ceremony at 12:30pm): guests have time to get ready for the ceremony (not too early in the morning). They can go home for late afternoon/dinner. They don't need to stay up late.
2/ Night wedding: Guests have the whole day to get ready or do business prior to go to the wedding.

Re: All past brides

We had a daytime wedding. We were able to have an beautiful outdoor ceremony, take outdoor pictures. After the wedding, we had an afterparty at the bar in the hotel which was a lot of fun to be able to unwind and relax with our closest friends after the excitement of the day..People who didn't come back to the bar were home early and didn't have to worry about driving late at night, and could go home and relax.

Disadvantages I would say you have to get up really early. Some people might consider daytime less formal.

If I had to do it again, I would choose daytime over again. To me, saving the money was a lot more important than having the evening affair.
When its all said and done, it will be the best day of your life no matter what time of day it is.

If you have the money to do a night wedding and thats important to you, then do it. But if you are on a budget, then save the money with the daytime wedding.

Re: All past brides

You get the day over with....granted, you have to get up much earlier...but you don't spend the day waiting for 6:00 to hit.

We attended a wedding that was at night....it started at 6...by 5, the groom, the bride, the groomsmen and the groom's mother were all carrying on 'can't we just start early?' The church was nearly full by 5:30...but it didn't start until 6...very frustrating for everyone involved...after that wedding, I knew we'd made the right call to have ours early in the morning and not have to wait and wait....

eta--my DH was a groomsmen, so we were at the church at 2...so we spent the entire day prepping for it.

Re: All past brides

I'm not a past bride but as a guest at MANY weddings, I can give you the +/- from a guest's perspective. If you are doing a daytime wedding, I feel like you have to have post-wedding plans for your guests. It's a very weird feeling for a party to be over at 5... I always feel like 'now what?' I think in the day, you can take nicer outside pictures b/c you have daylight to work with and you aren't rushing to get the shots in but you also have to be up at the crack of dawn getting ready. I personally think night weddings are better all around for guests and the bride/groom, JMO.

Re: All past brides

I've been trying to answer this post for awhile and keep on getting sidetracked.

We're having a night wedding because the price differential was small between day and night.

As a guest, I have enjoyed all of the afternoon weddings I've been to. At a lot of them, there was a post party of sorts.

It all comes down to what you want!

Re: All past brides

I LOVED having a day wedding.

First of all though, or at least at my rh, the day wedding was not cheaper. it was just about the same, and when u start adding extras, it just gets to be exorbitant.

Second- you get to enjoy your wedding all day and then talk about it all night. you are completely exhausted, but at least you get to enjoy your wedding night with your new dh.

Third- we wanted a beach wedding before it got to be too hot, that is why we had a 10 am ceremony.

Disadvantage- you have to get up SUPER early. i was up at 4:30 and our reception wasnt over until 6:30pm. it was a LONG day. but so worth it.

good luck in wahtever you decide, i'm sure it will be great.

Re: All past brides

I;m not a PAST bride... but I am having a day wedding.

I figure I will be up at the a*s crack of dawn anyway... it's my WEDDING day! I doubt I will sleep in!

Now - these are ONLY opinions - I don't prefer Friday night weddings. I have been to a number of them and have had a GREAT time and love the fact that I have Saturday and Sunday to recover... but taking off early for work in order to be ready is hard. I have skipped the ceremony for a couple where I was able in order to have time to get ready.

Although it may seem weird to some people to have the party 'end' while it is possibly still light out, it gives you the freedom to go out and have an after party. We are having a group of our guests drop their cars at our house and having a bus deliver them to the wedding. After the wedding - back to our house for an after party! The party doesn't HAVE to end! Some guest actually really appreciate being able to go home earlier than midnight. If you are having kids, it will be a huge help to their parents too!

If you always dreamed of an uber formal, white tie affair - then daytime is NOT the way to go. But it was the ONLY option I really considered!

Whatever you decide, your wedding will be a wonderful day for you, and your guests will be happy to be a part of it!

Re: All past brides

I'm actually paying more to have a sunset wedding (my reception hall is on the beach, so it was worth it to us). Plus, my wedding is on a Sunday, so a day wedding wouldn't work because no church could marry us in the morning and a night wedding would get our guests home too late and I didn't want people leaving the reception too early. So, we're doing:

Church Ceremony at 1 (invitation will say 12:45)
Sunset cocktail hour at 4:30 (plus extending it to last an hour and a half)
Dinner and Dancing from 6-10

So, it's kind of a day/night thing...

And I like that the wedding ends at a time that gets people home early enough to be able to go to work the next day, if they have to, but those who don't can keep the party going at the hotel bar with us!