Daytime vs Nighttime wedding???

I'm planning for a summer wedding in 2011...just got engaged recently. I wanted an evening wedding but am quickly finding out that a lot of venues are booked for solid for Saturday evenings....I am only getting daytime slots. I'm afraid that a daytime wedding won't have the same ambiance and feel and that people won't feel like dancing when the reception room is bright and sunny. Has anybody attended daytime weddings before and what are your thoughts? Were people partying and dancing just the same as they would for an evening wedding?

Re: Daytime vs Nighttime wedding???

When we were looking to book, we went thru the same dilemma. We kept going back and forth and decided that we got the best price and would be able to take advantage of great outdoor pictures. It's all about what you surround your guests with. You create the ambiance, you provide the entertainment, so the burden is on your vendors...

Re: Daytime vs Nighttime wedding???

it all depends on what you want out of it. if your dream wedding is an evening wedding of dinner and dancing, it's worth waiting it out or really trying to find a place that's available. my FSIL booked a summer wedding last year just about this time. it was cutting it close, but she got it. good luck planning and congrats.

Re: Daytime vs Nighttime wedding???

Try a Thursday or Friday evening...they've become very popular and tend to be cheaper than Saturdays.

Re: Daytime vs Nighttime wedding???

My brother had a Saturday day wedding, and it was fantastic. Everyone danced and drank like crazy, don't think the party would have been more happening if it was at night.
I also recently attended my first Sunday afternoon wedding. I have to admit I didn't think a Sunday afternoon would be as enjoyable, but it was also fantastic!
Once your family and friends are all together they will waste no time dining, drinking, and dancing and having an amazing time no matter what time of day it is.

Re: Daytime vs Nighttime wedding???

It all depends ... A daytime wedding can be considered less formal than an evening one. It just depends on what youre looking for!

Re: Daytime vs Nighttime wedding???

I got married last October on a Sunday. Reception started at 1pm and ended at 7pm. We chose to get married at this time of day so that we could enjoy the natural beauty at the venue we selected. We thought about a nightime wedding, but someone pointed out that that surroundings would be lost and the room would be surrounded with darkness.
Our guests danced and partied all day. We had a great time. We were able to get beautiful photos outside at out venue throughout the day, which really helped chronicle the day for us.
You and your FH set the tone for the reception. We were at the CH and as soon as they did our intro into the reception, we were dancing it up. The guests joined in right away. There were a lot of people on the dance floor that I did not expect to see out there at all.
We also had an after party at a friends house. It was not for everyone and it was actually rather quiet. But it gave us all some time to talk about how wonderful the day was and everyone who wanted to was still able to go to work the next day.

Re: Daytime vs Nighttime wedding???

People def dance at daytime weddings!!! A day wedding is beautiful with the natural light and pictures look gorgeous during a daytime wedding although a daytime wedding comes with it cons as well. I chose to wait it out and find a place where I could have my evening wedding because, for a daytime wedding you have to wake up MAD early to start the getting ready process. It takes a while to get ready you will be surprised and daytime weddings usually start this process at like 6am. I did not want to have my bridesmaids getting up too early and I did not want to have to get up that early because I knew I wasn't going to be able to get to bed early the night before and that is exactly what happened. My day went by so smoothly since my wedding was at night we had all day to pamper ourselves and be frilly all day. In my opinion, an evening wedding is less chaotic and less stressful for the bride but that is all my opinion. I compared my sisters daytime wedding with my evening wedding and everyone agreed that mine was way less stressful.

Re: Daytime vs Nighttime wedding???

I went to a sunday daytime wedding that started realy early last october amd I had a great time! I feel like everyone danced more because they were still energetic. Fh amd I were so full after and drunk after that we skipped the after party (woops) and were fast asleep by 7pm which was weird but fun I really enjoyed it. I think the day time works well and is good for pictures and if you get married in the fall after the clocks go back you may have an opportunity for day and night pictures! My only worry would be getting ready if you start the ceremony early and have a large bridal party.

I face been having the same struggle with day vs night and thursday vs sunday and it is so hard and very stressfull for me. I cannot make up my mind at all and I hope you don't drive yourself crazy like I am.

Re: Daytime vs Nighttime wedding???

I think it really comes down to how you envision your wedding! I knew I wanted a nighttime wedding but couldn't afford Saturday night, so I looked into other nights, like Friday and Sunday and ended up with a Sunday night wedding. But that was my preference. I know someone who is doing a Thursday night over the summer as well.

But if you're flexible, then I think your guests will enjoy the wedding just the same whether it's day or night! I know you want to cater to everyone to have a good time, but I think that the bride and groom set the tone and as long as you're happy and having a blast, everyone else will as well!

Re: Daytime vs Nighttime wedding???

My experience is that ... without failure... a daytime wedding has a different feeling than an evening one.

Don't get me wrong, I've been to great afternoon weddings - including my own.

But people don't get drunk. That might be a plus or minus.

But I think for the most part - less drinking = less dancing.

But if you have great music and YOU are out on the dance floor -- guests will follow your lead.

Re: Daytime vs Nighttime wedding???

if your set on a summer wedding and a saturday night why not wait till summer 2012? Chances are more places will have saturday nights still available for 2012 than 2011.

Re: Daytime vs Nighttime wedding???

I agree with both sides. I originally wanted a night time wedding-i wanted to PARTY; however i saw the prices for nightime weddings were way too much (at least for us) so we switched to a daytime. I had my hesitations; even though i've been to other daytime weddings YES people will still drink; YES people will still dance. the ONLY negative i can think of is that by 7pm it's all over and done with. BUT you could have an afterparty to keep it going (but for us that meant spending more $$).

In the end; we're having a MUCH smaller celebration with family/friends at 7pm on a Friday night.

You can please everyone; do what you want and mostly what you can afford.

Re: Daytime vs Nighttime wedding???

It really depends on what's important to you. Personally and with no disrespect to those who have done it, I'd never get married on a weeknight or even a Friday night. A Saturday night was ridiculously expensive so we're doing Sunday afternoon next month. Since it gets dark early, we'll have daytime and maybe a sunset and then darkness so a little bit of the best of both. Once inside your decor, your menu, your attitude sets the tone, not whether or not it's pitch black. Natural light photography has many pluses and lighting has it's place too. For me the only difference is the way guests will dress. I don't really care since it's all about ME and what I am wearing and my bridal party, my mom, etc. If budget is an issue for the cost of an evening bare bones event you can have a daytime wedding filled with extras and personal touches that make it unique and your own vision. Don't get me wrong I've attended plenty of evening weddings that were lovely but I'm past partying until 2am so we did what worked for us. If evening is important look at off season (saves a lot of money) or saving some more. It's like kids, if people waited to have all the money and the house and all the fairytale wishes, no one would ever do it. Deep breaths and daydreaming work for me and I still don't know how we're paying the final bill but que sera sera

Re: Daytime vs Nighttime wedding???

Look around...i'm sure you can find a saturday night somewhere!