Discussion - Holiday Weddings

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Sorry for giving away your wedding dress before the big day, Bonnie...

My friend Bonnie is getting married on Memorial Day Weekend. I don't mind. It actually gives me an extra day to travel since it's a national holiday.

My friend Lela got married 4th of July weekend. Same thing. Didn't mind. Extra travel time. Plus, she's Canadian so she can get away with getting married on America's Independence Day. Lol.

I bring it up because there are some people that just aren't cool with it. I don't know whether I feel one way or the other about it, to be honest. "It" being getting married on a national holiday or holiday weekend. Some people do the same thing every year on certain days. For example, my family has our family reunion every year on the 4th of July weekend. I don't go every year, but some in my family do, and it may be a hard decision for them to make if they knew someone getting married that weekend. Personally, I guess I've realized that I don't really do the same thing on holidays every year, so I haven't had the experience of making a decision like that. (If I get invited to a wedding on Christmas, I may need to revisit this topic.)

Do I think people should take holidays into consideration when planning their wedding? Absolutely. I would certainly advise people to take into consideration that some people do have annual plans, and some people make holiday vacation plans well in advance as well. If the bride and groom decide to have it on a holiday weekend, that's their prerogative. They may have less people come because of it, or, depending on where it is, they may even have more people come because of it! The flip side is that some people think of it as having an extra day to travel, or an opportunity to make a vacation out of it.

Like I said, not really taking sides, just a topic that seems to come up from time to time. Would you have your wedding on a holiday weekend? Would you not go to a friend's if it was on a holiday weekend?

I don't think I shared with you guys my holiday planning story yet. I planned my wedding on Yom Kippur. One of the, if not THE, most important Jewish holidays. Yeah. I have some Jewish friends... but the main issue was that my boss, the woman we asked to get officiated and actually marry us, is Jewish. So yeah. And of course she's the one who discovered it. She actually said, "You didn't plan your wedding on Yom Kippur or anything, right?" That was a major facepalm. Maybe even facedesk or facewall. I plan events and programs at work, and know to always check a couple calendars - a regular calendar for any major holidays, the firm's calendar for conflicts, and the JEWISH HOLIDAY CALENDAR. So, yeah, needless to say, I should have known better. It all worked out in the end - we had rehearsal the night before prior to sunset, and the wedding started at sunset the next day (Yom Kippur goes from sunset to sunset), but still. All could have been avoided if I had just checked a damn calendar. That's right, I didn't even check a regular calendar, which also would have had Yom Kippur on it. I was like "Yay! September 18th! Nothing happens that day!"

Anyway, my point is if you're planning a wedding (or anything really), just check a calendar. If you want to have a holiday wedding then do it, but know that some people may not be able to come, and some may not be happy about it but will come. And, most importantly, if you want to have someone officiate at your wedding, make sure there's not a super important holiday in their religion on that day.


-C
xxx