Pros/cons: Friday evening or Sunday evening wedding?

We had the same debate & went with Friday! Leaves you the option of spending time with anyone from out of town; we also have the factor of having a Catholic service so Sunday is more limited because of the service schedule. I think it ultimately depends on the vibe you want: Friday is a more “start of the weekend” whereas on Sunday it feels more casual because people may want to leave early if it’s not a long weekend. I feel that people are more inclined to take Friday off than Monday!

I’m having a Friday evening ceremony. I figured with the long work week it gives people time to unwind and then they can rest on Saturday. Also a reason for not choosing Sunday is people having to work the next day and leaving the reception early.

I think it depends on what type of wedding you're looking for! Friday weddings are great for a dance party/late night party. Sunday would be better for a more laid back, afternoon or brunch wedding.

If you do a Friday, you'll need to start later in the day, and some people will decline their invitations because they can't get out of work. If you do a Sunday evening, you'll have to start fairly early, and then people will likely cut out early, because they have to work the next day.

You should pick the day/date that works for your VIP guests (parents/grandparents/siblings) and the two of you.

We’re having a Sunday wedding It will be on the Sunday of Columbus Day weekend. I know many or probably most people don’t have Columbus Day weekend off, but I think it will work out decent for us. Event is 4:30-10.


About 70% of my guests are from out of the immediate area and these guests are our friends who are like 25-27 years old. The other 30% are older adults (older family friends and relatives) who live close to the venue.
Our friends groups (majority of our guests) don’t have to take off work Friday and they can take their time traveling or enjoying our venue on Friday night or Saturday, etc. They’ll have plenty of notice to take off Monday if they need to.
Our Sunday wedding events at a later (ish) time around 10, but I’m sure it will be fine because our younger guests can keep the party going. Our older guests can leave earlier if they want to since they live close to the venue anyway.
So my point is that it probably will depend on your guests! lol! I picked Sunday because it was significantly cheaper, I wanted the 10/10 date, and figured it will work out fine. Good luck!

**enjoying our venue’s area I mean

It really depends on what your vision is for your wedding. If your thinking of a more laid back & not partying like rockstars, go for the Sunday wedding. If you intend on having a afternoon wedding, evening meal & dancing/drinking, go for the Friday.

As others have said, a lot of it depends upon what type of event you are wanting to have. If you are wanting a calm, relaxed vibe then a Sunday afternoon wedding would be perfect, as most people will have to work the following day and will likely want to leave early. If you are wanting a late night, party vibe then definitely go with a Friday. I would also check the time restrictions on the venue(s) you are considering. If you choose to do a Friday night wedding, you will to want to start later in the evening since a majority of your guests will likely have to work that day and will need time to go home, get changed, and travel to your venue. You will want to make sure your venue allows your reception to go late into the evening.

We are having our wedding on a Sunday night in April 2021, one because it was much cheaper than Sat, and two it was a date we settled on. We informed our guest ahead of time since it will be a out of town wedding for our guests, so it will be like a mini vacation for them. Most people take off a day or two anyway if going out of town, so definitely tell them ahead of time.

I would recommend the Friday evening option.

My FH and I decided on a Sunday evening wedding because it fit into our budget better than a Friday or Saturday wedding. However, we made sure to schedule it for Labor Day weekend so our guests do not have to work on the following Monday. Also, the church we chose and the officiant are not pleased our wedding is on a Sunday after the church service. They required us to choose a time that was at least 3 hours after the church service but not past 6 pm. Hope that helps!

I would be in favor of a Sunday specifically if you can get married on a holiday weekend. The day before labor day or the day before memorial day something like that because its like an extra Saturday over the long holiday weekend.

When I first started planning we were also thinking of a Friday or Sunday wedding (just because it saved a little more money on venue cost than having it on a Saturday.) We had decided Friday because we thought it seemed more convenient for what we were trying to do. But yes, that means people to have take off work earlier that day or take the whole day off.

We ended up finding another venue for the same price and was able to secure a Saturday date instead of having to do Friday/Sunday.

I think you just have to weigh the pros and cons of what you think is best for you and guest you have attening.

If I'm attending a local wedding in my city, I prefer Friday. If I'm attending a wedding out of town, I prefer Sunday. As long as it's not a holiday weekend, Friday flights are generally more expensive, and Monday morning flights are cheaper. Also depends if I'm invited to the rehearsal dinner. If it's a Friday wedding and the rehearsal dinner is Thursday, that would be more difficult. If I'm in the wedding, that means having to take off work both Thursday and Friday! Whereas for Sunday weddings, it's easy to make a weekend out of it with rehearsal dinner on Saturday and the wedding on Sunday. I've attended dozens of fancy Sunday evening weddings out of town and took early morning Monday flights back the next day and I generally prefer this route over Friday weddings due to the convenience of travel options.

Yup, depends on your vision... we always leave right after dinner on Sunday... we don’t drink on Sundays and we both have careers and make sure everything is ready for our week. Friday weddings seem more fun lol

We are doing a Friday evening wedding. We chose Friday because the minimum count for guests was lower and we are on the margin of having the minimum amount so we wanted to be absolutely sure. I think as most others said, Fridays tend to be the weekend starter so people will want to party more and will be more inclined to stick around because they’ll have Saturday and Sunday to recover and still do what they need to do in their lives on the weekend. A Sunday is nice for a more laid back, brunch style wedding because most people probably won’t take Monday off and want to be home early. The pro to a Sunday is people won’t have to take time off of work to attend whereas on Friday they would.

We having a Sunday wedding bc it was cheaper and it is an afternoon/evening wedding. Also most of our guests are in the surrounding area. I didn’t do a Friday wedding bc people’s work schedule and they might not come bc they would have to take off Thursday and Friday to attend. For my guest who is out of town which is not many, are retired or they can take the day off on Monday. It depends on your vision and you will have to look at the pros and cons of each day for wedding. Also consider the time frame for your wedding bc it determines your schedule of events surrounding your wedding and guests.

Friday evening will have a much higher attendance rate than Sunday. People love to kick off the weekend with a party. Sunday evening weddings will have very low turnouts even though they are less expensive with the vendor fees. Not all venues offer discounts for Fridays. With the advance notice of save the dates and invites, guests would rather take off work on a Thursday/Friday than have to skip Monday or leave early on a Sunday.

It depends I know we went with a Sunday because I picked a specific day but we will have a weekend full of fun for our guest...

It depends on what kind of wedding vibe you want! If you guys are more into dancing, wanting a later reception etc Friday would be good. I am doing a Sunday wedding because me and my fiancé are not big on all the dancing, going into the evening etc so we are doing early afternoon to do a brunch and have it be more relaxed! So it definitely depends on what kind of atmosphere you want to create.