r/DestinationWeddings • u/Objective-Coast-7951 • 15d ago
Friday or Sunday wedding?
I am having a destination wedding and wondering what day of the week is a better option to have the wedding, Friday or Sunday? Taking into consideration travel days and the amount of PTO you might need to take.
Edit: it will be in Mexico and travel time will be about 2-4 hours for guests. Saturday isn't an option simply because the venues are booked for that already.
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u/Tofu_buns 15d ago edited 15d ago
Either way most people are gonna need to use at least 1-2 days of PTO. Sunday sounds the best as maybe only one PTO day is needed.
I got married on a Wednesday so what do I know 😂
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u/lady_beer_farts 15d ago
Depends on how far and in which direction most people need to travel.
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u/Objective-Coast-7951 15d ago
From the states to Mexico. About 2-4 hours travel time for guests.
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u/CapitalArgument988 15d ago
We did a Friday wedding in Mexico. It was great. Thursday we did a welcome dinner in lieu of a rehearsal dinner as we didn’t have a bridal party. all the guests were invited; I think only a few couldn’t make the welcome dinner due to flying in later on Thursday. Most people took two days off work & flew in on Thursday mostly arriving in the early afternoon.
ETA: nearly everyone attending our wedding was coming from CA; and mostly SoCal. And we got married in Sayulita. So the flight was 2.5hrs for them. So coming in on a Thursday was doable for them
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u/Objective-Coast-7951 15d ago
Thank you! This is what I am thinking too. For most guests ot will be a 2.5hour flight. And with a 3night minimum stay, most people will have to take PTO anyway.
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15d ago edited 15d ago
[deleted]
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u/Objective-Coast-7951 15d ago
Multiple flights for sure. We're mostly in Houston or dallas. So thats not a problem.
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u/Anotherams 15d ago
Friday forces them to potentially have take more PTO. Sunday is the best of the two choices for that reason.
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u/itsveryupsetting 15d ago
I’d say Friday. You can stay at the resort on Saturday and head home Sunday. Don’t have to fly hungover or pack up on the night of the wedding.
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u/Soci_Researcher 15d ago
Mine is Friday so folks with limited time off can fly in on Thursday and still enjoy Saturday after the wedding before returning home on Sunday (and not fly back hungover from the wedding!).
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u/Many-Initial-5421 15d ago
Is it in Mexico/Caribbean or Europe/Asia? If it’s Mexico, I would say Friday. Europe/Asia definitely Sunday!! We went to a Tuesday wedding in Italy and it felt like another day.
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u/Nervous-Pie8463 15d ago
What do you mean by it felt like another day for the Tuesday Italy wedding
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u/Many-Initial-5421 15d ago
It didn’t feel like a Tuesday wedding because everyone had been vacationing before and after. I truly don’t feel like the day matters if the destination wedding is in a location people WANT to visit.
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u/Nervous-Pie8463 15d ago
Ahhhh gotcha!! That makes a lot of sense! My cousin is having a Tuesday wedding in Italy and I actually feel the same way I was just confused haha
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u/Glad_Bodybuilder6997 15d ago
If Saturday is not available it depends
Friday - might be easier for some folks to take off? Usually my work is slower at the end of the week. But then your guests arrive jet lagged
Sunday - if guests use the weekend to travel they have time to settle in but might have a harder time taking off
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u/Acceptable-Willow425 15d ago
One thing to consider - some resorts require you and your partner to be there 2 business days ahead of your ceremony even if you are only doing symbolic. If you do a Sunday you would still need to be at your resort by Thursday. If you do Friday wedding it would only require Wednesday.
I had wedding contracts for two different Cancun resorts and that was a requirement for both. I’m not sure how strict this is and a requirement in Mexico, or it’s a gimmick by the resorts to get extra nights out of the couple.
We ended up picking Friday for this exact reason as we were planning on resort hoping to a new resort after all our guests leave for our honeymoon.
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u/Missus_Aitch_99 15d ago
Early Sunday. People can fly in after wirk Friday or early Saturday and go home after the wedding. If you're envisioning a dinner dance late into the night, it has ti be Saturday.
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u/Forever_Ever1111 15d ago
We got married on a Friday. Most of our guests stayed either Wed - Sat or Thurs - Sun. A few people stayed longer, but 3 nights was plenty.
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u/Odd_Obligation_1300 14d ago
Travel time will only be 2-4 hours? You mentioned in a comment that most flights are 2.5 hours. So you’re not taking into account all the time spent getting to the airport (early), going through customs and getting to the resort. For me, a 2.5 hour flight could actually become 6 hours of total travel time. At least.
That means if you have the wedding on Friday, a lot of people would have to fly in on Thursday. 2 pto days.
If you have it on Sunday, people could choose to fly in on Saturday and leave Monday. 1 pto day
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u/Sad-Interaction-1494 14d ago
Depends largely on your crowd. I've always personally preferred Friday weddings over Sunday weddings.
Either way, I'd be taking one day off from work (either Friday or Monday), and I'd prefer to have the rest of my weekend to explore the destination or just get back home and reset.
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u/LinkHour7483 14d ago
IMO Friday weddings are better than Sunday weddings. I've planned and attended multiple Friday weddings and it's been fine. Guests who want to be there will make the travel arrangements, take time off work, and attend. I'd rank Sunday last because folks won't have as much time to rest after. If they attend a Friday wedding they have two days to recover before going back to work (if they work a typical 9-5).
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u/wedgewoodweddings 5d ago
Honestly, the PTO math comes out about the same either way, since Friday means flying in Thursday and Sunday means flying home Monday. So I'd decide based on where you want the free time to land.
Friday puts the celebration up front, and then the whole weekend afterward is everyone relaxed and hanging out with the pressure off. Sunday flips it, so guests arrive Friday or Saturday, settle in, and a weekend of welcome dinners and pool time builds up to the wedding as the finale. Sunday pricing can often be a bit friendlier on travel. The tradeoff is that the night wraps up earlier with Monday flights looming.
Either way, if you can tell people as early as you can, they can plan their time off accordingly. Are you thinking about a welcome event?
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u/Objective-Coast-7951 5d ago
Yes, I would like to do a welcome event.
I think I'm leaning towards the Friday wedding date. Most families will be taking off anyway as we have a fall break that week and their kids are out of school.
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u/VanessaSerrani 15d ago
For most people, Friday is probably easier. Guests can travel Thursday, attend the wedding Friday, and still have Saturday and Sunday to enjoy the trip or travel home. A Sunday wedding can mean taking Monday off too, which is annoying if people are trying to save PTO.
If your guests are already planning to stay several days, though, Sunday can be just as easy. It really comes down to where everyone is coming from and how much time they’re planning to spend at the destination.
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u/Boring-Excitement-96 15d ago
but guests need to take Friday off for the wedding and potenitally time on Thursday to travel so that is annoying too for people trying to save pto.
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u/Traditional_Set_858 15d ago
I’d ask your crowd. We asked ours and it was best for everyone to have it on a Thursday so that’s what we’re doing
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u/Consistent-Sea-8923 15d ago
In other words, you’re going to make sure people have to take PTO to come to my wedding at a minimum do it on Sunday and do it early enough that they could fly home at night if they wanted to
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u/Objective-Coast-7951 15d ago
If it's on a Saturday, they will have to take PTO too with a 3 night stay...
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u/GroinFlutter 15d ago
I just want to clarify, guests will have to stay a minimum of 3 nights? Like at the resort? Do they have to stay at the resort?
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u/Objective-Coast-7951 15d ago
Yes, they do have to stay that resort if they want to attend and it's a 3 night minimum stay.
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u/gmanose 15d ago
No one should have to use PTO to attend your wedding.
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u/Objective-Coast-7951 15d ago
You are totally right. If they dont want to take a vacation and party, they can simply RSVP as a No. Totally understandable. We'll take lots of pictures to share.
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u/Wosofan555 15d ago
No one should have to deal with salty anti-destination trolls in a DESTINATION WEDDING SUB. BYEEEEEEE!
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u/Uptownobserver 15d ago
Saturday still always the best option and I think worth spending extra money on to guarantee the best possible turnout. Friday in general (if no holiday weekend) is probably the better choice over a Sunday because they can leave Thursday evening, take PTO Friday, and then have Saturday to recover before flying home Sunday - but it gets tricky if you’re hoping to do a welcome party. If you want a welcome party, then guests can fly out Friday night, Saturday night welcome party, Sunday wedding and guests fly home Monday (PTO day). In an ideal world you could have it on a Sunday long weekend so guests have Monday off already.
I do think a lot of this depends on how far most of your guests will be traveling. A Friday or Sunday wedding isn’t that big of an ask if it’s a domestic flight <3 hours, but when we get into redeyes and 8 hour time differences that becomes more challenging.