SETTING THE WEDDING DATE

What about a midweek wedding?
A midweek wedding should ensure that you can get most of the things you want, even if you leave it till the last minute, whilst you may also save some cash along the way. But again, think about who you are inviting. Schoolteachers for example may find it particularly hard to get the day off work, so again think about your guests.

Are there any constraints?

Modern religion is more flexible than its counterpart of years gone by, but there are still certain constraints that you will need to consider when choosing the date. For example, in the case of Church of England weddings, because of the ministers other duties, Sunday weddings are uncommon, and they may also refuse to carry out a ceremony during Lent and Advent. Other religions too have constraints, so make sure that you check this out before deciding upon a date. Civil weddings also have certain time constraints that you should be aware of. For marriages within England and Wales, you can get married any day of the week but only between the hours of 8am and 6pm, although Registry Offices are usually open only from 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 1pm on Saturdays. There are no such similar constraints North of the border.

Are there any mad sports fans coming to the wedding?

The UK is a sports obsessed nation. Each year, live and televised sport is watched by millions across the country. It’s quite likely that either the Bride or the Groom is a big sports fan, or if not, then I would put money on it that at least a couple of the guests are.

The football season kicks off in mid August and runs till early May and at Weddings these days it is not uncommon to hear the ‘beep beep’ of text messages piping goal updates to guests during the Reception and subsequent ‘Arsenal have scored’ messages being verbally passed from one table to another. To some, this causes absolutely no problem, but to others it would drive them mad – this is your day after all, not the Gunners Day!

It’s not just football either, cricket, tennis, rugby, golf, you name it, there seems to be sport on every day of the year. Think about who will be there – does a soccer mad Groom really want his wedding day on the day of the FA or World Cup Final? Does a tennis mad Bride want her Big Day to clash with the Women’s Final at Wimbledon? Do the rest of the rugby team that the Groom and Best Man are part of and have invited want to miss the Rugby World Cup Final? I think you see where we are going. Look at the guest list and their sporting habits, get a sports calendar for the year you are planning and think carefully.