Skip Saturday, save money...on what?

[acidcookie]

I've heard a million times that you can save money by NOT having your wedding on a Saturday. At first this seemed to make sense. Doing anything not at peak time might be a money saver. But as we're planning things I'm not seeing where the day of the week makes a difference. Our lodge venue is $600 not matter what day, the food doesn't change by date. Photographers have made no date price differences. The dress is going to be whatever it is.

What is it that I'd save money on by NOT having my wedding Saturday?

[WebLady]

I guess it depends on the area and the vendor ... I know out here lots of people that give discounts for weekday weddings. But I also know a few places that have the same rates no matter the day.

[ME&HIM]

i know here that if a wedding is on a sunday it cost 10% more for venue and celebrant and photographer

[Jenna5366]

I've noticed the same thing. Our wedding is on a Friday in March, and we've gotten no discounts, even though I've asked.

[Heywie]

I'm noticing the same thing! Some venues I looked at were cheaper on Fridays or Sundays, but everything else is the same price! And I'm having my wedding in the "off-peak" season - I asked all my vendors if they offer discounts and they don't change their pricing at all! Maybe I booked too early and they weren't desperate enough!

[snowflakebride]

I hear ya. While i'm having a Saturday wedding, it's in December, so I heard the same thing. So far, the only savings we've made is by booking our vendors before they raised prices.

[TangoWedding]

My DJ was cheaper on Sundays ($100 off). And the venue I wanted originally was half the price as on a Sunday...and also had an off season discount (20% in Jan-March and 10% in April).

Those two things alone were a savings of $1,350.

Guess it depends on what companies you talk to.

[Ninedays9]

I dont think it will make a difference in your particular case.

I was looking into a venue that looked pretty good, and then I found the booking prices. It varied from $300 to $500 based on the day... and Saturday has a $4000 minimum food and beverage requirement. Considering we want the wedding on a Saturday, that instantly made me look into other places!

[neebelung]

I guess it depends on the area and the vendor ... I know out here lots of people that give discounts for weekday weddings. But I also know a few places that have the same rates no matter the day.
+1

Also, minimums (i.e. for food and drink) may vary depending on the day of the week.

There's a popular venue on the beach here; while their PRICES stay the same, their catering minimums are more for Saturday than other days. For a Friday evening wedding, they have a $5,000 food and beverage minimum. For a Sunday afternoon wedding, it goes up to $7,500... but if you want it on Saturday afternoon or evening? It goes up to $12,500!!!

[BelhurstBride]

At our venue, the minimum amount that you have to spend on a Saturday is $9,000... while the minimum for a Friday is only $5,000. We're having our wedding on a Friday!!! (These minimums include ceremony/reception charges plus all of the food and drinks)

Also.. since our wedding is on a Friday, our DJ has given us a $700 discount.

So overall we're saving about $4,700.

[acidcookie]

At our venue, the minimum amount that you have to spend on a Saturday is $9,000... while the minimum for a Friday is only $5,000.

Wow! Why is that?!

[LovingLife]

I have managed to save money on my dinners (1.00 off each person), my dj, my cake delivery, all around its adding up on savings. I guess it really does depend on the company and the area.

I have also heard that friday weddings (like i'm having) are becoming a very common thing.

Well who would have known I was going to be trendy? ha.

[neebelung]

Wow! Why is that?!

In short, because Saturday weddings are more in demand (hence it being called "peak" hours), so venues know they can charge more on a Saturday -- and GET it.

Additionally, for instance, the place we looked at here is also a beachfront hotel and restaurant... Saturday afternoon and night are going to be a big moneymaker for them (though they don't TOTALLY close down for weddings -- just part of the place), so they have to bring in enough $$ during a wedding to compensate for regular customers they won't be able to accomodate.

(however, I think "because they can" is a bigger reason)

[Cilantro]

The first venue I heard back from has twice the food & drink minimum on Saturday and a more expensive setup fee than the rest of the week.

[candars]

My venue is almost $1000 more on Saturdays than it is on Fridays. But, you also have to spend at least $9000 in order to even reserve a Saturday. So, if we had picked a Saturday, we would have had to spend at least twice as much as we have so far-and that's only the wedding venue.

[Scrwballsgrl]

well thank goodness we didn't have a huge increase in the cost of the venue simply b/c it was on a saturday, what did increase it jsut a smidge is the fact that we don't live "in town".
Where we are having our wedding is city owned so if we live in the city limits it would be $100 cheaper; as it is we are paying
$825(deposit of $200 included) for the use of the building from 4:30 Friday afternoon til 1am Sunday Morning. If we lived in the city limits in would have been $725(dep of $200) the lady at the city hall actually told us if we had an address we could use (physical & mailing had to be the same) we coudl get that $100 off! lol we were trying to think of anyone we knew but then realized that the city hall would mail our refunded security deposit to whatever address we listed, & not that just anyone would be able to cash a check made out to us from the city hall but it would just be easier all the way around to go ahead an pay the extra $100.

[Nekochanpurr]

If we would have got married on any other day then Saturday, we wouldn't have a 100 person minimum for paying for heads for our reception. But Steve is pig headed, so Saturday it is! lol

[saltyveruca]

We very rarely discount for off-peak days. Why? Because so many brides have heard this advice about getting married on a Friday or a Sunday that the whole weekend is up for grabs these days! It's all peak now. Generally, we'll discount if the wedding is *right* around the corner and the chances are slim that we'll book a full price wedding before the date, peak or not.

[butterfly3582]

We very rarely discount for off-peak days. Why? Because so many brides have heard this advice about getting married on a Friday or a Sunday that the whole weekend is up for grabs these days! It's all peak now. Generally, we'll discount if the wedding is *right* around the corner and the chances are slim that we'll book a full price wedding before the date, peak or not.

That makes so much sense. I have notice a few photographers or venues that charged a cheaper price for Monday - Thursday. But pretty much I have seen Friday - Sunday & holidays be about the same price.

[f77g4]

At our venue, the minimum amount that you have to spend on a Saturday is $9,000... while the minimum for a Friday is only $5,000. We're having our wedding on a Friday!!! (These minimums include ceremony/reception charges plus all of the food and drinks)

Also.. since our wedding is on a Friday, our DJ has given us a $700 discount.

So overall we're saving about $4,700.

Can I ask what all is included with your DJ that he can give you $700 off? I mean our DJ is only $300 total?

[gneiss_girl]

Depends on your area. I was going for a Saturday wedding, but everything was totally booked, so now it's going to be a day earlier. Nearly every wedding venue in my area costs a lot less on Fridays than on Saturdays, so I wound up saving. But if your area isn't like that, then go ahead and go for the peak time.

[EarlyBird]

it really depends on the vendor.
The original vendor i was going with did not want to do anything about not having a saturday. he said they only host one wedding a weekend so they can concentrate on the on day. the other place, we were gonna save like 3k by doing sunday instead.
The places we are checking in in Vegas dont care if you get married on a TUESDAY.. its all the same for them :)

[garnet]

well, my wedding at this venue http://www.radisson.com/peoriail would have costed us $6,000 to rent the space on a Friday-Saturday-Sunday. For Monday, its $200. :bbeek: click on dining, and then "flagstones" to see my ceremony and reception site.

[ernurse72]

I just booked my venue and saved 3000.00 dollars on having it Friday evening. 200 off the ceremony and 10% off the entrees and I live in Los Angeles county. But I think I really scored and this deal is probably hard to come by. But on the other vendors it really didnt make much of a difference.

[caligal85]

I've run into this big time. Everywhere I looked was significantly less during the week (I originally wanted a Thursday date). One place went from being $6000 on a Saturday to $250 on a Thursday. Other places, food went from $35 per person to $17.

[Kay]

We found a very nice, huge state park with a waterfall and INSIDE, CLEAN restrooms, a beautiful "island" to get married on and a nice (not trashy) pavillion... we can show-up as early as we want and leave as late as we want... we can decorate, setup tents, the pavillion has electricity, etc etc...all day fee ~ regardless of the day of rental ~ for the island and the pavillion rental, includng them picking-up and removing the trash the next day?? $105!!

Plus, it is a state park so the public has to leave the entire park at dusk - but wedding parties can stay ~ AND they allow alcohol (wine/etc) for wedding parties ONLY. We really wanted a Saturday wedding on a budget so we just totally lucked-out...

BTW, this place is 20 minutes from where we live. There is a state park in the town we live but the bathrooms are gross, you have to be out by dusk, and they do not allow alcohol. Still, you might look around. I was also told the local armory (which is huge inside) rents out their entire space - with tables - for a great fee... we may look-in to that for a rain back-up!!

[missnikki]

Some venues offer a Friday night or sunday discount, thats about the only time you will save on a non saturday wedding

[saltyveruca]

We found a very nice, huge state park with a waterfall and INSIDE, CLEAN restrooms, a beautiful "island" to get married on and a nice (not trashy) pavillion... we can show-up as early as we want and leave as late as we want... we can decorate, setup tents, the pavillion has electricity, etc etc...all day fee ~ regardless of the day of rental ~ for the island and the pavillion rental, includng them picking-up and removing the trash the next day?? $105!!

Plus, it is a state park so the public has to leave the entire park at dusk - but wedding parties can stay ~ AND they allow alcohol (wine/etc) for wedding parties ONLY. We really wanted a Saturday wedding on a budget so we just totally lucked-out...

BTW, this place is 20 minutes from where we live. There is a state park in the town we live but the bathrooms are gross, you have to be out by dusk, and they do not allow alcohol. Still, you might look around. I was also told the local armory (which is huge inside) rents out their entire space - with tables - for a great fee... we may look-in to that for a rain back-up!!

That is awesome! We looked at a state park and they were really restrictive. It was a park with ruins of an old brewery, and they didn't allow alcohol...I think the original owner must roll around in his grave every time they tell someone that! :bbeek:

[tortoisegirl]

My venue and catering costs aren't dependent on the day of the week. My photographer is part of the family, and the DJ I could have saved a couple hundred probably. For us, it wouldn't have saved enough money to make it worth it to be a non-Saturday night.

[NikonL18]

can i say something?

it's not the venue, its more of the host, the singers, the photogs. When I had my wedding, it was more expensive because it was saturday. apparently most professionals up their charges on a saturday. so while the venue and all those may charge the same any day, you end up spending more.