Want to know the biggest budget hack that will cut down wedding vendor costs across the board? Planning a weekday wedding.

Choosing a weekday for your wedding means scooping up one of those days that your wedding vendors are less likely to receive bookings. Thus, behold the weekday discount rate. Weekdays often, if not always, produce an appealing price for venues and vendors. In all, you can save thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars, by planning your wedding on Monday through Thursday versus Friday through Sunday.

But, planning a weekday wedding is not as simple as choosing an alternate day of the week. You must be prepared for the intrinsic differences between weekday and weekend weddings that make the choice more budget-friendly. Expect fewer “Yes” RSVPs, for one. And, understand that not all vendors have staff available to work weekdays.

While the payoff, ultimately, is likely to be big budget-wise, there still are some considerations to be made. So long as you're okay with the few sacrifices, you'll have more wiggle room in your budget. Use those extra wedding funds for fancier fashion, swankier venues and romantic honeymoon suites. By the way, you can keep track of it all with our free wedding budget spreadsheet available for download.

Monetary advantages aside, choosing a weekday may also mean getting a sooner wedding date at your dream wedding venue. The backlog of weddings from Covid has produced a wedding boom. Venues and vendors are finding themselves booked out years in advance. Selecting a weekday means getting married where you want to when you want to rather than wedding an extra few years.

To make the decision more clear, our friends at Be Inspired PR rounded up their circle of seasoned wedding pros to share their best weekday wedding tips and everything else you need to know…

Weekday Wedding Tips

Weekday weekdays can actually be the best way to plan a destination wedding!

“Arriving for a Saturday destination wedding isn't always easy. Your guests will often feel compelled to leave travel until the last minute, Thursday or Friday. Then, the choice is to immediately go home on Sunday (thus missing out on the extra events) or take more time off to enjoy your destination of choice. Then, they often return exhausted in the middle of the work week.

Planning a midweek destination wedding offers your guests more ease of travel. Guests can leisurely choose to fly on the Friday evening, Saturday or Sunday before the wedding. They'll have plenty of time to enjoy the area and the wedding. Then, they can return with ease the following weekend. By taking off just five days of work they get potentially nine days of vacation!” – Claire Eliza, Editor-in-Chief of Bridal Musings

Make sure your VIP guests can attend.

“Weekday weddings post-Covid have become a phenomenon. With couples not wanting to wait amongst the backlog of two years of weddings, and with them being cheaper options than weekends, weekday weddings are no longer the unwanted slots. If you are considering a weekday wedding, think about your bridal party and most important guests: will it be an issue for them?” – Charlotte Ricard-Quesada of La Fête

Photo by Gayle Brooker

Alert your guests well in advance.

“If a weekday wedding is the best option for your vision and budget, go for it! Even more so than with a weekend wedding celebration, it will be important to alert your guests well in advance to ensure they can plan for time off from work and for any travel they may need to book.” – Alexandra Denniston of Eventlightenment Planning

Consider a special-meaning date!

“Without restricting yourself to weekend dates only, the possibilities open up! Consider all the possibilities for your wedding date. Perhaps this is the perfect way to pay homage to your grandparents’ anniversary, or to get married on the date when you first said “I love you” to each other! Think about the options that might be meaningful for you and your partner and get creative with your wedding date.” – AJ Williams, Founder and Creative Director of AJ Events

Photo by Sally Pinera

A weekday wedding can still mean a weekend of events and celebrations.

“For example, a Thursday wedding might mean a BBQ pool party on Friday and a local wine tasting tour on Saturday before a final farewell brunch on Sunday! Consider planning a multi-day celebration for your wedding to take advantage of activities your location has to offer.” – AJ Williams, Founder and Creative Director of AJ Events

Book your wedding for the end or beginning of the week.

“I find that Thursday, Friday or Monday weddings are amazing, especially for destination weddings, as you can build secondary events into the weekend or even let your guests enjoy visiting and touring around your venue during the weekend.” – Charlotte Ricard-Quesada, La Fête

See if your date falls before a holiday weekend.

“When picking your weekday date, see if any of them fall before or after a holiday weekend; your guests will be more apt to extend their holiday to celebrate with you!” – Erica Trombetti of Infinite Events

Consider an evening ceremony or reception.

“Be open to having an evening ceremony and/or reception so local guests can attend after work. This will help ensure that you have plenty of people there to celebrate with you!” – Hannah Berglund of Hannah Berglund Photography

Take time off after the wedding.

“I would suggest you and your partner take the extra days off work after your wedding, if possible. It will feel a little strange going back to work the morning after your wedding. Give yourself time to soak in the just married vibes!” – Kari Dirksen, CEO and Lead Planner of Feathered Arrow Events

Weekday Wedding Cons

Photo by Allan Zepeda

Be okay with getting fewer “Yes” RSVPs.

“You'll want to send out RSVPs early in order to give guests ample time to plan and take work off if they are traveling. Be okay with getting fewer yes RSVPs since not all guests will be able to take off work. But, remember that those who do attend will appreciate the extra effort on your part!” – Hannah Berglund of Hannah Berglund Photography

It may be challenging to book certain vendors.

“It can be harder for some vendors to staff than on the weekend. Many wedding vendors have staff set up for weekend work and many of them may have other commitments during the week that actually make it harder for the team to commit to.” – Valarie Falvey, Kirkbrides Wedding Planning & Design

Parking could be less than desirable.

“I can't tell you how many times I've gone on weekday site visits and am assured by the venue owners that, “There's just no parking because everyone else is working too!” Or, “It always clears out on the weekend!” Be sure to ask your venue owner about parking. Then, brainstorm ideas with your planning team (like providing valet or transportation) to ensure guests aren't left circling the block for hours on end.” – Ashley Lachney, Owner of Alston Mayger Events

Photo by Bottega 53

Understand the tradeoffs.

“Weven data shows us that weekday weddings are exceptionally rare, representing less than 10% of weddings in 2022. To understand why they are less common, it’s important to understand the tradeoffs.

First things first, not all weekdays are created equal. Are you doing a destination event or will most guests be traveling in? You need to consider the amount of vacation time that guests will have to take to attend on either side of the actual event day. As a consideration, know that increased vacation requirements correlate heavily with lower RSVP yields.

Additionally, while pricing with venues and vendors can be lower midweek, it is not always the case. Many venues use weekdays to provide staff time off and host corporate events, particularly in metropolitan areas. So, prices may not be as dramatically cheaper as hoped. As always, make sure you check pricing with venues and vendors before booking. Lastly, depending on where your wedding is, guest costs can also be higher on weekdays, as they compete against business travelers for airfare and lodging.” – Sam McElhinney, CEO of Weven

Dealing with wedding planning stress? Anxiety begone! Get loads of wellness advice and expert tips from our Planning section.

These tips were gathered with help from Be Inspired PR, a PR + Social Media Agency for wedding, wellness and lifestyle clients. With over 10+ years of experience, we’re here to take our clients to the next level! Find oodles of stylish wedding inspiration on their Instagram and Pinterest.