Evening weddings are great, but what if you have something different in mind? If you prefer a more relaxed wedding or want to save money, you may lean toward planning a daytime wedding, which is becoming popular, and you may be able to get cheaper wedding rental packages as well. However, is it really a good idea? Let’s get down to the pros and cons.
Pros And Cons Of Planning A Daytime Wedding
Pros Of Hosting An Afternoon Wedding
Here are the benefits of organizing a daytime wedding.
Cost-Effective
One of the most tempting benefits of a daytime wedding is its budget-friendliness. Firstly, the availability of venues for an afternoon event is much better, so you can choose a venue you like for a cheaper price, as they may offer cheaper rates compared to an evening event. However, you should confirm with the venue you want to hire their pricing.
The same is the case with vendors like florists, caterers, photographers, and more. Some may offer products or services at a lower price than for evening weddings. These discounts add up and create a big chunk of money saved.
In addition to that, afternoon weddings are known for lower alcohol consumption, as in the daytime, guests don’t go overboard with drinking. This saves a lot. And that’s not it. You can save on your wedding décor as well if you plan things right by using natural light.
Natural Light
Speaking of natural light, you will have an abundance of it in your brunch or afternoon wedding. It can be an upside or downside. The upsides are that each of your wedding photos will be well-lit without ever needing artificial lighting.
You may get the best hours for photography if you choose a morning wedding (a few hours after sunrise) or an afternoon wedding, including wedding photos before and during the sunset.
Unique Food Options
The wedding dinner is usually the same for most weddings, which can become boring for guests. If you think that way too, then you would be glad to know that a daytime wedding can open the door to many unique lunch or brunch options, depending on which time of day you want to host the reception.
Ideal For Scenic Venues
Daytime weddings are synonymous with destination weddings and scenic venues. If you want to get married in a national park, beach, or any other scenic venue where marvelous landscapes and nature’s beauty serve as a backdrop in your wedding photos, then a daytime wedding should be a no-brainer.
More Relaxed
The vibe of a daytime wedding is more relaxed and calmer because things are a bit casual, and there is no rush for anyone to get home. It makes the wedding more fun for guests as they won’t have the long drive back home at night on their mind. There will be enough time to enjoy the wedding and mingle with people.
Guests With Children Can Attend Easily
Many guests leave early from evening weddings because their kids feel sleepy or have school the next day, or they leave their kids with a babysitter for the night. In a daytime wedding, the guests don’t have to worry about this, so they stay for longer and enjoy the time with the couple and other guests. You can incorporate garden games and other activities to ensure kids and adults enjoy themselves.
The Couples Gets More Time Together
Tying with the above point, an afternoon wedding makes the wedding day more about bonding and spending time together for the couple and the people close to them.
That’s because the wedding usually ends at noon or evening and you then have the remaining evening and night to have fun together, and also have a wedding after-party with your close friends and family.
Vendor Availability
We stated earlier that the costs are lower for daytime weddings, especially morning weddings or brunch weddings. That is because of more vendor availability in the morning and afternoon. Even if a venue or vendor you wanted to hire has been booked for the nighttime slot, you may be able to hire them for your daytime wedding as fewer people host morning weddings.
Cons Of Planning An Afternoon Wedding
Casual Wedding
If you like your wedding day to be a casual affair where everyone is calmer, then it’s great. However, some couples may not want their wedding without the full-blown formal vibe, elegance, and ambience that an evening wedding can achieve. So, know which type of hitch day you want to have before choosing the time of day for your wedding ceremony.
Early Day
A wedding day is lengthy, exciting, and draining because you have to begin preparation four to five hours before the event. Now, add that to the fact that you will need to wake up at sunrise if you’re having a brunch wedding. This means you will need to wake up at sunrise or even before that. For an afternoon wedding, you can wake up in the morning. In any case, an early wakeup call is vital to get ready and manage stuff.
If you’re an early bird, this may not be concerning for you, but if you’re not, well, make sure that you can achieve that before planning a daytime wedding. Keep in mind that apart from the couple, the bridal party and the groom’s party will need to wake up early as well.
Less Time For Preparation
You do have all the time in the world to plan your wedding, regardless of whichever time of day you want to host your wedding ceremony. But if it’s a daytime wedding, you may be limited on prep time on the wedding day, though. So, you need to plan things out well so that things flow smoothly without hiccups.
Less Crowd On The Dance Floor
Brunch and afternoon weddings are about calmness and fun, but they are not known for raging dance floors. This is because guests usually have evening arrangements, so they take it slow on things and don’t dance much. So, if you have a party all night kind of wedding in mind, then an afternoon wedding may not be it. However, if you don’t expect a lot of dance floor action, you may like it.
Harsh Daylight
Wedding photos just after a sunrise and just before and during sunset are spectacular, but there are times of the day when the natural light may be too harsh for wedding photos, such as from 12PM to 2PM.
You can do many things for the daytime photos to look amazing, but there can’t be fairly lights, fireworks, or sparklers to make your photos enchanting. For the best daytime photos, hire a good photographer and videographer, and choose the morning or sunset time for photos.
Conclusion
Daytime weddings are becoming a popular trend because they are cost-effective, ensure better vendor availability, are more relaxed and casual, and guests can also spend more time having fun. However, there are some cons to them as well, like the wedding won’t be formal, you will have to wake up real early, the vibe won’t be very party-like, and you will have to schedule photos smartly.
Weigh in the pros and cons and decide if an afternoon wedding is for you. After deciding, start hiring vendors and wedding tent rentals Frederick as early as possible.