So you’ve decided to have a Christmas wedding, New Year’s Eve wedding or thanksgiving wedding. It’s quite logical giving the festive atmosphere, snow-filled landscape and time off from work that comes with the holiday season.

Holiday weddings however come with their challenges; for example, chances that lots of your friends and relatives would already be off on their vacation on your chosen date are quite high.

Tips for Planning a Holiday Wedding

So here are some expert tips for scheduling your wedding around a holiday to cut the unnecessary costs, extra guilt and gain extra fun.

Give as much notice as possible

Come on it’s the holidays; you don’t expect everyone to put their lives on hold so you might have your wedding. You should try to send your save-the-date cards as soon as possible (at least six months in advance) so you can give guests adequate time to rearrange their schedules and book their flights prior to the festive period which are usually more expensive.

Be prepared for disappointment

In sending out your invitation cards you should be well aware that more of your expected guests are likely to decline the invitation than at a non-holiday timed wedding. If you’re bent on having a holiday wedding, then you should be as understanding as possible. This is because some people may already have engagements scheduled prior to you notification.

You may unexpected guests

It’s the festivities! There’s bound to be lots of travelling here and there. Lots of your prospective guests would be absent because of the travels; but on the flip side, you may also gain lots unexpected guests. You should keep your guests’ list flexible enough to accommodate a little more than a few +1 requests.

Take advantage of the season 

An advantage of a festive wedding is that you get to tap into the spirit of the season. This eases up the tough choices like wedding color, decor and theme. For example, you may select those colors that best complement the seasonal colors like gold and red for a Christmas wedding. You shouldn’t feel obligated to go all-out with a seasonal theme; just try to make sure that your guests do not miss out on the seasonal fun.

Take advantage of the time of day

The holiday also determines the best time of the day for the wedding. For example, a Halloween or New Year’s Eve wedding should start a bit later than the conventional. This is to achieve maximum impact of the holiday.

Number of guests

Guests’ population is influenced greatly by the nature of the holiday. For example, holiday weekends such as Memorial Day and Labor Day do tend to be very well attended.

Make your reservations early enough

Experts guide against the misleading belief that vendors and venues would be available on your preferred day because it is a festive period. For example, if you’re going for a Christmas wedding, you should do well to make reservations early enough because most facilities would be booked down for one event or the other on that day and prices may also be higher.

Managing Vendors

If you intend to get married on or around a holiday, it should be safe to assume that most of your vendors will be working with other clients during this period and potentially giving up time with their own families. You shouldn’t complicate their situation by being vague. As a matter of fact you should be clear on what you want so they can be as effective as possible. You should also make sure that the vendors have all the right information they need.

Wrap Up!

A thoughtful note and gift thanking wedding professionals for planning your beautiful event will be very much appreciated, too!

So there you have it! A few tips on having the holiday wedding of your dreams.