Wedding planning is tough. Choosing the perfect venue, dress, photographer, and more are almost always overwhelming for the bride. One giant factor can never be overlooked, either: nailing the date. Picking the right date for your big day can be just as problematic as everything else combined. We want to please our parents, Grandma, and even Aunt Mary and Uncle Bob. But we must keep in mind that that's impossible. While picking a date for our wedding, my husband and I desperately struggled with this conundrum. The venue we wanted only had one possible date that worked for us. So, after a lot of hemming and hawing, we took the plunge and decided on a holiday wedding date: the Fourth of July.
Right away, we caught the grief thrown at us for choosing a holiday for our wedding. Friends and family had the audacity to say in jest, "Way to ruin our holiday weekend!" or "I'll come only if there are fireworks." At first, I felt a little guilty. But then I simply chose not to care. It was our wedding, our big day — people should have shut their mouths. They should have simply called and said, "We are so excited to share in your day!" But no — many individuals just had to get that dig in.
I mean, how dare we ruin someone else's day off of work, for crying out loud? Honestly, I felt that it would possibly be a little upsetting that guests would have to give up their annual fireworks, but I never dreamed that our wedding bliss would cause such disgruntled behavior by those I thought I meant a lot to. But still, my husband and I didn't waver. We kept the date and scribed it in stone.
My husband and I, we just went with the notion that if we meant enough to our guests, they would want to be there. It shouldn't matter what day of the year we got married on. If they wanted to join us in our celebration, they would toss on a dress or suit and cheers with us. If not, they'd partake in their other, more festive, plans. And that's pretty much what happened. Coming from a big, fat Greek family, we had to invite the entire congregation. Of course. My husband's family invited many important people in their lives, too. But out of the large invite list, one-quarter of the guests checked "Unable to attend." Hey, it cut our bill down tremendously. That was one perk!
If someone truly loves you and your future spouse, they'll make it to your wedding despite the date on the calendar.
And when our big day came, I didn't think twice about the people who weren't there dancing with us on the dance floor. I didn't wonder who was missing. Instead, I mingled with the people who made the trip to our wedding — a wedding they attended even though it was on a holiday. Maybe there were times when our guests dreamt about being on the lake and roasting marshmallows with their friends while watching the fireworks. But when it came down to it, they decided they'd much rather attend one of the happiest days of our lives. I'm grateful for all of our guests who made it to our big day because I think the holiday magic made it that much more special.
If you're thinking about having a holiday wedding, go for it. Do not let a silly date stop you. If someone truly loves you and your future spouse, they'll make it to your wedding despite the date on the calendar. Your guests will drop their plans because they'd rather be raising their glass toasting you than anywhere else.
