Choose your date. Usually the couple will know precisely when they want to marry. My daughter’s wedding was two days before Christmas. Not an ideal time in most people’s books because the season is already busy enough and your anniversary will forever be combined with Christmas. However, she graduated from college the week before and her husband-to-be’s company shut down for the week between Christmas and New Year’s, allowing them time for a honeymoon. For them, the timing was perfect. For families traveling great distances, it was difficult. To assist this, they compromised and set the time of the ceremony for early afternoon. Families could drive or fly home following the reception and save on the hotel bill. A Christmas wedding gave an added bonus in that the church was already decorated and presented a theme to work around.

Places, everyone. Scheduling a holiday date, however, can be a problem if you cannot work early enough to secure reservations for the rehearsal dinner, church and reception site. We were surprised to find many restaurants did not reserve rooms months in advance, even the week before Christmas. Florists, on the other hand, do need months of advance notice at holiday times. We choose to use our church’s fellowship hall for the reception, saving several hundred dollars and taking advantage of the proximity. Our out-of-town guests appreciated not having to find another place and, we didn’t have to worry about inclement weather making transporting the bridal party more difficult. My daughter was concerned that a church hall could not be transformed into the elegant backdrop she wanted, however, cleaning, moving some furniture and a few creative touches gave her exactly what she wanted. There are all sorts of alternatives for weddings and receptions, with widely varying prices. A friend’s daughter was married on a pier overlooking a beautiful river at sunset, her reception in the family’s backyard. Another chose sunrise at the beach, followed by breakfast at a local restaurant. Check parks, gazebos, women’s clubs, river cruiseboats, historical mansions, a library meeting room, even the castle at Disney World.