For those of us who aren’t “morning people”, we hear about the morning wedding trend and scoff. We immediately think a morning wedding means we have to get up at 4:00 a.m. to start getting ready, but that’s completely untrue.
While a downside may be that you have to get up a tad earlier than normal, there are many upsides to morning weddings that will outweigh that whole “early” part.
It’s Cost Effective
While the most common times to get married are in the evening within wedding season (May to October), they’re also the most expensive time to get married. This is one of the biggest and best advantages to having a morning wedding. Since the morning weddings aren’t as common, venues, and vendors have more availability which allows them to keep their costs lower.
Um, Hello, BRUNCH
In my mind brunch should be the only reason you need to have a morning wedding. The possibilities with the menu are literally endless. And can I just say these words: cinnamon roll wedding cake. Let that sink in for just a sec. After the ceremony, you could kick off the reception with a cocktail hour of Bellini’s, mimosas, and Bloody Marys! Then have a coffee bar, a scrumptious brunch buffet, and sweet treats consisting of pastries, donuts, scones, fruit and more!
Availability
One of the stressful parts of wedding planning is searching for the perfect venue and realizing they don’t have the date you’re looking for. Unless you’re planning a wedding years in advance, you’ll most likely have to weigh your priorities and let go of one of your plans for either the date or the location. Luckily, if you have a morning wedding, you won’t have to experience this. Since morning weddings aren’t common and overdone, venues typically have more availability which means less stress for your planning and every detail aligns to your heart’s desire.
More Time to Relax
One of the things people don’t often tell you about an evening wedding is how exhausted you are at the end of the day. Even when you have an evening wedding, you’re up early dragging out the process of getting ready, the pictures, and more. There’s many parts to the day where you’re sitting and waiting but you’re still going through the motions of being a bride all day so by the time you run through your sparkler exit and get to the hotel, you’re exhausted. If you have a morning wedding, yes you get up earlier, but you leave your reception around 2 p.m. so you have more time to relax with your new spouse when you leave, and ultimately that’s the most important. Or, keep the party going with your nearest and dearest with some downtime at your hotel pool or other relaxing activity.
Bridal Attire Flexibility
Morning weddings are perfect for authentically customizing your look on your wedding day. Evening weddings can often dictate the material and silhouette of your wedding dress and overall bridal look. Morning weddings allow you to be as casual, dressy, or unique as you like. You could wear a dress in a beautiful pastel color or even a light watercolor floral print… or play with silhouettes and try a knee length dress, or midi wrap dress. The possibilities for your bridal look are endless and the morning wedding will compliment it beautifully.
Morning weddings overall are more cost effective, flexible, and (when you get down to the details), so fun! Look at the sample morning wedding timeline below and consider how beautiful and stress-free your brunch wedding will be.
Realistic Morning Wedding Timeline
7:00 a.m. – Wake up
7:30 a.m. – Get ready
9:00 a.m. – Take bridal party photos
10:00 a.m. – Ceremony begins
10:20 a.m. – Announcement of husband and wife
10:30 a.m. – Mimosa hour begins / bride & groom take photos
11:30 a.m. – Bridal party enters reception, buffet can begin
11:45 a.m. – Eating and toasts
12:30 p.m. – Dancing, mingling, and cake
1:30 p.m.– Exit!
Style Me Pretty Contributor – Kylie Thompson is a freelance writer, blogger and marketing professional from Grand Rapids Michigan, where she resides with her husband. When she isn’t working, you will find her exploring Grand Rapids’ newest culinary establishments with her husband, or traveling up and down Lake Michigan’s coast.