Wedding Dates To Avoid For Manly Reasons
Setting a wedding date – sounds simple doesn’t it? It’s surely simply a case of sticking a pin in the calendar and seeing where it lands. Think again bozo! Choosing a date can be a perilous task if you haven’t done your homework and result in all your mates being at your wedding (because they can’t miss it can they) but secretly wondering how you could be so stupid as to book it on the same day as the World Cup final.
So before you send out those invites and find your guests saying “I don’t” have a glance through our list of dates to avoid.
Things To Check Your Date Against:
- Bank holidays – Apart from pretty much guaranteeing constant rain and crap traffic your guests will most likely already have other plans as they take advantage of a free day off and won’t thank you for spoiling them.
- Sporting fixtures – Guests – and grooms! – gathered around a tinny radio trying to find out the sporting results does not the start of a good marriage make. If you want to check what your do will clash with have a look at The Telegraph sports calendar, best in the business
- Easter – Even if your guests aren’t religious then chances are they will still be busy scoffing chocolate eggs which means they’ll never fit into their wedding outfits.
- Unlucky dates – Friday the thirteenths are obvious but the joke could still be on you if you pick April 1 too. But also consider the impact of other dates too such as 7th July (7/7 London attacks) or 11th September (9/11).
- Daylight saving days – Losing an hour’s sleep isn’t going to help your guests chance of getting to your wedding on time.
- Sts Days – For the patriots amongst you
- Christmas and New Year – Your guests may welcome the chance to avoid the usual family Christmas politics and thank you – or they may resent having to buy a Christmas and a wedding present.
- Music festivals – You don’t want your guests to get caught up amongst a load of sweaty, muddy unwashed, or worse, choosing to be one of the muddy unwashed rather than joining you. Full list of festivals.
To save you the hassle we’ve trawled through the diaries and put together a long-range list of dates to avoid. Don’t forget dates for events can change so don’t blame us if any of these are wrong in two years time…
2009
Sat 29-31 August, 2009 – Summer Bank Holiday Weekend
25 October – British Summer Time Ends and clocks go back an hour
Fri 25th December-Monday 28th December – Xmas, Boxing Day AND an extra bank holiday day!
2010
1 Jan / 2 Jan – New Year headaches likely to rule
25 January – Burns Night
14 feb – Chinese New Year and Valentines Day
12-28 February Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada
28th February – Carling Cup Final
14 March – Mothering Sunday
1 March – St David’s Day
17 March – St Patrick’s Day
1 April – April Fools Day
2 April – Good Friday
4 April – Easter Sunday
10/11th April – FA Cup – Semi-Finals
10th April – Grand National
20/21st April – European Champions League Semi-Final 1st leg.
23 April – St George’s Day
25th April – London Marathon
27/28th April – European Champions League Semi-Final 2nd leg.
15th May – FA Cup Final
22nd May – European Champions League Final (Madrid).
22nd May – Heineken Cup (Rugby)
24th May – Spring Bank holiday
24th May – Cheese Rolling, Glouceeeerstershire
17-20 June – US Open Golf, Pebble Beach, California
British Formula One Grand Prix – to be held at either Donington Park or Silverstone dependent on build –date not yet confirmed
20 June – Fathers day
11 June -11 July – FIFA World Cup, South Africa
23-27 June – Glastonbury Festival, Somerset
21 June- 4 July – Wimbledon Tennis Championship, London
July – Tour de France cycling, France
15-18 July – British Open Golf, UK
1-3 October – Ryder Cup Golf, Newport
3 -14 October – Commonwealth Games, India
30 November – St Andrews Day
24 and 25 December – Christmas
2011
19 February-March, Cricket World Cup, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
April, Golf Masters
16-19 June US Open Golf
15-18 July, British Open Golf Championship, St Andrews, Scotland
End June, Glastonbury
9-September- 23 October, Rugby World Cup, New Zealand
Brownie Points
- When discussing dates first make a sneaky list of events you know your bride will want to avoid. A panicked plea of “Noooooooooooooooo not during World Cup month,” will sound better if you’ve already pointed out you should avoid Chelsea Flower Show/Badminton Horse trials/ insert bride’s favourite events here.
- Tell your bride you would rather avoid 14th February – Valentine’s Day – because you want the chance to spoil her twice with romantic gestures during the year, but don’t let on that you have simply realised your flower bill etc will rocket if you have the wedding then.
- The truly sneaky out there will bear in mind things like birthdays and other anniversaries (first date, etc) and if you time the wedding to coincide with this then you’re killing two anniversaries with one bunch of garage forecourt flowers.
- Say that you want to be unusual and have a wedding on Friday or other day during the week – although your bride to be will probably suss that it’s simply cheaper at those times and less guests are going to be likely to be able to make it.
- Check what other events might be on at your venue on the same day. It might be nothing to worry about but if there’s a flower display competition in one room and your hayfever-addled wedding party in another then it could all go wrong.
Think we’ve forgotten anything? What other dates should wedding planners miss for manly reasons?
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