The Three Day Wedding Trend

The Three Day Wedding Trend is one that is becoming increasingly popular over recent years within the wedding industry. With more family members living overseas we tend to see family flying in from all destinations when planning a wedding within the UK. A longer celebration gives us the opportunity to spend time with our loved ones, making the most of the occasion.

Choosing to get married is such an important milestone in everyone's lives, it's a special event that allows us to really appreciate our loved ones, whilst enjoying the party side of things of course! There is an overwhelming amount of pressure put on couples today to create this spectacular event, we want the most instagrammable weddings and ones in which will be remembered for years to come. With this, we are seeing couples turn to weekend-long weddings, giving them more time to plan a showcase of events over the course of the three days.

We have seen many mixed opinions on this, some couples are absolutely besotted by the idea, whilst others are reluctant to spend a large budget in these areas. A three day wedding event does come at cost, and one which many couples love to splurge. The best thing about it, you don't have to squeeze all your plans into a 24 hour period and can instead enjoy the event as a leisurely pace. With the right wedding planner in place, you can rest assured that your three-day event will be one to remember.

Ensure you have a solid timeline of events

The timeline of events with a three day wedding is crucial in ensuring the entire event runs seamlessly. If you don't have an event manager to do this for you, your caterers should be able to advise you accordingly. You will need to split the weekend into three separate days. The first day will include your arrivals, guest checking in, what deliveries will be turning up and what entertainment will be going on. The second day will be the main wedding event, following with the third day which will be breakfast and goodbyes. These need to be detailed and precise to ensure that you know what will be going on and when. When you are sending out invitations it would be ideal to give your guests a timeline of events on these, allowing them flexibility with if they would like to take part or not.

Try to choose a venue with overnight accommodation on site

Overnight accommodation is going to ensure that your guests can relax as well as yourselves. It also gives you peace of mind that your guests are on-site so there shouldn't be any delayed guests arrive on wedding morning. Usually the venue will offer you discounted rates for a block booking or having exclusivity for the venue. You can ask your guests to pay for the rooms themselves or choose to cover these costs, however it is not normal etiquette to do this.

Understand that costings will be higher

Costings will naturally be higher for any three day wedding events, the reason being is the venue will be exclusively for you so the venue will not be able to take on any other weddings during this time. The freedom with having the exclusivity of your weekend wedding venue is that you don't have to worry about any strangers attending site during this time, or even watching your wedding! You can decorate the venue however you wish without any restrictions due to the venue not being open to the public. A healthy wedding budget will ensure that this covers all of the above. If the venue do not have accommodation on site, you will need to look into alternative options for your guests. These naturally may cost more especially if the chosen area have a few wedding venues in the same area.

Don't plan too much for the first day

It's very easy to get excited and plan lots of things for your guests to do on their first day of arrival. Try not to over plan, but give some options to your guests. A simple evening dinner, perhaps a wedding rehearsal maybe a good idea to help your guests keep relaxed before the big day. You want them all to get an early night, as well as yourself, so try to have a curfew that everyone will follow. Other ideas include bringing in a few food vans for a more relaxed festival style vibe, that will allow your guests to eat whenever they wish and wonder the venue at their discretion.

Look at exclusive use venues

As we mentioned earlier, looking at exclusive use venues give you the freedom and flexibility over the entire wedding weekend. You have complete access to site across the Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which makes everything a lot less stressful when it comes to suppliers and guests arriving on site. When hiring a country estate wedding venue for example, it can make it feel as if you have your own private celebration with all your friends and family, whilst enjoying it all yourself of course.

Try to keep ceremony and reception venues close together

Travel between your ceremony and reception venue should be kept to a minimum, once the guests are onsite it's your responsibility to organise transport for them to each venue, or let your guests know that they will need to make their own way there. Ideally you want to ensure that there is less than 20 minutes travel between these venues, making the experience more relaxing and less stressful for the day. By organising travel yourself by coach for example, this ensures all your guests are kept together so you won't lose anyone on the way! A great option for larger three day weddings.

Organise a rehearsal dinner

Organising a rehearsal dinner the day before your wedding is the perfect way to incorporate a mini-event that will enable you and your guests to come together. With larger weddings a rehearsal dinner is preferential as it allows the wedding party to have a run-through without any concerns the next day. Bear in mind, if floral installations are going up the day before, your guests will see this in the ceremony area, but you can ask your hired stylist or wedding planner to source some drapes and keep these areas covered.

Wedding Guest Itinerary and List

It's really important to not only give your guests an itinerary for the wedding weekend, but to give them a list of what to bring. What we usually advise is that on the invitations it shows a dress code for that particular day, so your guests will have an idea of what outfits they may need to bring. If the venue has a swimming pool on site, it's worth reminding guests to bring their swimwear. If you've planned an event that perhaps requires walking, say for example if the venue has a farm on site, it would be worth reminding your guests to bring suitable footwear for this occasion.

Sending your Save the Dates early

This option will be an important one, you want to get the word out as far in advance as possible so your guests can book this time off from work or other affairs. This also gives guests a large lead-time before wedding day, giving plenty of time to order outfits, organise accommodation and give you their dietary requirements for the event!

Consider hiring a professional

If all else fails, consider hiring a Professional UK Wedding Planner that can work with you to bring together your vision for your wedding weekend. An event planner can break down all the days requirements for you, ensuring that your guests are entertained each day, looked after and take the responsibility away from you as the couple. You want to enjoy yourself and not have to worry about running the event, so it's worth considering if you'd like to have a more relaxed weekend. As experts in weekend wedding planning, we've got the knowledge and expertise to execute your dream wedding in the way you so desire. Contact us for a free consultation today!

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