Wedding day of the week
Rules about the wedding day of the week varied from parish to parish: Friday was avoided in parts of Scotland and Italy, Thursday in Germany. The disagreement makes the choice a practical one about whose needs the day should serve.
What it may mean
Every community seems to have had a right day and a wrong day to marry, and they rarely agree. A Scottish parish minister in Banffshire noted that few of his people would marry on a Friday, though it was the usual day in other parts of the country. An Italian proverb warns against marrying or traveling on a Friday, while in Germany it was Thursday that was avoided, and a 1707 English satire listed the popular notion that Tuesday and Thursday weddings were happy ones. The pattern shows how local such rules are. Today Saturday dominates in much of the world simply because most guests are free. Choosing a day is really choosing whose needs come first: the couple's, the family's, the guests', the budget's. A weekday or a winter Sunday can be right if it fits what you want the day to be.
Depending on how you saw it
A Friday wedding
Fridays are often cheaper to book, which is reason enough for plenty of couples, old warnings or not. Grandparents sometimes raise an eyebrow. Which old warnings still shape your choices even though you do not believe them?
A Sunday wedding
A Sunday wedding can turn into a long, relaxed weekend for guests, though it may clash with church services or a Monday morning. The mood is often slower. Do you prefer big days that build to a peak or ones that unwind slowly?
Marrying at the turn of the year
In the parish of Monzie in Perthshire, Scotland, no one would have the banns proclaimed at the end of one year or quarter and marry at the start of the next. Beginnings were kept clean. Do you like big beginnings to start fresh, or are you happy to let them overlap?
A weekday ceremony at city hall
Small weekday ceremonies are quick, inexpensive and often followed by a meal with a few people. Some couples celebrate in a big way later. What makes a day feel important to you: the date, the people or the promise?
Why it happens in nature
In many countries Saturday became the most popular wedding day as the two-day weekend spread in the twentieth century, since guests do not need time off; venues often charge less on Fridays, Sundays and weekdays. Older preferences followed church calendars and local custom, which is why favored days differed from parish to parish.
What folk beliefs say
Scotland (Banffshire)
In the parish of Forglen, Banffshire, the Statistical Account of Scotland recorded, few people would choose to be married on a Friday, though it was the ordinary day in other parts of the country.
Source: John Brand; Henry Ellis (ed.), Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain, vol. 2 (1849), vol. 2, p. 50. View the page
Scotland (Perthshire)
In the parish of Monzie, Perthshire, no one would have the marriage proclaimed at the end of one year, or even of a quarter, and be married at the beginning of the next.
Source: John Brand; Henry Ellis (ed.), Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain, vol. 2 (1849), vol. 2, p. 50. View the page
Italy
An Italian proverb runs, "Venerdì, non si sposa, non si parte": on Friday you should not wed and you should not set out on a journey.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 3 (1903), vol. 3, p. 1584. View the page
Germany
In Germany, a 1903 collection says, it was considered unlucky to be married on a Thursday.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 3 (1903), vol. 3, p. 1585. View the page
England
A satirical tract of 1707, The Animal Parliament, quoted by Brand, listed among popular notions that all those who marry on Tuesdays and Thursdays shall be happy.
Source: John Brand; Henry Ellis (ed.), Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain, vol. 2 (1849), vol. 2, p. 51. View the page
To reflect on
When you pick a date for something important, whose calendar are you really planning around?