When Joe and Susan Browne got engaged last summer, they quickly realized their dream wedding was going to be expensive. But rather than trim their wish list, they did something most couples don't consider: they got married on a Thursday.
Joe, a dentist outside the New York City area, said the couple saved at least 20% on photography and around 40% on flowers just by changing their wedding date.
"We had a lot more purchasing power," he said. "Everyone would come down [in price] when they heard the word Thursday."

A small but growing number of couples are saying "I do" to Thursday weddings, which can bring considerable savings compared to more traditional weekend dates.
Nearly 6% of couples got married on Thursday last year -- up from 4.3% in 2014, according to The Knot.

Saturday is still the most popular day to get hitched followed by Friday and Sunday.
But as weddings become increasingly expensive, Thursdays are slowly growing in popularity -- particularly in cities where couples spend the most like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, according to Kristen Maxwell Cooper, executive editor at The Knot.

The average cost of a wedding in the U.S. is nearly $33,000, but wedding expenses in some cities can be significantly higher.

"For a lot of people, a Saturday wedding just isn't in the budget with the venue they want," Maxwell Cooper said.

In Manhattan for example, the average wedding costs more than $82,000.

By getting married on a Thursday, Joe and his wife didn't have to make any sacrifices for their budget.

Booking a venue for a Thursday is 17% cheaper on average than hosting a Saturday night affair, according to Tina Hoang-To, CEO and co-founder of Wedding Spot, a wedding venue marketplace.

She says the company has seen a 25% bump in couples inquiring about a Thursday wedding date this year.

Along with the savings, Thursday weddings can also be attractive to couples who aren't going on a honeymoon right away and want to take a long weekend to celebrate their new marital status.

While etiquette experts might scoff at asking guests to attend a wedding in the middle of the week, it's good news for wedding professionals, like DJs and photographers, who can book more events.

And many wedding professionals are more likely to negotiate their rates because there is less competition for their services.

For instance, catering and reception venue Anthony's Pier 9 in New York, where the Brownes got married, reduces its minimum head count and price per head by $20 for non-weekend weddings.

"By going for a weekday event, you can save more, add more upgrades or even upgrade to a higher package and get more for your dollar value, said Wanda Mendillo, banquet sales manager at Anthony's Pier 9.

Browne said planning a Thursday wedding was also less stressful.
"We were able to book very quickly -- under three months," he said. "It was much more fun to plan."

He said he expected some pushback from the Thursday date, and that around 20 of their 130 guests didn't stay until the end because they had to work the next day. He added that most of his guests were local and have more flexible work schedules in the summer.

"We had the wedding we wanted versus having to make a lot of scarifies."

The average cost of a wedding in the U.S. is nearly $33,000, but wedding expenses in some cities can be significantly higher.

"For a lot of people, a Saturday wedding just isn't in the budget with the venue they want," Maxwell Cooper said.

In Manhattan for example, the average wedding costs more than $82,000.

I'm convinced that there's an INVERSE relationship between how much you spend on the wedding, and the quality of the marriage.

I've known plenty of Catholics whose total wedding/reception expenses were a couple thousand dollars, and they were married till death.

Meanwhile, these worldly New York weddings costing $82,000 are the ones that end in divorce after a few years.

Seriously, if I were not religious, I would be one of those rational men who insist that it's RIDICULOUS and FOOLISH to mess around with marriage. It's expensive, all it does is harm your selfish (sex-based) relationship, and it limits your pleasurable experiences (to only one woman).

Let's face it -- in purely physical terms, a forty year old woman can't compete with a 20 year old woman. So unless marriage means something more to you (sealed by God, a solemn vow for life, a way of sanctifying each other, offering one's duties as sacrifices in union with Our Lord, for the purpose of raising children for heaven, etc.), then marriage is simply about companionship and sex -- and emotion (which doesn't last either). That explains why so many men divorce at mid-life so they can switch to "a newer model" (Donald Trump has done this).

I mean, if you don't believe in God or letting God tell you what to do, why get married? Just to be old-fashioned? Stupid. And if you're not religious, the person you're marrying won't be religious either, and it simply WILL NOT LAST. So why bother?

Worldlings are so stupid.

"The average cost of a wedding in the U.S. is nearly $33,000, but wedding expenses in some cities can be significantly higher. "
Does anyone else think it is insane for a young couple to spend a year's salary on a one day party? Wouldn't it be much smarter to use that money to help buy a house?

Indeed. That's what we did.

3 1/2 years into our marriage, we were the proud owners of our $80,000 starter home. And when I say owners, I mean owners. We had paid it off. We didn't have a car payment, and I was better employed back then. Plus neither one of us had student loans, or credit card debt. We were BOTH financially responsible/disciplined, and that's a killer combination! Usually either the husband likes to blow money, and/or the wife does.

(By the way, my wife hasn't worked outside the home since our first baby was born. I've never made more than $50,000 a year, even when I had a full time job and a couple nice side jobs. My main job paid $31,000 a year. And CathInfo (2006 - present) didn't make a penny for the first 5 or 6 years)

But to achieve that goal, we made many sacrifices. No vacations. Minimal eating out. No spending money on "fun". I even cancelled both of our cell phones to save money. But we did it to reduce how much we wasted on interest. We had a long-term view of our lives, since marriage is a long-term endeavor. So we made short-term sacrifices to have a better life many years from then. (we're currently enjoying it right now) What really kills a family is the interest money we give to the Jєωιѕн banking system (mortgage, auto loans, student loans, credit cards, personal loans).

If you ever hope to live on one income, you have to eliminate or minimize how much interest you pay. Interest is their #1 weapon to force wives out into the workforce -- even those who normally would prefer to stay at home.

It was only due to this financial discipline that we were able to move into a nicer home with acreage. And you can't build a 30x40 warehouse building in most city backyards. So the Resistance wouldn't have St. Dominic's Chapel if it weren't for my wife and I being financial wizards.
   

Matthew 10:16
Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves.

My wife is an accountant, so she understands money, and I credit my financial abilities to my acceptance of cօռspιʀαcιҽs. I've known that the Jєωs run the banking system since I was 14 years old. I was first told about the Jєωιѕн shenanigans with money by Thomas A. Nelson during my teenage Catechism classes (which he taught). So +1 for independent chapels, +1 for teaching the truth even about secular matters, and +1 for church-based catechism classes.

So I've always wanted to pay as little interest as possible, as a way of escaping their trap.