Friday, August 10, 2007

Football vs. Weddings

When you live in Wisconsin, home of the Packers, football has a lot to do with weddings around here. Especially if you plan to get married in Green Bay. But even if you're planning to get married elsewhere in the state, there are a lot of couples who choose not to have Fall weddings because of the Packer schedule. The schedule doesn't come out until April and that's usually a little too late to pick a Fall date so couples opt for the ever popular summer season instead.

It's true....there have been polls and studies done in Wisconsin to practically prove that wedding guests have chosen the Packers over a couple's wedding day, especially if there was travel involved to/from the wedding that would result in missing the game on Sunday. Crazy, but true. I would think if the same polls were taken for the Badgers, we would see the same results.

We're football crazy in this state and it dominates a lot of people's Fall & Winter plans. I'll admit it....while it doesn't dominate my overall plans, it is a huge consideration. I don't take on any Sunday weddings during football season. I love football Sundays and it's yet another reason why doing this wedding planning gig on the side will remain a side business. If it wasn't, I would HAVE to take any and all wedding inquiries that come in. This Fall, I did break my "rule" and took a wedding on a Sunday in October, but the game is a night game and this couple's day, as long as everything goes as planned, will be done in the late afternoon. Yes, I checked the schedule before even meeting with them.

Saturdays in the Fall are a little harder to say "no" to. It means missing the Badger games most Saturdays, but I leave enough weekends open to enjoy the games when I can and hang onto at least a bit of sanity so that weddings do not take over every single piece of social time I may have.

I guess I'm one of those crazed football fans after all. I also know I'm not alone on this since I know of other vendors that plan out their Fall wedding schedules carefully too!

With that said....the first NFL Preseason game was on last night and the Packers play on Saturday evening. This wedding planner doesn't have a wedding to do this weekend so bring on the football!

5 comments:

Sara said...

True story, we scheduled our wedding around the OSU schedule. We got engaged, looked at the schedule, and whala! Our wedding day was set - Oct 7, no game.

3 months later they added a game. No biggie, it'll be a noon game (it's against Bowling Green - how could that possibly NOT be a noon game!?)

Well, good ol OSU proved me wrong - 3:30 kick-off. 5:30 wedding. I was NOT a happy bride. Friends didn't come because of the game. It sucked.

On a side note, I actually did turn down a wedding once - a friend got married on OSU/M*ch*g*n day, and it was IN COLUMBUS! What the hell were they thinking!?!?

Tracey said...

you =me!!!
Our wedding, 8/21/04, was during the summer Olympics and the second packer pre-season game. Our plan was to have a TV and the reception but they weren't showing game where we were cause of Olympics.
The night before the wedding I stayed up all night in my room watching the Olympics.
Yes I am a dork.

Anonymous said...

Our wedding is yet another one that absolutely will NOT overlap with football season. We don't have an *actual* date yet, but I know it is before the second week of August.

BrewCityBrooke said...

I actually woke up in the middle of the night, worried that our Jan. 5 date would conflict with a BCS game. I was particularly concerned that it would conflict with the championship, that Notre Dame would make it into the championship (we have to have faith every year), and that I would have to spend my entire wedding reception watching the game. So I had to get out of bed and find the BCS schedule. The Orange Bowl is the day before our rehearsal, and the national championship is two days after the wedding. I'm not sure why I'd forgotten that the national championship is never on a Saturday.

So then I re-check the BCS schedule today and see that a bowl has been added for Jan. 5. It's the International Bowl, and the conferences listed are Big East/Notre Dame vs. MAC. Seriously. Notre Dame could be playing in a bowl game on my wedding day. Since the game is at noon and the wedding is at 4 pm, I will have a portable TV with me while I'm getting ready if this happens. It just better not be a close game.

Sara said...

Don't worry, Brooke - isn't Notre Dame 0-9 in bowl games? :)