Most Popular Wedding Dates In Central Ohio
Here are Central Ohio's Most Popular Wedding Dates
There are SO many different variables to consider when planning a reception. But you MUST set a date very early in the process. So here are our picks for the most popular wedding dates in Central Ohio.
So we will take a look at both the 2024 and 2025 wedding seasons dates as that's what we are currently getting inquires for.
Lets start off with the assumption that the prime 'wedding season' is from April - October. Saturday, and especially Saturday evenings during these months are by far the most popular.
So here are the variables that make a wedding date popular in the greater Columbus area.
1) GOOD WEATHER DATES:
Some dates are busier than other because they offer the chance to have really nice weather.
In Central Ohio the best weather dates would be in the late spring /early summer (May and June) and then in the fall (September and October). These prime dates give you the chance to get some really incredible outside pictures without the summer heat.
Another bonus is that your ceremony can be outside too without the same concern about the excessive heat and humidity.
2) OHIO STATE FOOTBALL
Lets start off with the biggest factor for all fall weddings....OSU Football. Even if you are not an OSU football fan, you should look at the OSU schedule if you are considering a fall wedding reception. The reason for this is that some football Saturday dates are more busy for wedding vendors than others.
By FAR the most popular dates are those rare weekends in the fall when OSU does NOT play any games. These 'bye weekends' are almost always among the busiest weekends for our company, and based on our conversations with other wedding vendors its the same with others.
Looking at the 2024 (the 2025 schedule isn’t finalized) OSU football schedules you will see the bye weeks are as follows
September 14th and October 19, 2024
These will be VERY busy weekends. We typically find ourselves turning away inquires for these dates. If you are wanting these dates you should try and book your wedding vendors as quickly as possible.
Consider the home and away games during the football season. As a rule of thumb, away football dates are more busier than home football dates. Buckeye Sounds almost always get more inquires for away games than home games, so we assume other Central Ohio wedding vendors have the same situation.
The opponent is also a big factor. Generally if OSU is playing a lesser opponent, there will be more wedding inquires. Why is that the case? A lesser opponent means there is a better chance of having an early kickoff (noon or 3PM) which won’t interfere with an evening reception.
So lets take the above information and then look at the 2024 schedules and try to predict the future.
The 2024 season doesn’t have any real strong non-conference games. So its safe to guess that the non-conference games will probably be a noon kickoff. Wedding businesses will expect multiple wedding inquires on both of these dates.
The biggest AWAY game of the season will be on October 5th vs Oregeon which will be a BIG opponent. Both teams should be pretty good and its safe to assume that will be an 8PM kickoff.
The rest of October and early November (the prime wedding dates)We will start 2024 doesn’t feature a really strong opponent in the early non-conference games. So basically the month of September is pretty low risk.
The 2025 schedule hasn’t been complete filled out yet with the new teams joining the conference. But two of the early non-conference games have, and one is HUGE. The 2025 season starts off with a game against the Texas Longhorns on August 30th. That game will almost certainly be an 8PM kickoff with lots of nationwide attention.
3) HIGH SCHOOL PROM & HOMECOMING SEASONS
You might be wondering why the prom season (usually mid April - mid May) and homecoming season (Homecoming dances are usually held late September thru early October) might impact your wedding date. There are two reasons:
The first is that many DJ companies (like Buckeye Sounds) also work school dances. So those dates are already much busier for us. While high school homecoming dances almost always take place at the school, proms are held in venues. Lastly, the proms will take A LOT of the limos in the area. So if your wedding date falls into this time, make sure you book your limo (and your DJ) as soon as possible.
4) HOLIDAY WEEKENDS
The two big holiday weekends are Memorial Day and Labor Day. You will find that most Columbus wedding vendors get multiple inquires for both the Saturdays and Sundays of these two weekends.
The interest in these dates is easy to see. These are the weekends when many people may have off on Monday, so these long weekends are the perfect time to travel and celebrate.
Memorial Day: May 23, 2023 / May 27, 2024
Labor Day: September 4, 2023 / September 2, 2024
One of the only downsides to these weekends is that travel during these times can be a hassle and expensive. The sooner that you can inform your guests of you having these dates the sooner they can make their reservations.
5) LARGE CONVENTIONS
There are two very large conventions in Columbus every year. These conventions can take up a lot of hotel rooms. You have the Arnold Classic which is held in early March at the convention center in downtown. Then you have the American Quarter Horse Congress which happens in late October at the Ohio Fairgrounds.
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