Fall is a great time for weddings. The colorful leaves and the fresh autumn air make for a beautiful setting for your big day. But fall is also football season—and that can create some conflicts.
#BanFallWeddings is a popular hashtag that pops up on social media every fall, and it’s usually perpetrated by wedding guests (somewhat jokingly) annoyed with their friends for ruining a football weekend. So can weddings and football season coexist? And if so, what can you do to create a fun experience for your guests?
First things first: Should you even have a fall wedding?
The answer is definitely yes, if that’s what works for you and your future spouse. This is your day and if you want a fall wedding to take advantage of the beautiful colors and cooler temperatures, then go for it! The football fans in your family will forgive you.
Must Love Football
But that doesn’t mean you should just go about your business and ignore the fact you’re hosting a wedding on a football weekend. No one knows your wedding party like you do, so take a moment to consider if there’s anyone important in your life that might be inconvenienced by your fall wedding. If you don’t, you might regret it.
Take the Reese family for example: Freeman and Betty Reese, diehard Alabama football fans, skipped their own daughter’s wedding because she scheduled it on the day of an Alabama/Tennessee football game. Now that probably won’t happen to you, but if you are hosting a wedding during football season there are some things you can do to enhance the weekend for the football fans in your group.
A few years ago I was a groomsman at a wedding and the majority of the party was made up of Ohio State football fans. Knowing the wedding would overlap with the game, the groom made sure to set us up with some TVs while we got dressed and hung out before the ceremony. While we missed most of the day’s action, we got our football fix in for an hour or two and everyone was happy.
[Wedding] Game Day Details
If you’re planning on helping out the football fans on your guest list, Joy can be a great way to communicate with them to let everyone know the schedule of events and when and where they might have a chance to catch up on the gridiron action.
For example, let’s say you’re hosting your reception at a different venue than the ceremony and your guests will have some time to kill between the two events. Use Joy to list a few sports bars in the area where guests might be able to grab a drink and watch some games—your out of town guests will especially appreciate this gesture.
Taking some simple measures like this in advanced can greatly enhance the experience for your guests, and maybe limit the complaints from your football-fan friends.
