Yes, I would go if it was a wedding I’d be attending at any other time.
Ironically, with this schedule, there may be some who find it the best of both worlds: much of the weekend for their own priorities and a chance to celebrate.
Congratulations, zoosermom. Very exciting!
I would think that the kids being up the night before the last day of school isn’t a big issue. They, like the teachers, only have to make it through one day and it will be a laid back day anyway. Nothing terribly challenging is planned for the last day of school.
School calendars are dependent upon lots of factors. The start date of the year, add 180 days, minus inservice days, vacation weeks, holidays, etc. and add snow days. The last day can land on weird days of the week. Unfortunately the 180 day calendar is mandatory.
The kids are either young or don’t live in NYC, so they will already be out of school. Otherwise it would be a huge issue.
If they weren’t a really close friend or children of really close friends I wouldn’t go.
With a Sunday evening wedding and reception, you may lose some people earlier than you would on a Saturday night. It’s still workable, you just want to think through the timing of the most important memorable moments to include the most people. Are the bride and groom willing to take formal photos before the wedding? A huge gap of time between wedding ceremony and reception party might encourage more guests to depart. You definitely want to at least get some kind of food/beverage/entertainment going with the guests so they stick around while the bride and groom take photos.
Also, some regional traditions would include a big “send off” at the very end of the party, not sure if your bride and groom should plan on that if the guests will be exiting earlier, and in larger numbers than for a Saturday night event. Even so, you can modify somehow to make a lesser crowd not seem somehow disappointing to the bride and groom.
Powercropper, that’s great advice. I know that they were planning to front-load the big events because my mom’s health is so precarious, but I’m going to make sure I pass your suggestions on to them. It’s become typical here for there to be an after party, but I suspect that may have to be done away with. Awww. Sad.
I think it will be fine. The good thing is, there won’t be any lesson plans to prepare that weekend! 
I’d go! Who knows? It would probably be even better for weekend plans.
My daughter’s wedding last summer was 4:30 on a Sunday with reception from 5 to 9. With only about 25% of the guests local and the rest (including all relatives) out of state, they had 75% of invitees attend the wedding. For people out of state, they would have had to take off a day of work to travel on Friday if the wedding was Saturday so a Sunday wedding just changed their day off until Monday. Sunday weddings seem to be happening more frequently as wedding venues are booked for Saturday very far in advance nowadays.
The day of the the week would not factor into my decision, I would attend. I do think the earlier the better as you may lose some people as the night wears on. Friday nights are also popular.
How late are we talking?
It is currently scheduled to end at 11, but I may exert some pressure on that issue as the date comes closer.
If we’re talking friends in their 20’s, I doubt any of them would have a problem going to an evening wedding and working the next day. Especially for a fairly low-key day.
I would also have no problem going to a Sunday evening wedding. For Jewish weddings, Sundays in the summer are often the only choice. You can’t get married before sundown on Saturday, and that can make for a very late wedding. You may not be able to get a Sunday afternoon, so it’s either delay the wedding or get married Sunday evening. I know what my choice would be.
In fact, I know what my choice was. @emilybee, we also got married on a Tuesday, and I know our reasons. We needed a kosher hall, and we went over Thanksgiving to book a Sunday in August (as above, Saturday wouldn’t work). They said to us, “Next year or the year after?” I said, “What else have you got?” It turns out that in Jewish tradition, Tuesday is considered especially lucky, because it is the only day in the story of Creation in which G-d said that it was good twice. (It’s the 3rd day in the Jewish week, with Saturday being the Sabbath.) Tuesdays were traditional for weddings, so we got married on a Tuesday evening in August. We were able to invite everyone without worrying about the size of the guest list because we knew a lot of people wouldn’t come! We ended up with about 100 people attending, and had a wonderful time!
zoosermom, congratulations!
The last day of school is a half-day during which all they do is give out report cards. I am sure that her friends could manage that even if they stayed up all night. They are young!
I am in the “old people” category, but I would not stay til 11 pm if I had to drive an hour or so back home and get up for work the next day. What time is the ceremony starting? And what is the timetable for folks getting started with food/beverage? What time does “dance party” begin?
I suggest you get the dancing going by 8 or 8:30, and you might get one hour of group active on the dance floor before people start checking their watches and packing up. Is there a plan for bride and groom to be able to mingle? It is great if they can move from table to table and say a few words with each group of folks. Then, if folks have to leave early, they have at least had a personal interaction with the happy couple.
Chedva, thank you for sharing that story. Very interesting!
Oldmom, thank you! I think you’re right and they are young and could handle it.
Powercropper, thankfully, the wedding is 15 months away, so they have time to work out details, but you’ve given excellent advice of things that we hadn’t considered. I really hope they will make everything earlier.
I would definitely attend (if I were otherwise inclined to do so), but if I lived an hour-and-a-half away and had to work the next day, I’d aim to leave by nine or so, even if I had to sneak out before the festivities ended. I don’t think it is realistic to expect guests to stay until 11 on a Sunday night, beyond a few stragglers.
We have been to weddings on just about every day of the week.
The wedding couple should choose a date, and send the invitations. If they try to please all of those who might attend, they will never choose a date.
I will say, sometimes weddings held on Sunday night are far less costly than on Saturday. Same is true for weekdays.
These days, the save the date comes six months before the wedding. Lots of time for folks to plan to attend…or not.
But to answer specifically…yes, I would go to a Sunday evening wedding. I would take Monday off. Heck…if I attend an out of town wedding for Saturday, I would need to take Friday off!
I’ll have to ask my mom why they got married on a Tuesday. It’s possible the Rabbi had weddings to officiate alteady over the Labor Day weekend. It had nothing to do with not being able to book a place as they were married at my grandparents summer home.
Saturday night Jewish weddings in the summer can be very late affairs. At my cousin’s daughter’s wedding they were just doing the motzi at 11:30. That’s why so many Jewish weddings are over Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends - so they can have it Sunday night at a reasonable hour.
I’d come and I’d likely stay to 11 as well, but I agree that I’d make sure cake and stuff happened early enough for those who’d like to leave a little earlier. As others have said, I don’t think it will make a bit of difference to her fellow teachers. Nothing much happens on the last day of school. Actually I’m not sure all those kids are going to be able to stay up till eleven and still be civilized whichever day of the week it was!
We got married on a Friday evening across the country from half my relatives which meant they had to take at least one day off work if they wanted to come. In my case most of the aunts and uncles came, but not the cousins.