The wedding calendar
124 wedding seasons, lucky days, days when weddings are not held, courtship festivals and days of love, with this year's dates. Dates are worked out afresh every day; those marked "about" follow the moon or local calendars and can shift by a day.
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October 2026
On now, about 25 Jul to 20 Nov 2026ChaturmasThe four months from Devshayani Ekadashi to Dev Uthani Ekadashi, when Vishnu is said to sleep and weddings are not held.
On now, about 30 Jul to 26 Oct 2026Vassa, the Buddhist rains retreatThree months from July to October, when monks stay in their monasteries and many Buddhist families do not marry.
On now, about 26 Sept to 10 Oct 2026Pitru PakshaThe fortnight of the ancestors, in Bhadrapada, when Hindus make offerings to the dead and no wedding is held.
On now, about 26 Sept to 10 Oct 2026Pchum BenFifteen days in September or October when Cambodians feed the spirits of their ancestors, and weddings are put off.
about 7 Oct 2026Butsumetsu, the unlucky dayThe "Buddha's death" day of the rokuyo cycle: the one most couples in Japan avoid for a wedding.
about 27 Oct to 10 Nov 2026The dark half of the monthKrishna Paksha, the waning fortnight: many priests prefer the bright half for a wedding, though not all.
On now, about 30 Jul to 26 Oct 2026Vassa, the Buddhist rains retreatThree months from July to October, when monks stay in their monasteries and many Buddhist families do not marry.
On now, about 26 Sept to 10 Oct 2026Pitru PakshaThe fortnight of the ancestors, in Bhadrapada, when Hindus make offerings to the dead and no wedding is held.
On now, about 26 Sept to 10 Oct 2026Pchum BenFifteen days in September or October when Cambodians feed the spirits of their ancestors, and weddings are put off.
about 7 Oct 2026Butsumetsu, the unlucky dayThe "Buddha's death" day of the rokuyo cycle: the one most couples in Japan avoid for a wedding.
about 27 Oct to 10 Nov 2026The dark half of the monthKrishna Paksha, the waning fortnight: many priests prefer the bright half for a wedding, though not all.November 2026
about 1 Nov 2026Rahu KalamA daily window of about ninety minutes, different on each weekday, when Hindu priests do not begin a rite.
13 Nov 2026Friday the 13thA date many couples in the West avoid for a wedding, though some choose it because it is cheap.
about 15 Nov to 24 Dec 2026The Nativity FastForty days from 15 November to Christmas Eve in the Orthodox Church, with no weddings.
about 25 Nov to 6 Jan 2027The Coptic Advent fastThe forty-three days before Coptic Christmas on 7 January: Copts do not marry in the fast.
about 29 Nov to 23 Dec 2026AdventThe weeks before Christmas, once a closed season for Catholic weddings and still a quiet one in many parishes.
about 15 Nov to 24 Dec 2026The Nativity FastForty days from 15 November to Christmas Eve in the Orthodox Church, with no weddings.
about 25 Nov to 6 Jan 2027The Coptic Advent fastThe forty-three days before Coptic Christmas on 7 January: Copts do not marry in the fast.
about 29 Nov to 23 Dec 2026AdventThe weeks before Christmas, once a closed season for Catholic weddings and still a quiet one in many parishes.December 2026
about 14 Dec 2026Vivaha PanchamiThe day Sita and Rama are said to have married: kept with great ceremony in Janakpur, yet avoided for local weddings.
about 16 Dec to 14 Jan 2027Dhanu KharmasFrom mid-December to mid-January, when the sun is in Sagittarius and North Indian families do not hold weddings.
about 16 Dec to 14 Jan 2027MargazhiThe Tamil month from mid-December to mid-January, a month of prayer and music in which weddings are not held.February 2027
about 8 Feb to 9 Mar 2027RamadanThe month of fasting: the wedding feast is put off until after Eid, since days are for the fast and nights for prayer.
about 10 Feb to 27 Mar 2027LentThe forty days before Easter, when many Catholic and Anglican families put a wedding off, though the Church does not forbid it.March 2027
8 Mar to 1 May 2027The Coptic and Ethiopian Great LentFifty-five days of fasting before Easter, in which Coptic, Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox couples do not marry.
about 14 Mar to 13 Apr 2027Meena KharmasFrom mid-March to mid-April, when the sun is in Pisces, the second Kharmas of the year.
about 14 to 21 Mar 2027HolashtakThe eight days before Holi, when many Hindu families do not hold weddings or begin new work.
15 Mar to 1 May 2027Orthodox Great LentFrom Clean Monday to Holy Saturday: the Orthodox Church does not marry couples during Great Lent.
25 to 27 Mar 2027Holy Week and the TriduumHoly Thursday to Holy Saturday: weddings are not celebrated in church in most Catholic parishes.April 2027
May 2027
June 2027
about 6 Jun to 5 Jul 2027MuharramThe first month of the Islamic year and the days of mourning for Husayn: many Shia and some Sunni families do not marry.
about 6 Jun to 5 Jul 2027Suro, the Javanese month of cautionThe Javanese month of Suro, from the Islamic new year: a month of quiet in which many Javanese do not hold weddings.
about 28 Jun to 18 Jul 2027The Apostles' FastFrom the Monday after All Saints until 28 June: a movable fast in which Orthodox weddings are not held.July 2027
about 5 Jul to 2 Aug 2027SafarThe second Islamic month, held unlucky for weddings in parts of South Asia, though the Prophet's teaching does not say so.
about 17 Jul to 16 Aug 2027Aadi monthThe Tamil month of Aadi, mid-July to mid-August, kept for goddesses, and not for new beginnings such as a wedding.
22 Jul to 12 Aug 2027The Three Weeks and the Nine DaysFrom 17 Tammuz to Tisha B'Av: three weeks of mourning for the Temple in which weddings are not held.August 2027
1 to 14 Aug 2027The Dormition FastThe first two weeks of August, before the feast of the Dormition on 15 August: no Orthodox weddings.
about 2 to 31 Aug 2027Ghost MonthThe seventh lunar month, when spirits roam and families put off weddings, moves and other new things.
about 6 to 15 Aug 2027Muktad, the days of the departedThe last ten days of the Parsi year, when families remember the dead and no wedding is held.
12 Aug 2027Tisha B'AvThe ninth of Av, a day of fasting for the destruction of the Temples, and the deepest day of the season of no weddings.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Vivaha Panchami: Abhishek Dutta (https://abhishekdutta.org), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Taian Japan: Momotarou2012, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lent No Weddings: Manuela Paki-Costa, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Holy Week Triduum: Anonymous ( Maasland ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Advent No Weddings: Jonathunder, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Orthodox Great Lent: Stalinsunnykvj, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Orthodox Nativity Fast: User:LoKi, Public domain, source
- Orthodox Dormition Fast: El Greco, Public domain, source
- Coptic Advent Fast: Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Greek Leap Year: Fluff, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ramadan No Weddings: Gabby Canonizado, CC BY 2.0, source
- Muharram No Weddings: Victor Armand Poirson, Public domain, source
- Safar No Weddings: Konevi, CC0, source
- Pitru Paksha No Weddings: Firoz Shakir, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kharmas Dhanu No Weddings: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Aadi No Weddings: Peenumx, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Holashtak No Weddings: Jitenderasingh, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Omer No Weddings: Baruch Zvi Ring (c. 1872 - 1927) Details on Google Art Project, Public domain, source
- Tisha Bav No Weddings: shlomi kakon, CC BY 2.5, source
- Days Of Awe No Weddings: Mark Neyman, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ghost Month No Weddings: Chong Fat, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Qingming No Weddings: Jacklee ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Buddhist Vassa No Weddings: Chainwit., CC BY 4.0, source
- Pchum Ben No Weddings: Saphabodi, CC0, source