JOHOR BARU, Malaysia - Couples intending to get married are expected to change the date of their wedding reception following the move by Johor to adopt the Friday-Saturday weekend starting Jan 1.

Those who have made wedding dinner reservations on Sundays have already started calling up to change it to Friday evening or Saturday afternoon as they would have to work the next day, said Grand Straits Garden Seafood Restaurants executive director John Ang.

"We expect Saturdays to be the popular choice for most couples because they probably have relatives coming from other states and Singapore who are working on Fridays," Ang said.

He also said that couples usually booked the date for their wedding reception much earlier and that those who wanted to change the reception date would have to spend extra to reprint their invitation cards.

Cathay Restaurant Taman Molek branch manager Cindy Yong said she expected such couples to change their dates but the more traditional ones would stick to their chosen dates.

"Some couples might have consulted a fortune teller before picking an auspicious date and that makes it inconvenient for them to change it as they wished," she said.

She said that the restaurant's three halls had been mostly booked for the whole of next year to cater to wedding receptions and association dinners.

"We are in the midst of sorting out the slots so that couples who want to change their receptions in the second half of the year can still do so," she said.