why would you try something like this, create a variable array that contain all the Hollidays $currentyear=the current year; $holiday['01-01-'.$currentyear,other holiday,other holiday]; $result=$start_date->difference($end_date, 'days'); for(ctr=0;ctr=sizeof(holiday);ctr++;) { if(holiday[ctr]>=start_date && holiday[ctr]<=end_date) temp++; } $result -= temp;