Render date field in custom format in tpl file In a content type tpl file I can print my date field with the following: 

&lt;?php print render($content['my_date_field']); ?&gt; 


However I need a custom date format. So instead of something like this:
Sunday, June 9, 2013 - 16:50

I need to print:
June 9th Sunday

I cant change the default date formats site wide or the node's field, I need to just modify how its printed in this instance.
Ive solved it a different way. Ive created a custom date format and I can chose that as the display option for the field for a specific view mode. 

/admin/config/regional/date-time/formats