Seating for the evening do

It really depends on the venue and the type of 'doo' your planning if I'm honest, I would speak to your venue as they all work things differently, some will turn the whole room around for you with new table lay out etc others wont but will add a few extra chairs if requested.

I assume you are having day and evening all in the same room.? Will there be any turn around of the room between day and evening reception? i.e will you leave the room while band/DJ/clean up etc happens or will this take place while your sitting down?

Some venues 'kick' everyone out to a bar or anti room (depending on venue) to turn the room around for evening reception that would afford the opportunity to have more chairs put out if you feel you need them but if you have chair covers it may look odd if you don't have covers for the added chairs (I guess you might get away with it if every other chair around a table had a cover/sash depending on the chairs) or remove all covers.

I personally think it makes a big difference if you leave the room between day and evening receptions as day guests will not fill so territorial over their allocated seats if the room has changed around for evening doo and evening guests wont feel like they are walking into a party half way through and encourages people to mingle.

In any circumstance remember some guest will be dancing , at the bar, at the buffet, smoking, in the loo etc (again depends what your planning)

I agree with Funky that it depends on the type of "do" you're having and the venue too.

We had 40 in the day and another 90 in the evening. We kept the 5 tables from the wedding breakfast and moved them to the side of the main room to make space on the dancefloor. We also had an outside area where we had some more tables and chairs (I think 24 chairs) plus a bit of a "relaxing" room where our sweetie table was.

So, what I'm trying to say is that we had around 65 chairs in total probably and that seemed to be plenty. However, I think perhaps loads of chairs in one room might look a bit too much - it really depends on the set up of your venue.

I also went to a reception recently where we stood all evening, I was with my parents too and yes, it would have been nice to have sat down it wasn't the end of the world and we all still had a good time! Just be mindful if you have any elderly guests though.

Sorry, lots of opinions and not much help there!

This was a worry of ours; the wedding lady at the venue said they put more chairs around the tables that are already there as even for a buffet you dont need as much room as sitting down the full wedding breakfast for a few hours - but I still worry it wont be enough as I'm one of the ones who likes to be able to sit down after just a short while (joint issues) so hate it when theres not enough.

We're having a max of 120 people in the evening, we'll have about 60 seats out in the main room - there is then 3 large sofa's in the "snug" and there'll be outside seating (even though its March and it'll be cold at night, we'll have a fair few smokers who'll want to go outside or those just needing fresh air). I beleive quite a few of the elderly relatives will leave early on in the evening, and there'll be those dancing and there'll be those in the bar too. They reassure me its plenty - but I'm a worrier ?

Thank you for the replies!

It just never crossed my mind untill the other weekend. Originally i wanted to hire chairs in (im still hoping i have enough in the budget to do this) but considering we will prob have to bring in extra chairs for the night, i think il just stick with chair covers otherwise it would look daft having half and half.

I will add it on to my list of questions for the hotel!

Thank you for putting my mind at ease! Much appreciated xx

where are you based? I've hired chairs and although it'll work out a bit more than chair covers, I'm hoping it'll be worth it!

Im in Hull, gettting married here as well.

I was thinking of using Blacks for the chairs, think it worked out a £460 for 75 chairs like this:

http://www.eventfurniture.com/Close_up/Limewashed_Camelot_Chair.html

Im not sure how much it would cost for chair covers but if its only a bit more for the chairs then id rather pay the extra.

Where are you? And which company have you used?

x

I'm darn sarf unfortunately.

Which means you'll probably be able to get them cheaper than I ever could ?

Agree with others to check what your venue recommend. I wouldnt bother with chair covers & sashes for the evening chairs, esp if you are going out while they change the room around.

Agree that standing all day is awful. Went to a canape only reception recently, so no set table/place to sit. They did have a few lounges, tables & chairs but not enough for even half the guests. There was a large balcony with tables/chairs there, but as it was pouring with rain, no one could use them. Many elderly guests had to ask the staff for more chairs & all of us in heels were feeling the pain also.

I know its a really petty thing to think about but i dont want to have everything really nice and then for people to go away and only remember it by the fact that there wasnt enough seating. People always find something to whinge about so im trying to pre empt these things lol.

Is there anything else you can think of from past experience, that people might have a whinge about?

Just on the chair hire front - that's quite a lot for Chivari chairs in that part of the world. I paid less than £4 a chair in Grantham from Sherwood Marquees. Might be worth contacting them to see if they do Hull or have a look for some more local marquee companies.

Thanks Kharv, much appreciated! I wasnt sure what they were called but ive just found somewhere that does them for £3.25!

Thank youuu!!! x

I haven't planned any extra seating for evening guests. We are expecting around 30-50 more people. People will be up dancing etc by then (I hope!) and some will want to just be standing anyway (the men!) so I'm hoping it won't be a problem. If your concerned then see if your venue can put more seating in, etc?