Weddingbee boards

If the chairs truly are nice, I would change the color scheme.  Chair covers can be rented inexpensively, but then there's all the putting on and the tying, then the taking off and the untying... so much trouble.  I actually don't like the look of chair covers; they are more just to cover ugly chairs. 

Alternately, maybe you could ask your venue if they have white wooden folding chairs they could sub out for the ballroom chairs.

at first we weren't going to use chair covers, but FH didn't like the ballroom chairs the hotel had.  i ended up finding really affordable ones in OC with free delivery and setup since the venue was close to their warehouse.     

We weren't going to use chair covers, either.  But then we found out that our chairs were really, really, bad.

I ended up renting some chairs for a great deal and since they're brand new, I'm just going to do silk sashes instead.  I found a great company that does just chair covers (in fact, that's their name  http://www.justchaircovers.com) and Julie is the cat's pajamas!  Really, she's brilliant.

Maybe you could go for doing just a sash?

i like chair covers - it gives a more "finished" look to the entire event

I'm not using chair covers and they don't necessarily match my scheme.  I figure it will be OK, they're expensive and time consuming. I have seen the bride and grooms chair decorated (mostly wrapped in tulle and not chair covers) separately from the rest of the room.  I think it looked good.

I'm actually going to go against the norm, and say that I don't like chair covers, and I really don't think that they will go against a whole look. 

Most of the pictures you see of weddings with chair covers are when people aren't sitting in them, which isn't the case for most of the evening.  Additionally, many men (if they are wearing suits) will take off their jackets and place them over the chairs, so it doesn't really matter.

I will second Dahlia - I personally really don't care for chair covers. I think all that white (even with a sash) washes everything out and makes rooms look kind of boring. I always think of covered chairs as little ghosts! Plus, as a guest, I don't like that they restrict where you can put your feet under the chair.  AND they're so expensive! That's at least $3 per person (the lowest I've seen them going for, but I haven't looked too hard) that could be spent elsewhere.

The chairs in our hotel are burgundy, which doesn't go at all, but it's not important to me that they match everything else. I don't think any of my guests will think twice about it, given all the care I've put into other details. Afterall, they'll either be sitting in the chairs, facing each other and the centerpieces, or if they're up they'll be boogying it down on the dance floor and not caring one whit about the chairs!

But of course, if you like them and feel that the chairs are an integral part of your scheme/day, then you should do whatever you need to do to make them work. From Sweeney's post, it sounds like you can get a good deal if you just do some legwork. Good luck!

I was starting to feel abnormal until I read Dahlia's post - I do not like chair covers.  They feel dated to me - they are one of the few reminants of 1989 weddings.  But this is obviously a personal taste issue.  Covered chairs scream "ballroom" - and we chose to have our reception in a grove of trees - so it makes sense that we aren't considering chair covers. But, speaking of chairs, they are EXPENSIVE to rent.  We have to rent EVERYTHING for our grove of trees.  The nicest basic chairs are $2.50 each (180 ppl).  The next nicest chair is $8.50 each!  What a huge price leap.  Though they are both comfortable, the $8.50 chairs look nicer.  But then I realized that people will be sitting in those seats and no one will notice what they look like.

Ditto, I'm not a fan of chair covers. People will be sitting in the chairs for most of the evening anyway. And the covers always remind me of those dustcloths you see over furniture in old, abandoned houses. They draw the eye, rather than let the eye skim over the chairs, which they'd do if the chairs are burgundy or some other dark color.

Chair covers at the beginning were something that we were thinking of but figured we couldnt afford. So I started bargin hunting and didnt find anything good. So I checked out the chairs at the reception site and they reminded me of a business conference so I had to bite the bullet and get chair covers. To be honest I am so excited to see the room. I think that chair covers change the whole feel of a room.