Weddingbee boards

My FI and I are going to have a cocktail style reception.  We are having an evening ceremony/reception in a loft downtown.  We are viewing it as an extended cocktail hour with dancing.  We are not formal people...and we want our wedding to be a celebration, a cocktail party!  We are having food stations/heavy h'ds and the stations will be set up throughout the venue (not at a single location like most buffets).  We will not have placecards or escort cards or assigned seating. 

My question is about the seating.  The venue we chose is encouraging us not to have a "seat" for every guest.  At first I wasn't sure how I felt about this, but then I decided that when I go to a cocktail party at a friends they do not have a place for everyone to sit and there is normally food and drinks being served.  I think it will be fine because we are placing seating around and throughout our venue and it will vary:  we will have about 10 traditional round banquet tables with chairs, various lounge furniture, and about 10 bistro tables (3 with 2 bistro height chairs ea.).  So there will be different options for people to sit/perch/set drinks if they want/need to.  We will also have the courtyard open (which will have a bar and about 24 seats). 

We are hoping this setup (strategically located food stations, varied seating options, late start) will lend itself toward more of a party feel.  We plan on getting the activities started as soon as the reception begins and space it out periodically.

However, I have been reading many boards where people seem to be appalled at the mention of there not being a seat for every guest.   Our venue is assuring us that they have done many receptions this way and it is always well-recieved.

I am not a traditional bride, but I would like to hear what you open-minded bees think about our reception (seating in particular).

We are having a cocktail reception and have decided not to have enough seats for everyone... the main reason is because the dance floor will be ready to go from the start.

I think people are forgetting that typically with dinner, tables are set on top of the dance floor and then removed for the dancing to begin... and then there are never enough seats for everyone the entire night...

We want that fun feel right from the start - we have lounge areas set up, cocktail tables and big large round tables as well. There will be enough seating for about 50% of our guests - and besides that, there are other areas for them to go (i.e. the patio) for more seating, if desired. We aren't worried about it, the hors d'oeuvres will not need a fork and knife, so most people won't feel the need to sit (except for with dessert).

Good luck!

Yes!  We are having 10 of those cocktail tables...

I love that pic, what are those sashes made out of?  I was just going to rent chair sashes to tie around the cocktail table linens..but those are pretty :)

since it's a cocktail reception, it's not necessary to have seats for everyone.i've never been to a cocktail party whre there was seating for everyone. people usually rotate. and, if you want to keep them on the dance floor, don't give them the option to sit down. i'm sure at some point those who want to leave will leave anyway and those who stay will probably find a way to rotate the seats.

i am doing a full sit down dinner in a 2 story loft. the dinner is on one floor and the cocktail hour & dancing and drinks will be on the top floor. the dinner is just a formality to us. but, the main party is going to be the dancing. we are providing seating (lounge style) for about 30-40% of guests on the top floor. if all the guests want to sit down, they can do so, but will have to go downstairs to the dining area if they don't secure a seat upstairs.

that being said, i am going to make it very hard for them to want to go back downstairs (hehe.....shhh...our little secret). i am having the dj, photobooth, candy buffet, both bars and the cigar lounge upstairs. after dinner, there will be nothing left downstairs, but tables and chairs....lol.

i read that if you want to keep your guests on the dance floor and not feel self conscious, you should make sure the dance floor is not too big, the ceiling height is not too tall and the lights should be dimmed. the upstairs area has 45 ft' ceilings and is one open space. i am going to have a designated area for the dancing (i won't need  a dance floor since the flooring is hard wood) and hang up paper lanters to compensate for the tall ceilings.

THANK YOU guys so much.  I feel so much better. 

As for minumum seating my FMIL insists that her "generation" will want a table, so we had toyed with "reserving" a few round banquet tables for them...but, we weren't quite sure how to word the reserved sign or let certain guests know that the "reserved" is for them.  Any ideas?

Again, thanks guys!  I'm so glad to be apart of the hive!!

Seriously, I posted something similar on another site and only got people telling me that I was rude not having a seat for every single guest.

Hugs!

i think that will work out fine!
at our venue, the long dinner table will spread out into the dance floor.  so after dinner, about half of the dinner tables need to be broken down.  at this point the outside area wil become a cocktail lounge, with two large couches and 4 or so high cocktail tables.  anyway, only about half the guests will still have their "dinner table seating" and outside there will be seating for about 30% more.  i'm not worried about it at all!  we want people to dance the night away!!

It's difficult for people to stand up eating (especially in heels) and then expect them to party/dance for hours on end at a wedding.  At a wedding last year my mother left early because she was tired of standing and felt annoyed the younger people didn't stand to give her a seat!  I think if it's kept as a short reception it would be fine.