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Definitely assign seats - it'll be chaos/people will get stuck with awkward conversations if you don't. I would recommend 2 entrees at least - we had 1 meat, 1 vegetarian. It's about making your guests comfortable, not juat about how little work to put in ;-). Chair covers are not necessary nd are kind of ugly, IMO. Go with what feels natural and good to you - you can't miss!
I don't think any of those make a wedding "nice" necessarily. I had a nice wedding without two meat choices and chair covers....a friend of mine had a lovely wedding with appetizers, no arranged seating, and no covers....plenty of weddings i attend have no favors. I wouldn't rely on these things making or breaking your wedding.
Thanks so much for the advice! Its not really wanting to put in less work, its just wanting to keep things as simple as possible because we have a smaller number of guests. I wasn't sure about the seating because I figured most people would just sit with who they know, but you are probably right!
@ejs4y8: Thank you, I just havent been to a ton of weddings and I'm not exactly sure what people are expecting.I know everyone has a different opinion, but I really do want the wedding to be a success!
The only thing on that list that I think it really needed is different menu choices. Some people don't eat chicken or beef or fish, whatever so they need a different option. I know not everyone will agree with me about the assigned seating but we didn't have it and it was fine. No mass hysteria, no people fighting over chairs.
Ok, reading comprehension fail, I thought you were asking about what you DID need. I picked assigned seating because as crayfish said, without assigned seating I think it can get uncomfortable and chaotic for everyone. I did not have chair covers, and while I had favors they were simple little treats. We had more than one entree choice (beef and chicken) and a vegetarian option but BBQ at weddings is becoming so popular nowadays. Honestly, I think everything is completely subjective and you don't "need" anything to have a "nice" wedding - just a warm heart, love, and good friends and family!
We didn't assign seats, and everyone found one just fine. We had heavy appetizers only, and I got SO many compliments on the food. We donated to charity for favors, and we also didn't have chair covers.
We also had a great reception :-)
Thanks ladies!
@Lindsay12.31.2010: Thanks thats very reassuring!
@MissAsB: Food choice has been the toughest one for me. We were planning to do one meat, 3 sides, bread. But maybe we need to rethink that. I dont want people to feel forced into eating something or to not eat because they don't like their choices.
@glasses: LOL at "reading comprehension fail." And you are right about the things a wedding are reallyabout, I just want people to enjoy themselves and remember our wedding fondly!
I don't think any of those are necessary to have a nice wedding.
I think part of it depends on personal opinion....
Best example: Some people swear by assigned seating, stating that it makes it less awkward and people don't have to hunt for a table. But every time I've been to a wedding like this, I've been stuck at a table with people I didn't know, and we end up pulling our chairs over to another table by after dinner so we can sit with the people we know. When we talked to our families about this, they were adamant that they would prefer NOT to have assigned seating.
For us, we will be doing a sweetheart table, 2 reserved wedding party tables (8 attendants, so that's 2 tables for them and their spouses) and then 4-5 reserved family tables. The rest will be open seating.
I would definitely say to have at least 2 types of food, even if it's not 2 meats. I say this because not everyone likes every type of meat, and lots of people prefer vegetarian dishes over the meat, even if they aren't vegetarian. Example: My MOH only eats poultry and fish- any beef or pork makes her feel ill. She often opts for the veggie option, even if chicken is available.
As for favors, I think if you do decide to do them, go simple- people don't want to keep a wine opener or beer coozie with your name on it. Candy or some other edible favor is enough to make people go "oh, look, a favor" without making them take home some overpriced thing they don't need.
And as far as chair covers go, I would say that you should only use them if the available chairs look like crap. If they only have folding metal chairs, then yes, spring for the covers. If they have nice chairs that don't conflict with your colors or the look of your wedding, leave them off. (Thank goodness for me, our venue got new white chairs recently... their old ones were yucky and with green fabric backs!)
I misunderstood the question too. I think the only thing you need is assigned seating. You don't want families kind of prancing around not being able to find a seat. Everything else is optional.
I didn't assign actual seats, but we did assign people to tables. So I voted that assigned actual seats is unnecessary. I also think you can do without chair covers, specialty linens, certain kinds of chairs, certain kinds of tables (head, sweetheart, etc), real flowers and many other details. It's really up to you what's important to you.
I do think it's nice to allow two entree options (even if the second is the vegetarian option) just so guests can find something to eat. For instance, I don't eat steak so I'd be a little stuck if that was the only option (it's happened to me before and they didn't even have a veggie back up, I ate mashed potatoes and green beans for dinner).
I personally did not consider having chair covers for a second, and also nixed the idea of favors pretty quickly too. I actually really dislike the way that chair covers look! I did have more than one entrée choice, but I do not think that is necessary at all. The one thing I do really like to have at a wedding is assigned tables, but plenty of people here have already made the argument for that.
I'll add in that there's a difference between assigned tables and assigned seats. You don't necessarily have to use name cards to assign every seat; you can simply assign tables with escort cards, allowing guests to choose the actual seat at their assigned table on their own. :)
At my wedding, we did not have assigned seats, favors, or chair covers-- and it was an awesome wedding that people loved!
I know the assigned tables thing is something folks have strong opinions about, but I think it really depends on the size of your wedding and the amount of seating you have. If you have 100 people and exactly 100 seats, I would assign tables, otherwise, you might get some folks who can't find a seat! In my case, since we rented out a whole restaurant and had just under 100 guests, we had more than enough seats for everyone, so folks were able to just sit with who they wanted and no one got stuck sitting with random people they didn't know.
As for chair covers, I usually hate the way they look at weddings. The outdoor portion of seating at my wedding (where we also had our ceremony) has green plastic deck chairs. Are they the most beautiful things in the world? No. But I am 100% positive that no one cared (including me).
The only thing I would say you need to have is a decent amount of food choices. A vegetarian dish option at least, so if folks don't eat the meat you choose, they can have something else they'll enjoy.
I'm with the others who said that you should really just beef up the menu (excuse the bad pun). I would just throw in a pasta dish or something to give vegetarians an option, and definitely go with chicken or beef as the meat dish since they're the most popular.
You definitely don't need chair covers, favors, or floral decorations if you're trying to save money. You can always do non-floral centerpieces and save a ton of money :).
I have Jews, vegans, piscetarians, vegetarians, and a LOT of picky eaters on my invite list. For the picky eaters, we have balsamic pork chops. For the non-meat eaters, we have spinach lasagna. For others, we have artichoke chicken (chicken stuffed with bell peppers and artichoke hearts, mmmmm.) I, for one, enjoy weddings with just appetizers maybe even more than a sit-down dinner (my guy does not agree.) That way, I don't look rude by eating only as much as I want. I can have whatever type of food I want (heavy, light, meaty, vegetable-heavy.)
Ladies,
I appreciate all of your comments! I can see that there are some very differing opinions, but at least the majority believes that I don't need favors or chair covers. I will definitely consider adding another option for dinner and possibly doing assigned tables. Since I'm only having 75 people I thought it may be okay to just have people sit where they want, but I guess I need to put some more thought into it. Thanks for all the help!
The assigned seating definitely will help you keep your sanity. So that guests aren't milling about or packing only certain tables. Unless you are having a cocktails and dessert type of reception where assigned seats are unnecessary.
I do think that more than 1 meal choice is a good idea. Not everyone loves chicken.
I definitley think favors are unneccessary. I don't think I've ever gotten a favor that was worth keeping. It's always cheap junk that gets tossed.
Chair covers and things of that nature are not necessary but sometimes they can dress up an ugly chair. And that can change the general appearance of the room you are holding the reception in.
I also think that ultra expensive fancy invitations are silly. I think nothing justifies how much some people spend on invitations. You KNOW they will be thrown out. Who keeps someone else's wedding invitation?
Our chairs were mismatched colors (red, green, navy-not even our colors) and no one noticed. I did buy nice white tablecloths and everything else was decorated but even in the pictures I don't notice the chairs. My advice, skip on the chair covers.
I voted for chair covers and favors.
We're not doing chair covers (waste of money in my opinion, and my venue has nice wooden chairs).
We may or may not do favors based on budget as we get closer to the wedding.
I think it's important to have more than one entree choice - not everyone wants to eat the same thing. We're doing a buffet so there will be four entrees and a bunch of sides.
I think assigned seating is important, but we're only doing assigned tables, not specific seats. We'll have escort cards set up with the name of each guest/couple/family and their table number. We won't have place cards at each seat.
Assigned seating is a must. You will have chaos otherwise and many people feeling like they are back in the high school lunchroom.
The rest of your choices are totally optional and no one will miss them if they are not there. In fact, a full meal is not required, considering the countless dessert and tea receptions that many couples choose instead for whatever reason.
The last wedding I attended had edible favors in plain sight that no one touched so the parents of the bride were begging folks to take them home, which no one did (they were yummy btw and fit with the theme). The chair covers they chose made the chairs very uncomfortable to sit in.
I don't think favors are absolutely necessary, and I a not a huge fan of chair covers. I do think more than 1 entree is nice, and I like to have an assigned seat- but I have been to nice weddings that have none of these things!
If you're looking to save costs, it's very easy just to make your own place cards and do cheap favors.
Other than assigned seating - i think you can skip the rest and still have a lovely wedding.
The only thing I voted for were the chair covers but I do like them if the banquet chairs are an eye sore. With that said, you dont have to have any of those things to have a "nice" wedding but I prefer all of them.
The only one of those things we had was chair covers. And that was only because a) the chairs were not only battered and ugly, but mismatched (some banquet, some folding), and we felt like chair covers would help to pull things together, and b) we managed to find a real deal on chair covers, so the net expense (after reselling them after the wedding) was minimal.
So, you can skip all those things, and still have a "nice" wedding.
Only do chair covers if you desperately need to cover them up.
Favors are not necessary. Most of the time, the guests don't even take them
Assigned tables are nice. I have been to wedding with out them and its kind of a nightmare for everyone. If they don't move chairs, people want to sit with other people put can't fit their spouse or end up across the room from everyone they know. If they do move chairs, you end up with 15 people at one table and 4 at another and this is horrible if you are having servers. If you are spending the money to have it at a nice venue, this is a true must in my opinion.
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Hello ladies,
I have been back and forth forever about wedding,no wedding, eloping and all. After having a long talk with my FI we are going ahead with the wedding we have been planning which is 5 months away. YAY! Anyways, we are only having about 75 people and it seems to me that alot of things are not absolutely necessary but I am unsure. Please help because I honestly have no idea! Here are some of the things I am questioning. Do you have to have place cards/assigned seating at reception, more than 1 type of meat, favors, chair covers? I want it to be nice and our venue is very unique and all inclusive, but I don't know if these things are must or if my wedding would be tacky without them! Please give me your opinion. Thanks bees!