Post # 1
Member
100 posts
Blushing bee
Hey brides!
So we are EXACTLY four months away from the wedding and we’re now getting to the nitty-gritty of things. We’re having our wedding on a place called Belgenny Farm, which is a working farm that’s also been converted to a function venue. We’ll be having around about 200 guests at the ceremony and we’re now in the process of ordering our chairs. How many chairs do you think we should get? My wedding coordinator reckons that we wouldn’t need more than 40 (!!!!) since it’ll only be a 30-40 minute ceremony, but I heard from somewhere that you need to seat at least 50% of your guests. What do you guys think?
Post # 3
Member
9668 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
I think 200 seats so every guest can sit down. I think it is rude not to supply enough seating for all your guests.
Post # 4
Member
1159 posts
Bumble bee
@perfectingfaith: Hello there fellow Aussie bee.
I biggest pet peeve when i go to a wedding is having to stand throughout the whole ceremony (particularly in the hot aussie sun). I would get as many chairs as you can!
Post # 5
Member
3726 posts
Sugar bee
@perfectingfaith: Hi there! I’m getting married outside too. The venue has told me that through their experience, for whatever reason, when they set out enough chairs for every guest planning to come, they aren’t all used. They will set out chairs for 75% of the guests. I guess the others will stand. They’ve been doing this wedding thing FOREVER so I’m going to trust them on it. Good luck!
Post # 6
Member
100 posts
Blushing bee
@LilRhodyGem: Yeah, my coordinator said that not all the seats get used, either. And I’m not even sure all 200 guests would turn up – at this point we’re not even sure how many are going to RSVP.
Post # 7
Member
1755 posts
Buzzing bee
You need one chair per guest. I’d order when the RSVPs arrive or reserve around 170 or so which should roughly be enough.
Post # 8
Member
7271 posts
Busy Beekeeper
I would absolutely hate to stand that long as my back starts to hurt. I agree with
@Cappugcino: About waiting until you have your RSVPs otherwise if you need to order now, assume that about 15% will decline. I would rather have too many chairs than too few.
Post # 10
Member
1130 posts
Bumble bee
I would probably leave the ceremony and find a place to sit if it was a 30-40 minute ceremony. My back would be killing me. You need one seat for every guest, doesn’t matter if they get used or not.
Post # 11
Member
8829 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
really?!?! you are expecting guests to stand. i went to a backyard wedding with 50 people and they had about 35 chairs. i gave up my seat to an older person but i was not happy about not having a seat, and the ceremony was 20 minutes. i certainly wouldn’t want to stand for 40 minutes.
Post # 12
Member
8608 posts
Bumble Beekeeper
You should have a chair for every guest.
Post # 13
Member
2196 posts
Buzzing bee
75% sounds like a good rule of thumb. annoyingly we can only have 50 chairs due to space restrictions – 100ish guests.
Post # 14
Member
6341 posts
Bee Keeper
@perfectingfaith: Umm, you have 200 guests, so, 200. Pretty simple really.
Post # 15
Member
2716 posts
Sugar bee
@perfectingfaith: Every butt needs a seat. So right now I would plan for 200 chairs and then you can re-evaluate once your RSVPs are in. I don’t think it’s very polite to make some off your guests stand while others get a seat.
Also, 30-40 minutes isn’t a short ceremony. Guests are going to show up 15-20 minutes early and mill around after, so they’ll be standing for closer to 1 hour+. You are going to end up with a lot of unhappy guests. I would not be happy if I had to stand for an hour in heels.
Post # 16
Member
3267 posts
Sugar bee
@perfectingfaith: 200. Every guest needs to have seating. It is not polite to make guests stand for 40 minutes in uncomfortable shoes, dressed in their finest.
