Post # 1
Member
15 posts
Newbee
- Wedding: June 2016 - Santa Barbara Natural History Museum, Santa Barbara Hyatt
I have a question and would appreciate any advice you all might have for me! My ceremony and reception are in separate locations (about 5 miles away). I have rented chairs fruitwood folding for the ceremony (as are not provided), and after going to my reception tasting I found out my venue no longer offers chiavari chairs as an upgrade and I had my heart set on renting them for the reception as I don’t like the standard banquet chairs they provide, nor do I want chair covers. It seems ridiculous to rent another set of 100 chairs for the reception as I’m already doing so for the ceremony! Has anyone encountered this situation? I’m considering changing my order to chiavari chairs for my reception and then hiring people to move the ceremony chairs to the reception area but was curious if anyone else was able to execute such a move without looking tacky. My wedding is semi-formal and I’m big on etiquette, but I’m also am trying to be wise about my budget. Any help or advice on this would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Post # 2
Member
421 posts
Helper bee
I’ve never encountered this situation, but if the chairs are important to you, I don’t see anything wrong with moving the ceremony chairs to the reception if you have enough time to do so– they can be set up during cocktail hour, especially if everyone will be in a different location than the main dining room for cocktail hour.
Post # 3
Member
9567 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
veganbride805: I had to rent two sets of chairs and my ceremony and reception were at the same venue! My DOC said absolutely not to the idea of moving them during cocktail hour. It’s disruptive and would be rude to have family or friends help. Your vendors will be setting up the dining area to the last possible minute and relying on a perfectly timed chair move in is just too much to gamble. They will be in the way of the florist and caterer unless you have a really long “catholic gap” or something.
Plus with the labor you would pay to set up at ceremony then break down, load up, move, set up, and breakdown the same chairs you might as well have rented two sets. That I garauntee you. So yeah, either make peace with banquet chairs (no one else cares I swear!) or two sets it is.