Ceremony Venue Has Too Much Seating

Well I'm not seeing any pictures, but using tulle/chiffon/fabric across the rows to prevent people from going down them usually works well.

Also, just chiming in that it's an etiquette faux paus to invite people to your ceremony (even an open, if you wanna show you can invite) but not allow them to come to the reception.

There are no pictures attached, but you could definitely have ushers take guests to their seats to help with seating. As for open invites, this is something that is definitely frowned upon. Guests that attend the ceremony should definitely be invited to the reception as well. It would be very poor taste to say someone can come for the ceremony, but must leave afterwards. The whole point of the reception is to thank your guests for attending your wedding.

I’m not sure why they aren’t there now lol. But maybe this time they will post!

View Quoted Comment Right I totally understand! But there are tons of people wanting to come to our wedding and we really want a small intimate reception. We’re not expecting any gifts or even sending them invites to expect them to come to only our ceremony. But it was our way to compromise for them to be able to come if they really wanted to.

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Whether you are expecting gifts or not, I would still be very offended if you said I could come to the ceremony but had to leave after. Also how are they supposed to know they can even attend if you aren't sending an invite?

View Quoted Comment It’s a decision our families have made. That would just be word of mouth for those that are offended for not receiving an invitation. It’s working for us. I’m just looking for a way to section off the additional seating

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Like I said earlier. Just put some fabric down where there's tape in your pictures currently. Drape it gently but make sure its firmly attached so people can't go past it. On the aisles you're wanting people to sit leave them open but maybe attach bows/flowers to the ends to signify that where people should sit. To get a more specific idea look for Pew bows/pew decorations to get a better gist.

Also, there's always tons of people that want to go to weddings. People get excited about parties, but it's up to you to take the responsibility of hosting an event and letting them know that unfortunately you're not able to accommodate them due to the intimate nature of your event/vision.

Obviously at this point you have your mind-set on that, but I and others will continue to give you the advice to tell people 'no' when they ask to come to your wedding, because it's really what basic etiquette demands. I guess to each their own though.

I don't care much for decor for the ceremony so we are just using the black ribbon/stands that u see at movie theaters since that is what the church has...

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You can cordon off extra rows. But it is very impolite and offensive to invite people to the ceremony and tell them they can't even stay to say hi and eat cake. Only invite to the ceremony the people you intend to have at the reception.

Just saying depending on your sense of humor, you could always line the place up with cardboard cut outs of celebrities and family members who couldn’t be there