Seating for an outdoor wedding--need advice

View Quoted Comment The same with me its a pot luck but do the allow alcohol and soft drinks ice tea and bottled water?im still stuck where to have the wedding and reception please helpmary cox my weddinh day is july 7th and i have a member of the family that is an dj for music.

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So you are having the guests bring the meal?

I think it is less than ideal to ask your guests to bring chairs. There has to be a solution that doesn't place a burden on your guests.
I also double down on the hay allergy thing. If that route intrigues you, check with every single guest first please.

View Quoted Comment I was going to suggest the same. An informal standing ceremony is a better option than asking people to bring their own chair. As a guest dressed up for a wedding, I would NEVER want to lug my own chair! I don’t even own foldable lawn chairs and would have to buy one to attend your wedding.

Just keep your ceremony short, let people stand around you, and have a few chairs available for those that can’t.

View Quoted Comment Finger foodmaybe someonewill brinh there bbq.is there a level spot for dancing or need to make a platform for greek dancing and rock and roll.

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What time is your wedding? if its meal time, you need to provide a whole meal. Not just finger foods.

Call around to local churches and ask if they'd be willing to rent out folding chairs if they have them. I know my church does this for a very nominal fee. All you'd have to do is find a truck to transport them.

Move your reception to the pavilion where people can sit at the picnic tables. You should not ask people to bring their own chairs.

View Quoted Comment I actually kind of love this a lot! My family alone has enough chairs for those who couldn't stand longer than ten or fifteen minutes, and the rest are able bodied and relatively active. I remember my aunt had a standing service like this, too, and it was honestly great. I'll definitely talk with FH about this idea thanks so, so much!

I plan on doing a short standing ceremony - I'll have one small row of chairs for the folks that won't be able to stand, and for our parents. I've been to several weddings where we stood for the ceremony and not once did I find myself wishing for a chair. Though if you are planning to serve alcohol, allowing them to get a drink before hand might help too. Since you're doing it at a park it sounds relatively casual already, so I see nothing wrong with just not doing the whole "chairs for everyone" thing. But I for sure wouldn't ask people to bring their own...

It was honestly great to stand there for 30 minutes?

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None of the ceremonies were longer than 15 minutes. They were pretty informal and social. So... yeah. I had zero issues. Now I think this is hugely dependent on your ceremony and how long it will be, etc. But I've been to... 4? Yes, four weddings with no formal seating. One was in a cave, so it was impossible anyway. Another was at a ski resort. Another was just in a lovely sunflower field, and the last one was literally on the courthouse steps... I mean part of it is knowing your audience and what they will and won't tolerate. But the OP said these are outdoorsy people so I don't see a problem with it. If I know my friends can hike 15 miles in a day with a 40lb pack, they can stand up for 15 minutes.

Op, your family is taking care of food, seating and games... what exactly are you paying for with your $1000 budget?

Maybe talk to your outdoorsy friends and see if you can borrow chairs, and instead of having people bring them all day of the wedding collect them in the days before, so you (someone you hire/somoene whos helping you) can set them up before hand. So you're still crowd sourcing your chairs, but no one has to lug them around day of.

Just make sure you label who's chair is whos!

I highly recommend having a chair for everyone for your ceremony. There is simply NO WAY to know that every person can stand for a specific length of time. Not everyone talks about their mobility issues, and you don't know what might develop. Even if you have some chairs for elderly/disabled/pregnant people, you can't predict who those people are and how many might be attending your wedding.

I just wanted to say that I am super happy to see someone setting a budget closer to what I have. I am budgeting $5k and chairs for our ceremony have become an issue because we haven't been able to find a place that has enough near us. With your wedding being around 50, do you have close friends and family to borrow folding chairs from possibly. You could put tape on the bottom with names to ensure everyone got their chairs back. Even for the one idea of having a shorter ceremony and only having chairs for those who absolutely need them? That way you have the chairs on hand for your guest and you can put more of your budget to whatever else you want!

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Sorry, Hannah. This is a post in 2018, pre-Inflation.

Wow, this comment thread became very judgemental very fast. I hope you had a lovely wedding day. It sounds like the people in your life are very supportive and share similar values to you so I am sure they loved whatever you did. A wedding is just a celebration of love, and we don't all have the same budget.