To include chair or not? Maybe only a couple?

I’m 27 and have three autoimmune diseases. We’d get there about 15-20 minutes early. I couldn’t stand for that long. If we got there and saw there weren’t chairs I’d go sit in the car and skip your ceremony. Absolutely provide chairs for your guests. I get wanting to keep costs down but asking your guests to stand for 15 minutes plus however long they get there early is rude to me especially since you don’t know if they might have issues with standing. Even not the older ones. If you aren’t going to provide chairs, put that on your details card so people like me could respectfully decline.

Or what happens if there’s an issue with getting reading and your wedding is delayed 10 or 15 minutes? Now your guests are standing closer to an hour. Just because you didn’t mind standing doesn’t mean everyone else wouldn’t mind standing.

I agree you need chairs. You don’t know who will need one that day, for any reason, for any amount of time. I’m a young person but have a hard time standing for long periods of time. I have a recurring hip injury & even if it was fine that day, I tend to bounce & pace when standing which I’m sure would be distracting. If cost of nicer chairs is an issue, can you settle for long benches or something else?

I think chairs would be really appreciated at your ceremony! They don't need to be fancy or expensive - any basic folding chairs will do and your guests will be more comfortable.

I would absolutely recommend seats for everyone. 15 minutes ceremony time means 25-45 minutes of sitting or standing, depending on how early guests arrive. Also, people like my FH (who is only 28 and had knee surgery) and my brother-in-law (who has muscular dystrophy) don't look like they would have an issue standing for that long but, depending on how they feel that day, they might. Give everyone a chair if at all posaible.

I've been to a wedding where I had to stand. After traveling and buying a gift I wasn't thrilled with standing outside in the grass in heels during the ceremony.
You should have seats for everyone who RSVPs. That's the bare minimum.

View Quoted Comment And that’s what I’ve been looking for but the minimum for a chair is $1.75 and that’s a lot and I am already over my $4,000 budget by a couple hundred. But I understand

View Quoted Comment Can you repurpose your reception chairs? I attended a wedding where the catering staff brought the ceremony chairs to the reception (or make an announcements for guests to carry their chairs to the reception!). Or could you borrow folding chairs from friends & family?

View Quoted Comment No we aren’t unfortunately. We’re using a local state park and then going 11 miles to the reception so that doesn’t work😔

View Quoted Comment Oo nope. 11 miles would be a tough walk haha. But borrowing from friends & family may work if guests are driving anyway. If it’s a state park, can you choose a ceremony location that has natural seating options or benches? Or maybe a combo of renting a few chairs & putting blankets down in the front? Maybe not ideal but if you give people a heads up they’ll dress accordingly.


If you do go no chairs, I think you should tell people, so people don’t wear heels or can decide if they need to skip the ceremony.

View Quoted Comment There aren’t any that’s the problem. And my invites go out tomorrow and there’s no place to put any more information🤦🏻‍♀️ I’m still very torn on the situation most people we asked said they wouldn’t mind but again I don’t want the older people standing so it’s hard to decide and we are on a super tight budget so it’s something I have to think about.

Definitely every guest needs a seat. I’ve never been to/heard of a wedding that didn’t provide adequate seating, and I would honestly think it was extremely insensitive and tacky of the bride and groom.

That's awful hosting. You need a chair for every guest, both for the ceremony and for the reception. And it's never just 15 minutes of standing.

Seating for all guests is a necessity. While guests may say they would be fine standing, they are telling you this to be nice. If you cannot afford seating for everyone, cut down the guest list.

View Quoted Comment We have cut the guest list ridiculously it’s just family coming no friends (except bridal party) my fiancé has a massive family tho 80% of the guest list and they all take feeling to one being invited not the other.

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Only $1.75 per chair? That's ridiculously cheap for chair rentals and quite a steal if you ask me. Since you're talking a difference of 40 chairs, that's only an extra $70 that you'd have to spend to seat everyone instead of just seating half. Seems very silly to not spend the extra $70 IMO, because not having enough chairs to seat your guests is pretty rude

View Quoted Comment Before covid it was $1 that’s the problem here and 80 chairs is $140 plus the delivery fee which is also $30 and then tax on top of that we’re pushing $200 that I don’t have in my budget. I had to already take out my hotel stay hair and makeup to make this all work. Thank god my title sister is a makeup artist and offered to do it for free and my best friend does hair so she also offered her services. But thank you for your feedback I see what your saying

Oh my… you definitely need a chair for all RSVPs.
I can assume your ceremony will be longer than 15 minutes… it takes like 15 minutes just for everyone to get seated and everyone to start walking down the aisle. I would be pissed if I had to stand there for 30 minutes in heels lol

View Quoted Comment Totally agree… I’ve never been to a ceremony that is only 15 minutes long lol takes the party/bride 15 minutes just to get down the aisle.

If that is the case, ask people to bring chairs. I was MOH at a very very informal family wedding where they said BYOA and BYOC. We brought extra lawn chairs in case people forgot them. I would rather do that than provide no seating at all.