uplighting and upgraded chairs-worth it?

I've had to make the same decision recently. I'm going with the uplighting! Hopefully no one will really care about my ugly banquet and if they do notice, they'll realize that changing them or covering them would have been a waste of money.

Miranda, you're hosting the perfect wedding, one I'd love to attend. Now, keep that money in your pocket.

I wouldn't notice the chairs. But definitely the lighting! (I'm wanting to add extra lighting myself)

Going with upgraded chairs depends on the chairs the venue provides. I am upgrading chairs since the ones from the venue have stains and holes. Who wants to sit on gross chairs?! If the chairs are fine, then don't upgrade. Lighting is also unnecessary. Put the money elsewhere.

We opted for chair covers, the company our venue gets them from have some that are super fitted (my guess is that they have elastic in them) so for half of what it cost to get chiavari chairs, we're just doing that. still has a place for their booty and isn't completely clashing with our colors. (the chairs are burgundy and our colors are light blue and lilac) we're also going for uplighting. my FH doesn't get the draw, which I can understand, it's different for every venue. our venue offers it for $200 so for that price I don't see the harm, just enough for some extra ambiance.

@ miranda, that's beautiful you can see the arch in the background! that's going to make for some absolutely lovely photos!

Does your venue do this or can you get it down by an outside vendor

I'm an event coordinator and lighting is the least expensive & easiest way to dress up a space, that's if you need it. I would go lighting if you were choosing one, but it's really what's going to make you feel the best the night of.

As already mentioned, I am of the opinion that Chavari Chairs are horribly uncomfortable. My venue actually offers Chavari Chairs for free, but I specifically requested the ugly banquet chairs they have, because they are much more comfortable. I'm getting chair covers and sashes to make them not ugly, which is only $2.50/chair. Yeah, that adds up quick, but that's still less than half of what you're saying your Chavari Chairs would cost. So covers and sashes might be a good option for you. I'm honestly not much of a fan of up lighting either. It definitely looks nice at some venues and with some color palettes, but I've also seen it look not very great. You don't want red up lighting because red light is very harsh. And if there's no up lighting colors that go with your wedding colors, it would just clash and look weird. (Sorry if I missed where you said your colors, all I saw was the bit about chargers and napkins, so I'm guessing based on that)

I might suggest pipe and drape, or twinkle light strings, or ceiling swag. But that's just My personal taste.

Our venue is a restaurant and colorful on its own. Also I hate uplighting, so that was never a consideration. We did upgrade to chiavari chairs because I liked how they looked over the venue's standard event chairs. If you're looking for ways to save cash, neither are necessary.

I think the chairs are fine. Leave them. I'm getting the uplighting. I think it warms the room up, especially for an evening wedding. My room is all white and looks better with the lighting, in the pic above the uplighting looks really good.

So many comments happened while I was asleep! Haha. Other vendors offer the chairs too but I haven't found any cheaper than the $6 a chair my venue offers. I'm usually not a fan of chair covers, but I also dislike my banquet chairs so who knows. I probably will just suck it up and stick with the banquet chairs.

I do agree that overall from the guest experience neither will matter. And on the day of it won't matter to me either. I should probably do neither and save money. I do already have a beautiful backdrop for my head table. There are white drapes with a gold amber light uplighting the drapes and has a chandelier above me and my fiancé.

@centerpiece and @grace g- thank you! I fell in love with the venue. I can't wait for my wedding!

Honestly given the venue, your chairs won't be too noticeable if it's dim anyways. And as long as the chairs are comfy who cares.

If you are considering uplighting, I assume the place may be dim and uplighting def makes a bigger impact.

I vote uplifting. Only if the chairs are absolutely hideous can I see doing covers or chiavari. I am considering adding a sash to mine since they are plain white but it would be less than $100 for all of them so not a big expense.

I notice flimsy plastic folding chairs (see below). IMO, they make any space look cheap.

Basically every other type of chair is fine, including the inexpensive resin folding chairs (often they're padded).

We were lucky in this regard since our venue comes with Chivari chairs. Not sure FH would have been too happy about paying to rent them!

We are doing a small amount of uplighting (mostly around doorways) and upgraded chairs. Our overall image of the is important to us. Our venue doesn't provide chairs. We splurged and rented the vineyard style chairs since our venue is a winery chateau.

@wendy that's pretty! Something like that is what I was thinking.

Although I'm not sure if my room has dimmers or not. I will ask today at my tasting

I think both uplighting and upgraded chairs are unnecessary. TBH, I think uplighting can make a beautiful venue look cheesy.

Chiavari really are not comfortable. I've sat in a few recently and was like how the hell are they charging $7 a chair for these things?! I feel you thought, my hall has ugly chairs too. We are considering upgrading to a brown garden chair which is closer to 2-3$ a chair.

Hi Miranda. I came right to posting. I love uplighting and it's something that is immediately noticed. It helps set the tone IMO. Take a look at The Lighting Professors website for before/after samples. I believe they are on WW vendors list too. Best wishes.