beach ceremony..no chairs?..

It depends on how formal the wedding is, and also how long it is. But generally I say you should have chairs.

Will they be standing or are you laying down beach towels? If you can get beach towles that would be a cute idea maybe, but don't make them stand the whole time.

Agree with erin. it also depends on the kind of sand ie. packed down, soft, etc. however I'd go with chairs. can you find chairs in bulk so you don't have to rent them?

Personally i was in the same problem. We are getting married on the beach. Well i didn't wnat chairs...well I went out to the beach and there happened to be two weddings going on. One with chairs and one with out. and seriously i made up my mind. I was going to pay the extra cost for chairs. It looked beautiful...The first picture I attach if you see the group of people in the back you can see they just stand there. You can kind of see the differntce..... IN booth pictures u can see the chairs and see the other group of people standing for the other wedding. Also you need to take into consideration the elders....having to stand on a beach from 20-35 minutes...could be hard for them hopefully this helps

I personally like the idea of no chairs. A beach wedding is a more casual setting and i like the idea of people staning around you. Keep in mind your guest list, I would maybe have a couple of cute beach chairs (or really anything would work) for people who may need to site and maybe even a couple of cute beach towels if their are going to be children, just because the can get restless this could be a cute way to give them a place to play!

I actually planned an entire wedding on the beach before we changed it over to something larger and I was not going to have any chairs. We were going to have 75-85 people, all family and close friends and I was going to tell them to stand. It was going to be an informal event for the guests though my FH and I would be in traditional wedding attire.

I've done many beach weddings, and have to say that usually they don't have chairs except for elderly grandparents who can't stand on the uneven sand. The good thing about not having chairs is that people can gather around the couple making it much more intimate and personal...everyone truly feels part of the ceremony.

Personally, I would do the chairs. Especially if you're having that many people. I hate standing ..lol. Plus it just looks better A beach wedding doesn't mean super casual, it's just another location.

We are also having a beach wedding, and we decided on getting chairs for about half of the people. I have been to church weddings where the pews filled up and left standing room only, so I figured this will be the same thing. Plus I wanted to make sure we had chairs for the grandparents that might have a hard time standing during the whole ceremony. I think it would also give a better view of us exchanging vows if people weren't standing up so close to us.

Having chairs, at least for a group of people (maybe 40. 20 on each side)... It will help a lot for your wedding photos... that look of having guests at each side, with the bride and groom at the end, is just fantastic... ;-)

Also, there may be some people that must seat down for medical reasons, age, etc... So having some chairs is not a bad idea...

However, make sure you have a planned standing area for those without chairs, so that they are not just roaming around... They can make it a challenge for your photographer to get some angles during the ceremony...

Hope this helps you on some way...

I agree. Go with the chairs. Beach wedding doesn't mean you have to ask your guests to stand around in the sun, wind or humidity. Even just a few chairs for the people that will need them. Use reserve signs and make sure your ushers know who the chairs are for. Maybe you can find another couple that will be having their wedding at around the same time and you can share the cost, if cost really is the issue.

Pros and cons to both ideas have been discussed. You definitely need chairs for parents, and then those who would have difficulty standing. One pro for chairs (I don't think it was mentioned) is that guests can see you better if they are sitting. another pro for chairs is that guests will arrive 15-30 minutes prior to the ceremony, so they've already been standing, then 15-30 ceremony... then stand for cocktails. Judge your guests. If most can stand, then hope it's not hot and only have the reserved chairs.

I would have chairs. I am not elderly, but have hip issues and I have trouble standing for long periods of time on certain surfaces, including sand.

It's definitely harder to stand on sand, so I think you need something for elderly people and others with health issues. (I'm ok with standing for a while if I have something to lean on, but I have foot issues and sand makes my feet hurt because you don't have a solid surface to stand on.. it always wants to shift and move.)

My beach ceremonies are usually 10-15 minutes. If the guests are standing, they can gather in close enough to hear -- I speak to them, too, (keep in mind the noise from wind, waves, and gulls). Sometimes I have amplification, but usually not.

If any guests have a hard time walking or standing in the sand, I recommend having the ceremony closer to the dunes than the waves.

Probably 3/4 of my weddings do not have chairs. But, chairs make a nice aisle.

Just photographed one that was around 80 guests no chairs. worked out fine, everyone gathered in pretty close. only thing i would suggest is to do it somewhere there is a little bit of an incline so guests in the back can see over those in front. also just need to designate an aisle with a runner or something like that so there is a clear path for the wedding party to enter on.

good luck, the beach rules!!!

pj

My wedding venue is providing 20 plastic resin stackable chairs for our beach ceremony, so not including our attendants, that means 25-40 guests will be standing. I found out that renting those chairs on a Sunday is very expensive- I was quoted $470 for 60 chairs!!! Our ceremony will be very short (less than 15 minutes) and it will be nice FL April weather, so I don't think it should be a problem. I will just make sure the parents, aunts and uncles all have a seat.