cocktail reception = not enough chairs for everyone

That does look like a gorgeous wedding! I think it all depends on your guests. With me, I know there will be people who would be comfortable standing, but many would be pretty upset if they didn't have a seat readily available for them. I honestly don't think I'd be as comfortable especially if I was attending and wearing heels.

It's hard to enjoy cocktail hour if you have to balance a drink / food/ napkin/ purse in your arms.

I don't think everyone will sit the whole cocktail hour, but people need the option to.

Pictures are different from reality. Now we all know.

It's not that standing weddings can't be pretty. It's that people's feet get tired. And no blogger is going to post the picture of aunt Leslie rubbing her bunions or grandma bracing her plate against the wall. You're getting an edited reality there.

Photographers job is to catch the best moments of a wedding. No photographer worth their salt is going to catch the angry faces or guests leaning on each other or the pile of stilettos in the corner.

Just because it's on a blog doesn't make it ok.

When we first started doing cocktail style weddings 15 years ago, we didn't recommend seats for everyone, but after revisiting that plan and seeing these weddings froma different perspective, as officiant rather than caterer I do think that there should be. Not tables for 10, but a mix of lounge pieces, cocktail tables, barstools when that can work...if you mix it up, it will still look like cocktails rather than a sit down dinner. You can still have that grazing feeling but with comfort for everyone.

Keep in mind too, that SMP is primarily photo driven. If the photos are gorgeous, the real details of the story are secondary.

It very obvious that the couple spent a majority of their budget on decor instead of springing for seating for everyone and figuring out the logistics of that without making it appear as a sit down meal with tables etc. etc. I'd be pissed if I attended a wedding where the decor took the spotlight in front of the guests comfort.

i am queen of run on sentences, sorry.

She put this about it on her blog:

"What is a cocktail style reception you say? I didn’t know either until Shelly proposed the idea to me. Basically, there isn’t enough space for everyone to have a seat at the same time. No seating chart, no seated dinner. Instead, we opted for food stations and lounge furniture. There were some round & high top tables throughout the space too though. What this did was allow the guests to mix & mingle without getting bored waiting on dinner. For those guests who needed to sit or wanted to, they definitely could, and those who wanted to socialize with everyone could do that too! Think of it as the cocktail hour lasting throughout dinner– but with plenty of food & booze"

I'm not exactly sure how everyone could not have a seat, but sit when they wanted to....I would have loved to been a fly on the wall at that wedding! I want to know the real story from her perspective/pictures vs reality

I never get the whole "people get to MINGLE" justification for not having seating. Are there weddings I'm not invited to where people get tied to chairs and zapped with electricity if they wander away from their table?

I would want a chair. My chair. Not a chair where if I got up to get a drink or some food, someone might take it.

I get grumpy when I'm at a football tailgate and I can't sit down to eat.

If I'm at a wedding and don't have a seat? It's not gonna be a good time.

Some guests with no chairs? R U kidding me? The wedding is lovely but obviously has been staged.

Nobody sat down at our wedding. Once dinner was done there were maybe 20 people sitting at any given point and we had 140 people. That being said, I think you can still have a cocktail style reception with seats for everyone. You could do some tall tables with tall barstool type chairs and lounge areas with couches and chairs.

I would also like to point out that both posts are from the bride's perspective. You'll hear lots of bridges (or grooms) say "well everyone told ME they had a great time!" or "no one complained to me!" I guarantee you that there is at least more than one guest who would say "It was a stunning wedding, but it sure would have been nice to have someplace to set my food for a second" but would never say it to the host.

Why would any bride want her guests to be sitting precariously somewhere while balancing a plate of food in one hand and a cocktail in another? Inconsiderate is the word that comes to mind.

We had a cocktail style reception with around 80 people. We had a few round sit down tables, quite a few standup cocktail tables and a number of lounge areas.. It was absolutely wonderful....people who wanted to sit did but lots of people mingled from space to space, talked, danced. It's not for everyone but we had a great experience with it.

People throwing cocktail parties might not realize their guests are in pain while they are standing and mingling.... because they don't have any choice but to do it. When I went to one, there was some seating but it was perpetually taken. I ended up getting a seat at the very end of the night when I felt like collapsing. I also didn't get any of the passed appetizers when the servers made their rounds earlier and ended up only getting one of their "late night" snacks close to midnight. If it hadn't been immediate family, I would have left muuuch earlier. I don't think I let on to anyone (besides my husband) how un-enjoyable the night was.

SMP this week also posted advice on how to have a dry wedding... they should stick with decor and leave the logistics to the professionals.

People choosing not to sit and not being able to sit are two totally different things

Houligan is spot on with that comment.

These sites, which have proliferated in the past years, will publish just about anything to produce content and garner visitors. Take it all with a giant grain of salt.