Gravel Reception?

I do not have personal experience but I would expect to have to cover most of the ground. Also, depending on your formality this limits shoe options greatly for you and your guests. Gravel has a lot of dust to consider also.

Gravel is ok for some things but I would do everything to avoid it in this situation. You risk tables and chairs being uneven, not to mention women in heels unable to walk over it.

Just be sure to tell your female guests not to wear heels!

I don't think it will be problem as long as you let female guests know that they shouldn't wear heels because gravel can be very difficult to walk in on uneven ground. I went to a wedding once where the parking lot, walk away, and area where drinks, lawn games, and bathrooms were on gravel and the ceremony was in grass and the bride and groom didn't worn anyone and I worn heels. I attempted to walk, but it was nearly impossible. Luckily, I had flip flops so I changed shoes. The actual reception was in a barn so the gravel wasn't issues for the tables.

There are events all the time on gravel, Im sure if you found some people who have worked with festival set up they would have good advice. Just make sure you mention it to all of your rental vendors (like for tables/dance floor/chairs/etc) that you have gravel and they should know what to do. A fair warning, my one friend rents out his dance floors and I know they have done outdoor events and they need to have a pretty flat ground to set up on. So you may have to be sure to have someone rake the gravel out of the way for that. Most of the time dance floors are like giant puzzle pieces, so if there isn't a flat surface they cant be put together properly and it wouldn't be safe. I would error on the side of caution and ask the dance floor vendor specifically if they have set up over gravel before and only hire them if they have and have a solid plan for how they do it.

I am NOT a dance floor expert by any means, but just going off of what I remember him saying and also helping him set up indoor dance floors)

I went to a wedding last fall and while the actual ceremony was in a church, the reception was at the bride's family farm. They had a tent on the grass for the dance portion with tables set up. The only floor was the dance floor. And then they had food trucks and bartenders all along the gravel road and the bathrooms were a rented trailer so you had to walk on the gravel quite a bit. It wasn't bad. The only issue was as cars were leaving it did cause a bit of dust but if your parking is far enough away it should be fine (unless super windy). Just make sure to tell guests to wear more casual footwear.

Thanks for all the suggestions, info, and comments everyone! For the most part my guests will likely be wearing boots and flats. I will look more into the dance floor and see if there is a way to make it more stable. 😁

View Quoted Comment Definitely be sure to communicate with all your guests about the ground conditions- not just women in heels but other who are maybe handicapped or prone to inebriation will want to know if the ground is uneven. Even in flats or boots that can be a bit risky.
Make sure you think about your dress too! You don’t need a train getting caught on sharp stones.
All that being said, I’m sure it’s going to be a fine surface to party on!

Man, google is good! Searching "large gravel wedding reception" and I happen across my same venue! We're having ours here June 2022, glad I'm not the only one thinking about it. I'm still uncertain about how steady the tables and chairs will be, a friend of mine who knows the spot said she thought it'd be fine but did mention they may get scratched. So might want to check with rental company to see what their policy is. I'm going to talk to the rental vendors to see if they've dealt with this before. Most important is making sure the dance floor area is safe to get down on! If it comes to it I may also ask the owner if it's possible to just clear some of the gravel back where the tent or dance floor is going to go.