Need seating for cake and punch reception???

If you're not going to have seating for everyone, I recommend having something to do in addition to dancing. Just standing around with no opportunity to sit down and nowhere to set your drink would be pretty frustrating. It would help a lot to have even one or two yard games or something else to keep people's minds off of shifting their weight and feeling their feet get tired.

Will guests be standing from 2 to 6? If so, that is a long time to stand and not have actual food to eat. Would maybe fingers foods like subs, meatballs, or cheese be way out of your budget?

Not sure of the age of your guest list, but you might want to look into seating additional to picnic tables. Those aren't that comfortable for everyone. Otherwise I agree with @MS4. You should probably have something for people to do or somewhere for them to sit their punch and cake. Not everyone likes to eat standing up. I'd say AT LEAST enough seating for half your guest.

Renting chairs from the local church might work. I'm also concerned about flat space too. The area around the pavilion isn't very flat...part of the reason we weren't going to put out many picnic tables. We wouldn't want people sitting at a slanted table, lol. Maybe single chairs would make that less noticeable.

Everyone needs a seat.

Seat for every butt

Agree that seats are needed. Maybe get enough for 75% of your guests to sit at a time if you're really concerned with space.

(Also, I feel like the answers are a lot nicer here, possibly because of Charla's post haha. I know I thought twice before posting something snarky.)

Cake and punch receptions are normally very short with no dancing. If you really want to have that long of a reception, then you need seating for your guests.

For any kind of wedding, you need a seat for every person. Secondly, I'm not trying to throw a monkey wrench into your vision, but cake and punch wedding/receptions are much shorter than a wedding with a meal or heavy apps. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a cake and punch reception, but even with music, I'm not sure people are going to linger for more than an hour.

How big is your guest list? Maybe we could help you figure out a way to add some inexpensive food to the reception. You'd be surprised what you can do, even if you don't have a lot of money.

Money is not the only consideration....although it is a BIG consideration. Space is also a big issue. We are already struggling to find enough space to fit 75 chairs (I hope only 75...we're inviting 100 and hoping only 75 will be able to come). But we honestly don't have room to put another table with food.

Thanks all for your comments, I am back to the drawing board making sure I have enough seats for everyone. It's kind of what my thoughts were but my FH and MOH kept insisting that we didn't need to have seats for everyone. Now I know I was right, lol.

Yes you do. And it will be shorter.

Actually, I've heard that having less seating than people encourages mingling-- as one person stands, another will take his seat. When that first person comes back, he's now forced to move around a bit. Given that your whole deal is fairly short (compared to the 6 hour marathons I've heard about) I think it should be fine.

I say have seating for everyone. You may think of having seating for the older folk because of their older joints, but as a person with lupus... even though I am young (thus would likely not be considered as someone that would need a seat) it is just too exhausting and hard on my hips to stand for that long without a seat to settle myself for a while to rest.

I'm very upset when a seat is not provided for me at an event.

ALSO: don't invite more people than you can accommodate. You may want to look into another venue, if you don't have the room for the people that you want to invite.

I wouldn't subscribe to the thought that less chairs than people encourages mingling. It forces people to stand, but it doesn't encourage much beyond, "Seriously, I left to go the bathroom and someone took my seat?". What it encourages is seat saving. Regardless of who's trying to sell that idea, they're wrong.

Also, you really don't want to invite more people than you can accommodate. The veterans here can tell you that it isn't unusual for a bride to post a panicked, "What am I going to do? I'm over capacity" thread. Many brides think that they'll be safe by inviting an extra 10/15 people because they know they're going to decline. When they don't, you've got four weeks to figure out how you're going to deal with it. In your case, the number is even bigger -- 25. I'd be very careful with that. If your invitations haven't gone out yet, I'd really cut that guest list.

Seating for 100%. If you only want 75 guests, only invite 75. Count on 100% attendance

My first thought was to consider the age of your guests. Older guests definitely need a seat. Then I thought about how I usually wear shoes that are nowhere near sensible to weddings and other similar events. I know I would want a seat.

I absolutely agree that having less seating than guests does NOT encourage mingling, it discourages it - not matter what any DOC or event planner tells you. I have seen it quite a few times - saving someone's seat so they can go pee, or get a cup of punch, or something to eat. NOBODY wants to give up their chairs and I don't blame them! I've had to ask mine to be saved at a couple of weddings like that.

Also - don't count on a 25% decline rate. One of my DDs was married on a gorgeous summer day and had 65% show up, another got married in the dead of a Michigan Winter and had 96% show up!! Also, sometimes people see it as a way to see the relatives when you haven't had a reunion in the last few years.

I strongly encourage you NOT to invite more than your venue can handle.

I would count on 100% attendance. Also, no offense, I serve more food to friends at parties at our house than you're planning. I know budget is really tight and I sympathize! Chips and pretzels are very minimal though, how about dips to go with? Spinach-artichoke dip? Buffalo chicken dip? French onion dip? Salsa?... What about Meatballs? (easy to make ahead/crockpot) Pinwheel sandwich bites? Veggie tray? Fruit tray?