Seating at Cocktail hour?

Our cocktail hour is on the front patio of our venue and we will not have any seating for anyone during that time. Our cocktail hour will also be under an hour, though. Older guests who really need to go inside to sit down will be able to. Our DOC is going to try to keep everyone on the patio unless they need a restroom, or to sit, but for the most part guests will be standing until invited inside to find their table.

I've been to a few weddings that had maybe 10 seats total at short tables, but for the most part its standard to stand at the higher cocktail tables.

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That's good! Maybe we can limit seating then. Have some for older guests, but not an excessive amount. We will have standing tables already, I just didn't know if we needed more regular tables & chairs.

I'd definitely have some type of seating...I don't necessarily think you need a seat for everyone but about half or just under half seems good, just so people have the option. Mostly standing tables and some tables for sitting should be a-okay.

ETA: if you are having a large wedding, which I think I remember you are, less than half should be fine.

Just went to a wedding on Sunday. My cousin's cocktail hour was held in the same room as her reception party. There were standing tables near the bar, but our seats were open to us to use. I'm about 99.99% certain that etiquette states a seat for every bottom! However, a year prior, I went to an ex coworkers wedding (I was friends with her outside of work), and there was no seating at all for her cocktail hour. Even in flats, I was uncomfortable for that hour of standing. Both receptions had passed apps.

These were both indoors and the only thing provided as entertainment during the hour was food and drink, so I'm not 100% certain about the photo booth and games option being added in. How many people are you hosting? Is the courtyard big enough to seat everyone? If it isn't, I'd lean towards giving everyone a seat, even if you have to open your reception space. If you'd appreciate a seat, I think your guests would be appreciative too.

Hope this helps!

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So plan on actual seating for about half you think? Then the other half at standing tables?

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Half or even 1/4 should be good I'd think.

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Our reception will be in a different space, with an assigned seat for every person. It's just not physically possible for us to have another 175 seats in our cocktail hour space. It's a bigger venue that we have all to ourselves, so I assume people will do some wandering. It's an old renovated horse stable so it has a photo booth room, a kid's room, a courtyard with flower gardens & statues (where the food & bar will be), a pond area with yard games, and a large grassy area where the ceremony will be but people can walk around after. Then we will obviously have our card/gift table, guestbook table, memorial table, and some other decor with pictures of us and all that. So I'm thinking people will be walking around and exploring. The catering staff will be moving chairs to the reception space during cocktail hour, so we can't open that space until about 45 minutes in to the cocktail hour (guests will be seated to a plated salad). I think we will just get creative. Some standing tables, some smaller seating tables, maybe some outdoor lounging furniture. But for closer to 75 people sitting at one time.

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Okay! I'll look into seating and see what we have the budget for too, that will help decide if it'll be seating for 40 people, 50 people, 75 people or 100 people!

We are having our cocktail hour outside on the deck. Now that you mention it I assumed there would be like bar top tables. I would just mention you need some seating for elderly guests! I will have to do this too. They have outdoor patio sets for their normal restaurant so it should not be a problem. Everyone else should be fine. It's not like they will be standing in one spot. The one wedding I was at we stood a lot in groups and took pictures, waited for drinks, went outside and took pictures by the fountain. We were all fine in our shoes!

View Quoted Comment Oh wow! Definitely a lot outdoors to explore! Wasn't sure of your crowd or numbers, but certainly you have so much to do, your guests (and you!) will find the time flying by! Both the places I mentioned were indoors, and not much for games/entertainment, so I think you should be fine with what PPs said.

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We will be using almost all our seating (they provide 200 seats, we anticipate 175) but even having the extra 15 available is great. Then we can just rent some more!

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I think having entertainment is a good idea too, thank you for the idea! Maybe a few "advice for the bride & groom" papers or something people can fill out too.

View Quoted Comment Not sure how I gave you another idea, but hey! I'm glad you thought of another thing to add? Your wedding sounds like it's going to be a blast!

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Sounds perfect!

We had a mix of both and some people sat and some stood!

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Do you know what percentage you had of sitting vs standing? Or how many seats you provided at cocktail hour and what your guest count was?

I am only having a few seating options for my guests (especially the older ones)... the majority is going to be standing...

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That's good! I'm just worried if we have seats only for the elderly (which isn't many, probably under 10 guests) they will be taken by kids or rude adults that don't realize the seating is for elderly?

View Quoted Comment Here is our layout if this helps. I wanna say around 60 percent sat? Some stood around high tables. Everyone stayed in the courtyard unless to go stock up at the cheese and charcuterie station. We had 160 guests.

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Yes, SO helpful! Yeah I'm thinking we need some type of seating for 40-50% or we need to open the reception space closer to 45 minutes in.