Seating for an outdoor ceremony

My venue set up chairs outside and then brought them inside between the ceremony and reception. If the venue has staff, they can do that during cocktail hour.

View Quoted Comment Ah I guess I should add we do not have a venue staff or a day of coordinator.

I would provide some kind of real chair with a back. Straw bails are not comfortable. They will poke you, even if you put a blanket on them. Some people also need a back on their chair, even if it's just for 20 minutes. You also have to consider allergies. I definitely wouldn't ask everyone to stand. It sounds like renting or moving chairs from outside into the venue are your best options.

Every butt needs a seat and a lot of people are allergic to hay. I think you either need to hire a DOC who can move the chairs from ceremony to reception or you need to rent two sets of chairs.

I hate hay. I know thats a strong word but the two weddings I went to with hay for seats I only have terrible memories from. The straw is uncomfortable and provides zero support for guests who need to lean their backs on something. I was in a dress both times and it was so itchy and hard.

I'd recruit a few guys who won't mind taking the chairs in and outside and having them quickly swap them during cocktail hour.

Straw bales look cute on Pinterest but they are so unpractical for so many reasons. 1) Any elderly guest, guest with back/neck issues, etc. will have an extremely difficult time sitting on straw bales. 2) Straw is so pokey and itchy. Even covered in blankets, it's still gonna poke people, get stuck to peoples dress clothes, and just be a mess. 3) Anyone with allergies will be miserable. This is coming from a girl with allergies. No one wants to be sneezing their head off in the middle of your wedding ceremony. And don't even get me started on itchy, watery eyes ruining your nicely put together eye makeup. I would definitely have some sort of seat with a back to it. I think your best option will be just transferring the chairs. You can even have your officiant make an announcement and ask people to take their chairs into the reception spot with them (if they are able), and then groomsmen/brothers/cousins can move the ones left over.

What have other people done in the past at your venue? I find it odd that the venue provides an outdoor space for a ceremony but no "solution" for seating...

View Quoted Comment

Exactly this.

ETA, except for the part about having your guests carry their own chairs. Guests should never be asked to do this. Hire a few high school/college kids to take care of this if you can't find a DOC in your budget who could handle this.

I attended a wedding set up just like that (and actually plan to have my wedding at the same place, lol). The bride's brothers and ushers just transferred the chairs, and a lot of guests pitched in and helped. It wasn't a big deal to anyone, but I suppose that will depend on your crowd.

As someone who is allergic to hay, I would personally avoid hay ales. I know it seems like an inconvenience , but there’s no way around it. If your ceremony is outdoors, you’ll need chairs outdoors.

I'm assuming that chairs would have to be moved even if you had the wedding inside. If your venue doesn't have staff, who is doing the set up and breakdown? I would ask those people to help move the chairs, assuming it's not you - if you hire a DOC, that person can be in charge of that. I know people say not to recruit guests, but honestly, I know my brothers would have been perfectly happy to do that if necessary as long as it wasn't too far.

You absolutely need some chairs for the elderly and people with medical conditions where they can’t stand for long. I prefer to have a chair for everyone but most outdoor weddings I’ve been to just have seating for those I mentioned plus their close family. But all of those weddings have been under 10 minutes. 20 minutes of standing can be a lot for some people who might not feel comfortable taking a chair when there’s not very many even though they should be sitting and so they stand anyway in pain. That’s why I prefer chairs for everyone. And as someone who will sneeze like crazy around hay, I wouldn’t recommend that.

Love this question my venue has an outdoor space and I was going to set up chairs outside and have them moved inside after the ceremony. My question was going to be how many chairs ?