To have people standing at a wedding?

[itsallgravybaby]

More of a WWYD - hope you follow this long one

We're getting married on a budget and have hired a venue to DIY most of it. 70 guests.

For our evening reception we want to hire a marquee and the recommended size is 6x15 or 6x18 to fit some tables for 50 people and a dance floor. The cost of this is close to £2k but includes delivery, set up, lighting, flooring and dance floor.

The venue have now started hiring a 6x12m out that just goes on the grass but I don't know if it's acceptable to have less seating and just a dance floor and seating for say 30 people. It's only £500 though so a massive saving and we can DIY linings etc and they can also put a dance floor in for us too.

So my questions is AIBU to hope that most evening guests will be up dancing or mingling and not need seating for all 70 guests?

There's also some outside seating (July wedding) and will have lots of foldable chairs knocking about if they can squeeze in. We can't reduce the guest list unfortunately so that's not an option.

I went to a wedding that should have been fabulous... gorgeous location... free bar... live band... the bride and groom wanted to have an informal feel so people could mingle and so didn't have chairs. Most of the women there, me included spent most of the evening miserable and uncomfortable with nowhere to have a sit down, in too much discomfort to dance. It is the worst wedding I've been to because of that.

So I'd say that you don't need loads of tables but you definitely need enough chairs!

So a grass floor when your guests are in nice clothes, potentially many of the women in heels? Terrible idea! Especially in the uk where grass is likely to be damp.

So is not having enough seating for everyone. Personally I probably would appreciate a quieter area so wouldn’t mind going 40ft away to sit down occasionally, but I don’t think half of your guests would be happy to be away from the music, bar and everyone else.

Most people will want to sit at some point

The room we are eating in doesn't have a power supply so we can't have the evening in there (outside catering for food)

@bluemoonchances and @catinasplashofsunshine that's exactly the vibe we are going for, but as others have said we need a plan B in case of rain

Saving money would be nice, but not at the expense of people wanting to leave to rest their feet

A quieter area is nice.

Would seating for 50 be enough? So 20 people standing/dancing at any one point

Plus outside seating for about 10 assuming weather is nice

'Would seating for 50 be enough? So 20 people standing/dancing at any one point'

No. There should be at least 1 chair for everyone. Outdoors unreliable. I get eaten by mozzies so wouldn't be able to sit outside even in good weather.

Terrible idea. Cut back on some non essential if you're pressed for cash, but not providing sufficient seating is just unbelievably awful.

AIBU to hope that most evening guests will be up dancing or mingling and not need seating for all 70 guests?

No-one is going to be up dancing the whole night to every single song, never mind most guests.

Not sure what kind of area you are in but how about asking a local farmer of you cab borrow some bales of hay or straw that you can put blankets over for people to sit on? We have done this for a bbq/party and worked brilliantly x

One chair per guest at least. People tend to pop their jackets etc down on their chair and leave them while dancing, going to the bar etc. Nobody wants to musical chairs at a wedding.

Would seating for 50 be enough?

No. Everyone needs their own chair. You cant have people sharing chairs, people will likely put their jackets etc on them and have tables with their drinks etc. How would sharing chairs work????

If seats are in short supply people won't get up to dance at all, they'll be nervous about popping to the loo if they think their seat will be snapped up as soon as they move

Bales of hay... Wtf?

You really need to provide a seat for every guest. One in one out won't be adequate, and people will get grumpy very quickly if they don't have a chair and don't want to dance.

You can hire hay bales with blankets on, could you put these around the edges?

Get enough seats, rethink things a bit. One chair per person, you don’t want your wedding guests faces to resemble those of commuters on the 815am Glasgow to Edinburgh scotrail seRevive.

The only wedding I’ve ever been too that didn’t have enough seats is often differentiated in conversation as “the one with no chairs?” when we’re talking about it. Guests will remember not having a seat😃

”Would seating for 50 be enough? So 20 people standing/dancing at any one point”

No, people need a chair to leave their jacket/bag/drink so they can dance for a bit, go to the loo, talk to someone without having to lug everything round with them or risk losing their seat if they move for a minute.

Sorry but I think you need enough seats for the guests there. Even if people get up to mingle, they will want to sit to chat and people will leave coats and bags to reserve their original seat. I just think it would be awful, sorry Also I think leaving bare grass would be very uncomfortable. I honestly think if you cannot afford the party then you should just focus on the day bit and not bother with the evening bit.

Hard to say not knowing the layout of the venue or space available but is there any chance that they have 2 6x12 marquees? One for music and dancing with some seating and one just for sitting and chatting..
Would still only cost £1000.

As a guest would you appreciate the option of a quiet space? Suppose I shouldn't bank on people wanting to use this tho?

I think that's fine, many guests don't actually enjoy the loud music when they want to have a chat and catch up with friends and families.

I wouldn't expect wedding guests to have to seat on the grass, some people physically struggle and unless you have a very casual theme, they will be wearing smart clothes and won't want them covered in grass stains!

In my experience ppl like a base to sit at and leave their plate, drink,hat, coat, handbag etc etc and then they mingle with others and dance , eat etc . I think you need to supply the full hair quota tbh , sorry my dear l know it is expensive but what about the old folks, pregnant ladies, tired children , tired everyone?
Congratulations btw l hope you have a wonderful day

CHAIR

Oh god @ExFury 😂

I'm sure I will look back at this afterwards and wonder what I was thinking!!

So one chair per person is an absolute must, got it. Maybe smaller tables (enough to pop drinks/bags/snacks etc on) can save us some space

Oh and hard carpeted flooring as it is Britain after all. If we have hardwood floor we probably don't need a separate dance floor as a must so that's potentially £200 saved already.