Would you risk it?

KnightsNurse

Thinking about buying these chair covers, but the company is from China so I am very hesitant to purchase. I'm one of those people who slams the breaks on these kind of items--especially with that funny but horrifying article on those dress knock-offs that circulated around TheKnot not too long ago. However, these are chair covers and all of the reviews are positive so how wrong could it go, right? ....Right.

If anybody has any advice or knows where to buy covers like these stateside, I really appreciate it!!

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-shipping-Dark-Ivory-Wedding-Spandex-chair-covers-with-swags-Ruffled-chair-covers/1404911954.html

lyndausvi

I'm not a fan of chair covers to begin with. No I would not risk buying some site unseen from China. 

KnightsNurse

I'm not a chair cover person either, which is why I'm being so picky about picking ones that I like. Wish the ones at our venue weren't so ugly

theycallmelinz

I think chair covers can be pretty if they aren't too over the top and your budget will accommodate them. Ours personally wouldn't so we aren't having them, but as far as these I don't know that I would risk it. They look nice in the picture, but you just never know what the quality is going to be. What if they're made poorly and the fabric snags or pulls? As a guest, I would never notice someone not having chair covers, but I'm definitely doing to notice a chair cover sagging in weird places or weird stuff going on with the fabric.

If you decide to get them, I'd read all the reviews I could find on the product, the seller, and the site itself. Good luck!

labro

I think I rented chair sashes for $1.50 a piece. Why are you buying instead of just renting? You're taking a risk IMO, both in buying site unseen and also in potentially not being able to sell them when your wedding is over.

lyndausvi

once people are sitting down, men take off their jackets, no one is going to care how "ugly" your chairs are going to be.

I barely remember my own chairs, which I had to rent.

flyingfoxes

I had found some online that seemed like a great deal, but then our decorator ordered a sample one.  compared to a better quality one, they really sucked, lol.  for us, she ordered the nicer ones (then charged us 1/5 the price to add it to her inventory).  The cheap ones had rough edges and just felt cheap.

theartistformerlyknownas

I bought table overlays and organza bags from China and they were fine, but it wouldn't have mattered if they were irregular. Chair covers NEED to fit really well if they're going to have any prayer at all of not looking like a total shit show. I'd rent if at all possible.

paperpusher

I've ordered a couple things from that website. It was 50/50. The vest I ordered was really nice and if it had fit I would have had DH wear it for our wedding. The skirt I ordered from there was really crappy made and I ended up using it for cleaning rags.

Have you looked at bbjlinens.com? I came across them in my wedding search and we were going to use them if my parents hadn't purchased table cloths. I think they have a color similar to what you linked and it may be cheaper to rent from them vs buy from this unknown site.

Couggal12

We rented them at our venue for $2 each. We saw them in person and knew exactly what they looked like and that they would fit. I wouldn't risk something like that unless I knew that they would fit 100 percent. 

500days

I think that's a decent chunk of change to drop on chair covers. Especially since you won't be able to see them in person before buying them. I would definitely see if you could buy one first before committing to such a big lot. I did that when looking for table runners at linentablecloth online.

morewineplease

I would not risk this…

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.aliexpress.com 

badbnagdway

So, at $185 for 50 chair covers, that's about $3.70 per chair cover. That seems like a lot. At that point, you are getting up into chair renting territory and I think it makes more sense to rent nicer chairs than to buy chair covers. 

The chairs at our venue are quite ugly. I considered renting and I considered covers. Then I considered that no one will care or remember as long as every bottom has a chair, and I decided to just let it go. 

larrygaga

If your venue isn't a tightwad with a stick rammed up their ass see if they will split the price of nices once and let them keep it.

ashley8918

I, personally, think chair spanx are worse than ugly chairs. Nobody will care what your chairs look like, and that seems like a lot of money for nothing.

Wegl13

I did buy some chair covers and sashes sight unseen from china. I got them from.... Efavormart.com I think. I ordered one by itself first just to see and it was fine (cost $10 because of shipping to just get one but well worth not having a HUGE mistake). I really needed covers because we were in the middle of nowhere (renting not an option) and they were RED. Like all over red. And I could have gone with it, but I HATE RED. It wasn't perfect but it turned out looking REALLY good I though (at like $3/chair) and I ended up selling the stuff on ebay for about $60 afterwards (made back ~1/3 of cost).

lizz0915

Check out tableclothsfactory.com I ordered samples from there and will be ordering my chair covers from there. The black spandex ones I plan to order I believe are around $2.80 each.

Bubblegum5586

Unless the chairs are hidoues then I think it is a waste of money.

mrsk616

im not keen on chair covers because i can see people pulling them off and puking into them..... eww

JoanE2012

mrsk616 said:

im not keen on chair covers because i can see people pulling them off and puking into them..... eww

Lol, never heard that one before!

OP - Unless you have money to blow (anticipating they are awful/don't fit/etc) which I'm assuming not since they're from China, I'd skip the covers and save your money. I don't remember the chairs at any of the weddings I've ever been to except my own.

KnightsNurse

Thanks for the advice all!! I am really not a fan of chair spanx myself, as @ashley8918 put it. I had even talked myself into just using the ugly banquet chairs and returned to my not caring cave, but I visited the venue again this weekend and a good bunch of the chairs have stains/rips/holes so I surrendered to having to do something about it, especially since we do have room in our budget. It's amazing how many gorgeous venues have crappy chairs. They just expect you to cover them or spend the $300 "chair removal fee" on top of however much it is to rent nice chairs. I'd like to buy covers rather than sell so that I can resell after and make some money back, but I'm going to go with an American company that I can get a sample from and give up on the blue ones

theartistformerlyknownas

mrsk616 said:

im not keen on chair covers because i can see people pulling them off and puking into them..... eww

Who the hell would ever do this?!

ashley8918

lolo883 said:

mrsk616 said:

im not keen on chair covers because i can see people pulling them off and puking into them..... eww

Who the hell would ever do this?!

Whoa. How did I miss this. What the fuck?! This is not a thing that generally happens.

princessbuttercup09

Maybe you can check the wedding classifieds on here (or a local group on FB) and see if someone else is looking to sell their old chair covers! http://ruffledblog.com is another site where people can sell old wedding stuff.  

ohannabelle

mrsk616 said:

im not keen on chair covers because i can see people pulling them off and puking into them..... eww

Of all my concerns in the world with chair covers, this one would never have occurred to me.

Is there some joke I'm missing? 

levioosa

ashley8918 said:

im not keen on chair covers because i can see people pulling them off and puking into them..... eww

Who the hell would ever do this?!

Whoa. How did I miss this. What the fuck?! This is not a thing that generally happens.

I don't know what you're all talking about.  Chair covers are my go-to puke location.  I bring them with me to bars on the weekend, you know, JIC. 

lovesclimbing

ashley8918 said:

im not keen on chair covers because i can see people pulling them off and puking into them..... eww

Who the hell would ever do this?!

Whoa. How did I miss this. What the fuck?! This is not a thing that generally happens.

Dying over here.  This is a completely irrational fear. Someone would have to be REALLY drunk for that to happen, and then maybe one would get ruined that way.  Certainly not many! (Unless that's the sort of friends you have, in which case, I'm sorry.  Make new friends.)

charlottesmom0626

lovesclimbing said:

ashley8918 said:

im not keen on chair covers because i can see people pulling them off and puking into them..... eww

Who the hell would ever do this?!

Whoa. How did I miss this. What the fuck?! This is not a thing that generally happens.

Dying over here.  This is a completely irrational fear. Someone would have to be REALLY drunk for that to happen, and then maybe one would get ruined that way.  Certainly not many! (Unless that's the sort of friends you have, in which case, I'm sorry.  Make new friends.)

...so, wait: those ugly bags on chairs at wedding receptions aren't free puke bags like in airplanes?