Ceremony and Reception Seating

MRDCle

We will be having our ceremony in the same room as our reception. In order to make a smoother transition between ceremony/cocktail hour/reception, the event planner said we could either have seating for about half the guests for the ceremony (hard pass) or have some rows of chairs and the remaining guests seated at their tables for the meal (ceremony would be easily visible/audible, it's not a huge room).  Everyone would have a seat, it's just some would be at tables.  Is this a huge faux pas?

flantastic

MRDCle said:

We will be having our ceremony in the same room as our reception. In order to make a smoother transition between ceremony/cocktail hour/reception, the event planner said we could either have seating for about half the guests for the ceremony (hard pass) or have some rows of chairs and the remaining guests seated at their tables for the meal (ceremony would be easily visible/audible, it's not a huge room).  Everyone would have a seat, it's just some would be at tables.  Is this a huge faux pas?

Not sure. Are you doing assigned seating? Will the rows of chairs all be seating that would have already been reserved for VIPs like bridal party, parents, and grandparents?

My main concern is assigning who gets the "good" seats. I'm not sure whether it's worse to be seated in a sort of secondary seating area for the ceremony (although within easy visibility) or have your chair moved during cocktail hour while others' chairs aren't, but I imagine some of your guests will have a definite idea on which is better.

JediElizabeth

Where will the cocktail hour be? Will that be in the same room as well? How many guests will you have?

If not, definitely don't do this - it sounds like the venue is being cheap and doesn't want to provide the staff to do a proper turnover. They should be able to do that during the hour that guests aren't in there.

If it's a problem because cocktail hour is in the same room, I wouldn't necessarily side eye this unless it was such a small wedding that the change wouldn't be huge anyway. I do think you should see if they can provide some extra seating around the walls if it's feasible, so people who are temporarily displaced can still sit down while they wait. (Especially if some of your VIPs are elderly or would otherwise need a place to sit, since they're likely the ones sitting up front.)

MRDCle

@flantastic yes they would be for VIPs that would have already been reserved. 

@JediElizabeth we are inviting 100. I imagine we'll have around 85-90 but the room will have seating for all. In addition to the rows and the dinner seating, there are about 30 extra seats around the bar and a few couches. Cocktail hour would ideally be held in this room. My fiancé prefers this room to another available room which is why we're running into this. Maybe it'll be the nicest day in March ever and we'll be able to use the outdoor space instead 

lovesclimbing

Why not have everyone seated at tables for the ceremony? I've attended weddings like this. They were nice. 

mollybarker11

I'd also suggest having everyone seated at tables. Are you doing assigned tables? You can assign VIPs to tables closest to the ceremony location and then have a small turnover for the staff to set up a sweethearts table where the ceremony was. Having two different "tiers" of seating would rub me the wrong way.

MRDCle

@lovesclimbing and @mollybarker11 I think that could work!! I'll discuss with the coordinator and see what she says. 

southernbelle0915

I always like this set up when something is in the same room. I would just do ALL seated tables so there's no tear down or transition. 

Here are some examples of couples who made it really pretty:

holyguacamole79

I went to a reception with a layout similar to what @southernbelle0915 showed above.  Super easy & convenient.