Alternate (Cheaper) idea to chairs?

sarahlm619

I'm having an outdoor wedding ceremony -- FI and I both want it to be FAST...15 mins maybe.  We KNOW people need a place to sit...but renting chairs for a fast ceremoney is SUCH a waste of money!  I'm not saying I don't want a place for my guests to sit...but i need some creativity...any ideas on something that wouldn't cost as much, but still would be "classy"

It's a beach wedding if that helps anything...

banana468

Could you arrange to use the same chairs from your reception at the beach ceremony?

sarahlm619

I don't think so...my reception location is pretty brand new...they don't even want anything that isn't in containers in their facility, so I don't see them being ok with me dragging a bunch of chairs with sand in...

I AM going to ask...but I doubt I'll get the answer I want!  haha

Cynthia1207

What about white benches?  Not sure if that'll be cheaper than chairs though...

NJhousewife22

Could you just put down quilts or blankets in coordinating wedding colors instead and rent just a few chairs for guests that may not be able to get up and down easily?

naomikb

I think you should just put on the invitation "BYOC" and people will bring those foldable camp chairs to sit on.  Preferably the ones that have cup-holders so they can do a champagne toast after the ceremony.

Sarah5683

Could you do haybales (or something like that) with blankets over them? That shouldn't be too expensive and wouldn't mess up the beach too much. Just an idea.

frogurt814

Invisible chairs.  Guests can just pretend they are sitting.  It'd be fun and totally free!

I'm sorry, that really wasn't a constructive comment. : /

Probably the hay bales with blankets over them would be your cheapest option?

If you do use the same chairs for your ceremony that you are using for the reception, please do not make your guests carry their chairs with them from the ceremony to the reception.  We were asked to do that at a wedding I went to over the summer.  Tacky.

aerinpegadrak

Who are you arranging the ceremony with?  Presumably you have to have gotten permission from someone, the city or whoever, to use the beach, so maybe they have some chairs you can use.

Habs2Hart

How casual of a beach wedding?

We went to one this summer at a beach.  We were told to bring our own chairs or a blanket to sit on.  It was fine, however, this was a really casual wedding. 

hcorr34

Try contacting some local schools in your area.  The high school in my district rents folding chairs for $.50 a piece.

NOLAbridealmost

I don't even know how you would go about getting this, but you could try to get long logs (a la summer camp campfires) that might simulate drift wood.  If you have lots of time and storage on your hands you could maybe scavenge for long logs leading up to the reception.

Just for heaven's sake make sure there is no poison ivy, etc. on the logs. 

Summer2011Bride

Like PP, my suggestion would be logs. I went to an outdoor ceremony (that was semi-formal) in the woods one time and we sat on logs. My only suggestion though is to put some covering on them b/c there wasn't on these and the dirt from the logs got all over our dresses. Maybe use a colored cloth that fits in with your wedding colors.

RebeccaB88

I would suck it up and get the chairs.

orangecrush32

BYOC.

sarahlm619

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_alternate-cheaper-idea-chairs?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:10Discussion:eb203bd4-345b-49a3-866d-59824d9e2ad5Post:4f8601b6-1824-4a3f-933b-5cc670050598">Re: Alternate (Cheaper) idea to chairs?</a>:
[QUOTE]I would suck it up and get the chairs.
Posted by RebeccaB88[/QUOTE]

This is what my thought is as well -- I was just looking to see if anyone had any "different, creative" ideas...since I'm not a creative person...and LOTS of ladies on TK are!

Thanks everyone for your suggestions...LOVE the ideas of possibly cheaper chairs from other places too!!!

ki10

The last short wedding I went to, they only provided chairs for people who would have trouble standing for that long. But, it was much firmer ground than a beach, which I think would be uncomfortable to stand on for long. I like the idea of picnic blanket style seating for everyone who can/will and some chairs for those who need it. Of course, it might be cheaper just to rent enough chairs if you're renting any, since places might charge delivery for any amount or for only a few. Benches sound great if you don't need many; otherwise, that's probably much more expensive.