Outdoor Weddings

Fitted sheets to cover hay bales?

Has anyone seen fitted sheets used on haybales for seating at an outdoor farm location wedding? 

We're getting married on my fiancé's farm in September.  He is just about to start baling hay and doesn't have any for me to try it on yet. 

I had been pricing flat sheets, muslin cloth, and burlap to use to cover the bales.  Yesterday, I went to our local donation center to see if they had a few flat sheets I could purchase cheap.  I hit the sheet motherload.  They are redoing their flooring and were moving EVERYTHING to temp POD storage units in the parking lot.  They had two boxes full of FITTED sheets donated from a hotel.  She gave me all of them. About 50 fitted sheets.  I told her I'd be glad to donate them back after the wedding. 

(I had calculated that I would need about 38 full size flat sheets for the number of bales I'm using).

Will the fitted work just as easily as the flat?  I figure I could tie them with jute or twine on each end of every "pew".  (I'm sitting them directly next to one another, rather than having spacing between).

Re: Fitted sheets to cover hay bales?

  • No fucking way. You need CHAIRS. Go and sit on a bale of hay and get back to us. What about your older attendees? Or people with back issues? They need a chair with support. Not a backless bale of hay. Chairs, chairs, chairs.

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  • Also, some people could be allergic to the hay or have some sort of allergies.
  • Forget your farm vision and get some chairs with backs. Do not cover them in burlap


  • I own a horse and I frequently help the barn owners stack hay.  I am not allergic to hay, but if I don't wear long pants and a long shirt, regardless of the time of year, I get a massive rash on all exposed skin just from the abrasiveness of the hay. . . and this is very high quality, alfalfa hay for horse feed.  Not shitty straw.

    No way in hell I'd want to sit on hay bales for a wedding ceremony while dressed in nice clothing.

    Also, since your FI works on a farm, I assume he knows that live animals such as snakes and rabbits and birds can be baled up with the hay.  And then they die.  And then the bales stink.

    Yeah, not going to be sitting on that either.

    "Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."


  • I own a horse and I frequently help the barn owners stack hay.  I am not allergic to hay, but if I don't wear long pants and a long shirt, regardless of the time of year, I get a massive rash on all exposed skin just from the abrasiveness of the hay. . . and this is very high quality, alfalfa hay for horse feed.  Not shitty straw.

    No way in hell I'd want to sit on hay bales for a wedding ceremony while dressed in nice clothing.

    Also, since your FI works on a farm, I assume he knows that live animals such as snakes and rabbits and birds can be baled up with the hay.  And then they die.  And then the bales stink.

    Yeah, not going to be sitting on that either.
    And I am never sitting on a hay bale again after reading that.
    That's not even all of the bad things. You could, quite literally, be sitting in/on shit. Or something that has been shat upon and it's dried up and fallen away. 

    Hay bales serve some purpose. But those purposes do not include seating for your guests. 

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  • Also, since your FI works on a farm, I assume he knows that live animals such as snakes and rabbits and birds can be baled up with the hay.  And then they die.  And then the bales stink.
    Gross!!! I didn't know that, but it makes sense. 

    At a wedding, nahhhhhh..
    *********************************************************************************

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  • I own a horse and I frequently help the barn owners stack hay.  I am not allergic to hay, but if I don't wear long pants and a long shirt, regardless of the time of year, I get a massive rash on all exposed skin just from the abrasiveness of the hay. . . and this is very high quality, alfalfa hay for horse feed.  Not shitty straw.

    No way in hell I'd want to sit on hay bales for a wedding ceremony while dressed in nice clothing.

    Also, since your FI works on a farm, I assume he knows that live animals such as snakes and rabbits and birds can be baled up with the hay.  And then they die.  And then the bales stink.

    Yeah, not going to be sitting on that either.
    And I am never sitting on a hay bale again after reading that.
    That's not even all of the bad things. You could, quite literally, be sitting in/on shit. Or something that has been shat upon and it's dried up and fallen away. 

    Hay bales serve some purpose. But those purposes do not include seating for your guests. 
    Yeah, I don't quite see the appeal of sitting on hay bales for a wedding or any other event that requires nice clothes.
  • Maybe someone will sit on a lucky rabbit foot!
    Image result for someecard betting someone half your shit youll love them forever
  • CMGragainCMGragain member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited June 2015
    Please take better care of your guests.  Asking someone to sit on a hay bale, covered, or not, is just awful!  If I saw this at a wedding, I would leave immediately, and maybe make a little scene while leaving.  (I am VERY good at making a scene.)
    httpiimgurcomTCCjW0wjpg
  • labrolabro member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its



    I own a horse and I frequently help the barn owners stack hay.  I am not allergic to hay, but if I don't wear long pants and a long shirt, regardless of the time of year, I get a massive rash on all exposed skin just from the abrasiveness of the hay. . . and this is very high quality, alfalfa hay for horse feed.  Not shitty straw.

    No way in hell I'd want to sit on hay bales for a wedding ceremony while dressed in nice clothing.

    Also, since your FI works on a farm, I assume he knows that live animals such as snakes and rabbits and birds can be baled up with the hay.  And then they die.  And then the bales stink.

    Yeah, not going to be sitting on that either.

    And I am never sitting on a hay bale again after reading that.

    Ugh...I had no idea but I should've known this!!

    All of the above OP.

    Plusalso, I know my mom in particular has a SEVERE hay allergy. She gets hives and her throat starts to close up just from being in the vicinity of hay. I don't even want to think of what happens with skin to skin contact for her. Chair rentals are cheap and WAY more comfortable to sit on for a period of time than unforgiving, itchy, scratchy hay bales.



  • FiancBFiancB member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    Yeahhhh nothing ruins a wedding like seeing a fawn's mauled leg poking out of a bale (it happens a lot, since if a fawn gets scared its first instinct is to lay very still down in the very grass that's about to go in the baler). I can hear the flower girl's screams now...

    Please don't do this. Just the fact that they're backless would be so uncomfortable. Chairs would not make it look any less "rustic" or wtfever it is you're looking for. 
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  • CMGragain said:
    Please take better care of your guests.  Asking someone to sit on a hay bale, covered, or not, is just awful!  If I saw this at a wedding, I would leave immediately, and maybe make a little scene while leaving.  (I am VERY good at making a scene.)
    Color me surprised.

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  • Have you tried quilts or thick blankets instead of sheets? They'd be thicker and a little more comfortable than a sheet :)

  • Have you tried quilts or thick blankets instead of sheets? They'd be thicker and a little more comfortable than a sheet :)

    My friend went to a wedding where they tried this. They still felt the hay and one of them discovered they actually have an allergy to hay that they didn't know they had. So that was fun for them. Plus, using a thicker blanket does not get rid of the "animals get trapped in them and die" situations pointed out above. 
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  • edited June 2015
    My FSIL did this last year at her wedding and covered ONLY the front row, all others left uncovered. I was on the front row and it was still super uncomfortable, especially for anyone wearing a dress. Please do not make people sit on hay bales.
    Wedding Countdown Ticker


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  • Echoing everyone else here to say I'm not a fan of this idea. It sounds really uncomfortable and potentially dramatically unpleasant. 
    What did you think would happen if you walked up to a group of internet strangers and told them to get shoehorned by their lady doc?~StageManager14
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  • FiancB said:
    Yeahhhh nothing ruins a wedding like seeing a fawn's mauled leg poking out of a bale (it happens a lot, since if a fawn gets scared its first instinct is to lay very still down in the very grass that's about to go in the baler). I can hear the flower girl's screams now...

    Please don't do this. Just the fact that they're backless would be so uncomfortable. Chairs would not make it look any less "rustic" or wtfever it is you're looking for. 
    And I now know what kind of nightmare I will be having tonight.

    OP use chairs.  You can still have that rustic farm look you are going for even with chairs instead of hay.  Not to mention that I like to lean back when I sit and if I tried doing that on hay my ass would fall over.

  • I'm not condoning the idea, but if you do go with this option not only warn people but have a basket of allergy medicine available.       DH's throat closes, eyes itchy, sneezes just being around hay.  I can't imagine how bad he would be sitting on hay.    

    There is something unromantic about hearing people sneeze,  blowing their snotty noses or worse passing out from not being able to breathe at all during a wedding ceremony.






    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
  • lyndausvi said:
    I'm not condoning the idea, but if you do go with this option not only warn people but have a basket of allergy medicine available.       DH's throat closes, eyes itchy, sneezes just being around hay.  I can't imagine how bad he would be sitting on hay.    

    There is something unromantic about hearing people sneeze,  blowing their snotty noses or worse passing out from not being able to breathe at all during a wedding ceremony.
    I can see it now, a crystal bowl full of pink candy, actually Benadryl tablets.  Yum!
  • I'm both allergic to hay and also have sensitive skin.  It hasn't come up in conversation with about 95% of my acquaintances, FYI, so don't assume you would know if any of your guests had allergies or sensitive skin.  Neither are unusual.



  • lyndausvilyndausvi mod
    First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited June 2015
    Viczaesar said:
    I'm both allergic to hay and also have sensitive skin.  It hasn't come up in conversation with about 95% of my acquaintances, FYI, so don't assume you would know if any of your guests had allergies or sensitive skin.  Neither are unusual.
    Yeah, DH does not have a big 'ole sign on his forehead saying he is allergic to hay.   We now live in a rural environment, but most of his life was living the concrete jungles of a city or the islands.  Neither which had hay around.  Thus the conversation of who is allergic didn't really come up.






    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
  • Fitted sheets are going to be a lot more tricky to work with then flat sheets. However, sounds like you have time to figure out ways to do it before your wedding and can do them in advance.

    I would find a way to advise your guests of the hay so that way if anyone has allergies they can plan accordingly & take medication prior to coming or possibly depending on how bad their allergy is, decline your invitation.

  • Erikan73 said:

    Fitted sheets are going to be a lot more tricky to work with then flat sheets. However, sounds like you have time to figure out ways to do it before your wedding and can do them in advance.

    I would find a way to advise your guests of the hay so that way if anyone has allergies they can plan accordingly & take medication prior to coming or possibly depending on how bad their allergy is, decline your invitation.


    This advice is for people who care more about their "vision" than their guests.
  • Erikan73 said:

    Fitted sheets are going to be a lot more tricky to work with then flat sheets. However, sounds like you have time to figure out ways to do it before your wedding and can do them in advance.

    I would find a way to advise your guests of the hay so that way if anyone has allergies they can plan accordingly & take medication prior to coming or possibly depending on how bad their allergy is, decline your invitation.


    If you are planning something that requires people to take medication or decline your invitation so you can have your vision, you are planning ALL wrong.
  • kmmssg said:
    Erikan73 said:

    Fitted sheets are going to be a lot more tricky to work with then flat sheets. However, sounds like you have time to figure out ways to do it before your wedding and can do them in advance.

    I would find a way to advise your guests of the hay so that way if anyone has allergies they can plan accordingly & take medication prior to coming or possibly depending on how bad their allergy is, decline your invitation.


    If you are planning something that requires people to take medication or decline your invitation so you can have your vision, you are planning ALL wrong.
    The bride is going to do what she wants no matter what. Hopefully the comments get her to realize that just because she isn't allergic to Hay doesn't mean that she won't have many guests who are. But who knows, for all we know all of her guests could be farmers who work with hay so it won't be an issue for them.
  • fyrchkfyrchk member
    First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its First Comment
    Even if you don't use them for seating, you could still use them for decoration. Just a thought if you are intent on having hay at the wedding. They could be your backdrop or I've seen them at the end of the aisle sort of defining/welcoming people to the ceremony area.
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