seating for small, quick outdoor wedding

priceisright07

We are having our ceremony at a local gazebo, but It will probably be a fast simple ceremony. There are benches at the site already, do i need to rent chairs for such a short time? We will be having a nice dinner reception after in a private room at a local restaurant. I just cant see paying to rent chairs for 15 minutes, half hour tops.

MobKaz

Absolutely.  There should be a chair for every guest invited to the wedding.

The timing will be more than the 15 or 30 minutes you anticipate.  Guests will arrive early.  Things happen to cause ceremonies to begin late.  Women will be dressed and wearing heels.  Some guests may have health issues that prevent them from standing for any length of time.

Your ceremony time is NOT the factor.  The comfort of your guests IS the factor.  A chair for every guest.

emmyg65

Chairs please! I'm a young person who appears to be able-bodied, but I have a condition that makes standing uncomfortable. It would be hard for me to enjoy your ceremony. Chairs are surprisingly cheap, especially if you get the plain metal folding ones. Be kind to your guests.

JennyColada

How many people can the benches seat?

Benches are fine (as opposed to chairs), just so long as there is a spot for every butt!

AddieCake

There just needs to be a seat for every butt.

OBX2011

Every single guest should have a seat, regardless of how short your ceremony will be.  Most guests will arrive about 20-30 mins in advance, if not more, and your wedding may not start exactly at said time.  Also, consider your elderly guests and others that may not be able to stand for a long period of time for whatever reason.  So overall, your guests would be left standing for upwards of 45mins. Not cool.  

Spend the extra money and rent the chairs.  

QueerFemme

priceisright07 said:

We are having our ceremony at a local gazebo, but It will probably be a fast simple ceremony. There are benches at the site already, do i need to rent chairs for such a short time? We will be having a nice dinner reception after in a private room at a local restaurant. I just cant see paying to rent chairs for 15 minutes, half hour tops.

is there enough bench seating for every guest?  Every person needs a place to sit down. Whether that's a bench or a chair. 

Consider that most guests will arrive 15-30 minutes in advance of your ceremony. Then, even if your ceremony is short, you are talking 15 minutes, so now, without seating, some of your guests will be standing for anywhere from 30-45 minutes, in one place, probably in dress clothes/heels. 

I always recommend that people who are considering skipping seating, get all dressed up, put on some heels, and go stand in your backyard for an hour in one place. 

It's incredibly uncomfortable, even after 10 minutes.