Ceremony Seating

katehar01

Now that we're getting closer to the big day, I'm starting to think about details, and I had a question about seating guests at the ceremony.  We're not having designated ushers - I'm thinking the GMs will just hand out programs before the ceremony.  At a wedding I went to recently, the GMs also sat guests (i.e. took the ladies' arms and led them to a seat while the men followed behind.)  I think this is tradition, but it just seemed kind of unecessary to me. 

Did any of you just have guests seat themselves?  Did it work out ok?  I don't care who sits on what side, so I'd like to think people can find a seat on their own just fine.  I wasn't sure if it was considered rude or anything NOT to have ushers, though.  TIA!

J&K10910

We had 96 guests.  6 of those guests were in the wedding party.  10 more were in the reserved seating in the first two rows.  For some ungodly reason, the remaining 80 guests were completely unable to appropriately seat themselves in the 96 chairs that were there for them, and our coordinator had to BRING MORE CHAIRS OUT at the last minute.  I don't understand why the coordinator didn't direct people to the empty seats (there was an entire empty row), but I noticed as I was walking down the aisle.

I don't think it's necessary to have someone there actually physically seating people, but if you don't  have a coordinator, I'd post a GM or two near the entrance who can assist if necessary.  It's also nice becaue they can answer questions (like locations of bathrooms,e tc).

direy25

We didn't have ushers and it worked out just fine. 

pokepoke27

You don't have to have ushers. I didn't have them. The GMs just told people that asked that they could sit anywhere behind the first row (since I only needed one row reserved). But I think the majority of people figured it out on their own. 

J&K10910

I don't have any idea why our guests struggled so much with this.  They're all intelligent people.

katehar01

Thanks ladies!  I think that's a good middle ground, J&K.  Honestly, I can see people having questions/not knowing which side to sit on/blah blah blah, so I think having someone posted at the front is a good idea.  I just don't want someone physically walking people to their seats.

mica178

If you have enough seating, usually you shouldn't need ushers.  Our church held 4 times the number of guests we actually had, so we definitely could have skipped having them, but H wanted them.

If you anticipate having a near-capacity ceremony venue (or if there are only enough seats for the number of guests), ushers (or GMs doing double duty) can help people sit more efficiently.

J&K10910

No, and a lot of the times, that doesn't work anyway.  My H was an usher once, and people told HIM where they were sitting.  Ha.  So yeah, I'd say the having groomsmen there to greet people and assist if necessary will probably work out great--it helps too that you'r enot having a huge wedding.  It shouldn't be too chaotic with the 100-110ish people you'll probably end up with (at least based on your RSVP count numbers)

DramaGeek

Our friends got married a couple weeks ago and the seating was a mess.  People sat in the first row, which should have been reserved for family.  Nearly everyone sat on the groom's side - even the bride's family - and only about 15%sat on the bride's side.  So I think you need someone to direct traffic, like you mentioned, but no, no one has to escort people to their seats.

As an aside, I don't think you have to do "sides" - we didn't, beyond immedate family - but I do think it helps to have someone making sure things stay even.

pokepoke27

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_ceremony-seating-7?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:169cdbf0-cc77-41db-8f12-bf0e002a8711Post:4617ee5b-2f1f-4eda-8db7-2cda1457f4f6">Re: Ceremony Seating</a>:
[QUOTE]Our friends got married a couple weeks ago and the seating was a mess.  People sat in the first row, which should have been reserved for family.  Nearly everyone sat on the groom's side - even the bride's family - and only about 15%sat on the bride's side.  So I think you need someone to direct traffic, like you mentioned, but no, no one has to escort people to their seats. As an aside, I don't think you have to do "sides" - we didn't, beyond immedate family - but I do think it helps to have someone making sure things stay even.
Posted by DramaGeek[/QUOTE]

<div>We didn't do sides either, because out of the 68 guests we had, 4 of them were "his" guests. His mom, sister, brother, and BIL. Everyone but his mom was in the WP. That would have been awkward. </div>

DramaGeek

Yeah, I think sides are outdated, but I do think it helps to keep things somewhat even in the seating.  My friends' pictures are awesome, but it definitely looks like the audience is lopsided, with every chair on one side filled and most of the other side empty.

katehar01

That's a good point, Drama, I wouldn't have thought of that!  I'll have our GMs keep an eye for that, especially since we won't be filling up the church by a long shot.

@J&amp;K - at the wedding I just went to, the ushers literally asked people where they wanted to sit.  I didn't really get the point of escorting people in that case, haha.

TheFutureShulins

I went to a wedding in March that had no ushers and no one knew which side to choose. I found this sign on pinterest since then so I've decided to post one myself.