short outdoor ceremony... standing?

natashagabrielle

I was wondering what the thoughts are on everyone huddling around outside for a short ceremony? We will be having around 60 people attending and want a short ceremony (we don't have a wedding party, etc). We will be having the reception following inside a lodge. Do you think this is not a good idea to have everyone standing for the 15 min ceremony?

I'm wondering because I don't see myself setting up chairs and leaving them all day or having people carry them in??

Any thoughts/tips/suggestions are appreciated!

strlzfan11

You need to have a seat for every person.  I've been to several outdoor weddings where the chairs were set up and left there or taken down by staff during the reception.

natashagabrielle

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-pittsburgh_short-outdoor-ceremony-standing?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:116Discussion:70c96b17-6a32-4f01-a51a-f66158506934Post:bb1a0443-662d-42b2-8864-17cb4d5bdef1">Re: short outdoor ceremony... standing?</a>:
[QUOTE]You need to have a seat for every person.  I've been to several outdoor weddings where the chairs were set up and left there or taken down by staff during the reception.
Posted by strlzfan11[/QUOTE]

Thanks for your thoughts. Let me be more clear... there is no staff. I have catering staff that will be inside with the buffet, but we are renting the North Park Lodge, which doesn't come with staff help.

jnissa

you know - we're doing our ceremony standing, and it's not even outdoors. I think the venue and the type of ceremony kind of dictates how you handle it I've seen both things done and, for example, a lot of my west coast friends who got married in Napa and did short ceremonies had people standing, and often even had distributed glasses of wine beforehand.

It's entirely about the kind of ceremony that you're having. i've seen it work (and i hope it works for us because the space in our venue just does not support seating). for us, the ceremony was really something that we were doing in order to get to the reception  

manjermj

I disagree that it's about the kind of ceremony that you're having to dictate whether or not you have seats for your guests. It's about the courtesy of supplying a seat for every one that is kind enough to attend your wedding ceremony. I second having a seat for everyone, no matter what.

jnissa

I don't know - I think that sounds like a Pittsbugh thing, frankly. I've been at weddings at the NY MOMA that didn't have seating, at the Marina Bay Sands on the roof in Singapore that didn't have seating and they were fine and I think people were happy that they were treated to a meal and a celebration and not so small town that they were worried about a seat (especially if they were overwhelmed by the view). Not every wedding needs to look conventional. 

ash241

Ppl like to have a seat and its good manners to provide one. You can hire ppl to move the chairs!

offbeat9

I've been debating either having people stand (with a few seats reserved for grandparents) during my super short ceremony or setting up my ceremony to have them seated at their tables - which I think would look worse than having them stand. I'm also having mine at a place where there is no staff and not doing anything traditional so its a ton of extra work/stress/money to rent and set up chairs for 15 minutes tops... I don't see a problem with people standing for a few minutes. I wouldn't mind at all, in fact I would prefer that over sitting through a loooong wedding ceremony!! I would just be thoughtful of any elderly guests or anyone with conditions that would make it difficult to stand... put a few 'reserved' seats down for them for sure. 

betsyray85

Do you plan on having chairs for your guests for some type of reception/dinner? If so, you could have these chairs serve double duty. Just have a few guys move the chairs from their outdoor location for the ceremony to the reception location. My future sister in law did this for her small, indoor/outdoor wedding at a farm, and it was fine. I was in the wedding party, so I didn't notice this happening, as we were getting photos, but I'm sure it only took several minutes. Just a thought.

natashagabrielle

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-pittsburgh_short-outdoor-ceremony-standing?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:116Discussion:70c96b17-6a32-4f01-a51a-f66158506934Post:3a48d836-5b90-4d79-abc3-fbac8eb90a88">Re:short outdoor ceremony... standing?</a>:
[QUOTE]Do you plan on having chairs for your guests for some type of reception/dinner? If so, you could have these chairs serve double duty. Just have a few guys move the chairs from their outdoor location for the ceremony to the reception location. My future sister in law did this for her small, indoor/outdoor wedding at a farm, and it was fine. I was in the wedding party, so I didn't notice this happening, as we were getting photos, but I'm sure it only took several minutes. Just a thought.
Posted by betsyray85[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the thought. I did think of that, because we will have tables and chairs for the reception, which will follow right after inside the lodge.

emilyb213

You must have a seat for every person, regardless of the length of your ceremony. Even if you're anticipating a short ceremony, you never know what kind of delays can occur that would lead to guests standing for a considerable length of time. Betsy has a good suggestion for using the reception chairs. Will you have catering staff available for the reception? They may be able to move the chairs inside quickly.

positivek

I've been to plenty of standing weddings as well with short ceremonies. No one muttered about it- everything was really a-OK (old and disabled obviously are exceptions).  As it's mentioned that it's brought up a lot on the international boards here, I don't think the seat rule is a "Pittsburgh thing" either; I'm inclined to think it's really a "Knottie thing", as I have never heard any noise about this IRL.