Destination Weddings Discussions

No chairs at a beach wedding??

Im having my wedding in key west next year. We are planning to get married on the beach and board a boat charter for our reception all inclusive with the same company. I got the proposal back and was going over the costs with my mother who i should mention we call partyzilla. So were going over the list of costs for each item for the beach ceremony. She noticed they were charging almost 20 per chair. We are only having 40 ppl at our wedding. She gave me the stink eye and said the chair set up is going to cost more than every other part of the ceremony combined. Which is true but what am i going to do?? She said we should all just stand around while we say our vows. It would be awesome to put that 1k somewhere else other than chairs but how can i not offer people a place to sit?!? Im going back and forth. I could see if it were 5-10 close relatives and thats it but 40 ppl?! I dunno, what do you think? Pay for the chairs, get rid of the chairs? 

Re: No chairs at a beach wedding??

  • I would highly recommend paying for the chairs. My understanding is that it's proper etiquette to have a chair for every butt, no matter how short the ceremony. Guests will be arriving 15-20 minutes before your ceremony as well, so even if your ceremony is 10 minutes, they're still standing - in heels or dress shoes - for a half hour. Your guests will be very grateful for the chairs.
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  • If I am not mistaken, one bride got married in Hawaii and granted she had far less than 40 guests at her wedding, they all stood for her ceremony.  I personally wanted to have chairs (we had 30 guests) and thought I had to pay for them and was willing to, until I found out they were included and breathed a sigh of relief...it will be a tough decision, maybe see where you can cut your budget without compromising too much for the chairs or see if there are extra funds that may come from somewhere if you really really want them?  Maybe even just re budget your day to day routines to save up, like skip that cup of coffee, bring lunch from home to work, those kinds of things?

    Good Luck!
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  • In Hawaii if you are having a wedding directly on the beach you cannot have any structures, no arch, no chairs, no tables. We decided not to get married on the beach because we wanted an arch and found somewhere else that we love but maybe they are jacking up the price to try and encourage you not to go with chairs?


  • oh I didn't know that @missmwood (re no chairs etc allowed), I learned something new lol!
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  • I agree with PP that true etiquette calls for chairs however $1000 JUST for chairs - I can see why your mum gave you the stink eye! They probably charge that much because they know brides will fork it over for the comfort of their guests.

    Having said that I recently went to a garden wedding where there was only seating for about 25% of the number guests in attendance. I ended up standing in heels for close to 45 minutes and I was definitely wishing I had a seat! So if you are going to do seats, please have one for everybody not just the lucky few that get one ;-)

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  • How about benches?  We did that and it was nice to have a place to sit, but perhaps more cost effective than chairs?
  • mrs4everhartmrs4everhart member
    First Comment First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer
    edited November 2013
    I attended a wedding in FL years ago on the beach that did not offer chairs. It wasn't that big of a deal, but we certainly thought chairs would have been a major improvement.  We knew the couple couldn't afford much and was doing what they could with what they had. Definitely go the having chairs route if you can afford it. 
  • @twiggy327 I think chairs are a good thing to consider but if you really want to save the money I think you should make certain the ceremony is short sweet and to the point! I really like the sound of your set up though can I ask who you booked through? 
  • I'm getting married in Hawaii with about 25 guests present and I won't have any chairs. All the more reason to keep the ceremony short and sweet, as others have mentioned.
  • Pay for the chairs
  • Its absolutely fine to have no chairs but if you are expecting people who are above the age of 60 ,then you need to make sure in urgency you have some.
  • how about cushions or pillows?  I've also done some awesome driftwood benches...

    there are some options that will be just lovely, be creative and check out pinterest for ideas
  • Get the chairs.  Your guests will arrive early, have to wait for you, and will be there through the whole ceremony.  My ceremony wasn't long, but I'm sure that my guests wouldn't have wanted to stand in the sand for 20-30 minutes - and they weren't over 60. 
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