North Carolina-Outer Banks

Skip formal seating? Croatan Ridge Reception

We booked Croatan Ridge for our wedding in November and I was wondering what others had done for seating during the reception. Other suggestions on seating are also useful. We are planning on having a buffet (probably BBQ type foods) but I really hate when people end up sitting at a table all night. We are hoping to have dancing drinks, cake etc down by the pool and then upstairs in the pool house is an empty room which perhaps the food could go as well as some tables. Is there a way to have "cocktail style" seating with a BBQ buffet? If you have done this about how many tables and chairs did you have as compared to guest count? We are thinking about having a family member (who is experienced so she is able to cook for that quantity) Do we necessarily need to have waiters and such, if so how many, where do you book just staff? As for chairs, do you need to rent two sets, as in one for the ceremony (which we are having in the driveway) and then another set with the tables? In which case that's nearly $600 on chairs alone. Any suggestions would be helpful as I am starting to get bogged down with logistics at this point. Oh and we are inviting 100 and expecting a good amount to drop out.
  

Re: Skip formal seating? Croatan Ridge Reception

  • We are getting married in Corolla next month. We're planning to have a "cocktail style" reception with seats for around 80 people and a BBQ buffet. We are expecting around 140 people total. We will be providing some areas with additional seating, 8 cocktail tables and a large dancing area. Not exactly sure how it will go yet- but I can check back in after the wedding!!

    As for renting two sets of chairs, I've been to several weddings where they ask guests to bring their chair to their reception seat and to help out guests who cannot carry their chair. This seems like a great solution and doesn't put half your chairs to waste while the others are in use.
  • I would suggest having formal seating, especially for a BBQ buffet.  BBQ is messy, and standing while trying to eat it is even messier.  Could you do tables around the pool?

    We were married in an event home in Carova and had cocktail hour on one level, dinner (with seating) on another level.  Trust me, if your wedding is fun, guests won't spend much time sitting at a table, but we also had those few who just enjoyed sitting around and catching up with friends--and that's ok!

    We also rented one set of chairs and just had some family help move them between the ceremony and the reception.
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