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Half seated, half standing reception?

knottie5739e0c1fa528345knottie5739e0c1fa528345 member
in Wedding Reception Forum
We are having a more casual afternoon wedding and reception with hors dourves and a dessert bar and we are debating the seating situation. There should be about 150 guests and for budget reasons and to keep it casual, I am thinking we are going to do table seating for about half and then provide bistro tables in the rest of the area. There is also natural ledges and a couch if people want to sit but there isn't a table. Does this sound like something guests will be ok with? Or should we do seating for all?
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Re: Half seated, half standing reception?

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    downtondivadowntondiva member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited January 2022
    Have seating available for everyone. It isn't right to have that option for some guests but not others. Your wedding will not be any less casual for having more. table seating 
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    climbingsingleclimbingsingle member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    Honestly this sounds terrible. You need to have seats (real seats, not ledges) for all your guests. 
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    flantasticflantastic member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    If your reception is like 30 minutes at a non-mealtime, this might be okay. However, if it's over a mealtime you need more than hors d'ouvres and dessert, and if it's longer than 30 minutes, everyone is going to want a place where they are entitled to set down their stuff and sit. This does not sound at all fun to me as a potential guest.
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    maine7mobmaine7mob member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    I went to a wedding like that and it was really, really hard, not just on the old folks, but on the younger ones, too. What happened was that people grabbed seats and "reserved" them, so those who didn't do so quickly had to stand for everything. It actually got a bit nasty. (I remember having to ask a table of 20-somethings for a seat for my elderly aunt, and they actually pushed back.) And that's about the only thing I remember about this wedding.

    Have a seat for every butt. You don't have to spring for the fancy chairs. 
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    ILoveBeachMusicILoveBeachMusic member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    So much what everyone else said and particularly @flantastic about the food available.
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    MyNameIsNotMyNameIsNot member
    First Comment First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its
    Agree with others, you need seating for everyone. When you limit seating, you create a situation where seats are a "limited resource" so people will be more apt to save them and will stay sitting for longer to keep seats. It's a huge problem for anyone with mobility issues, but also makes it uncomfortable for anyone just wearing uncomfortable shoes or carrying a heavy coat. 
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    banana468banana468 member
    First Answer First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment
    MyNameIsNot said:
    Agree with others, you need seating for everyone. When you limit seating, you create a situation where seats are a "limited resource" so people will be more apt to save them and will stay sitting for longer to keep seats. It's a huge problem for anyone with mobility issues, but also makes it uncomfortable for anyone just wearing uncomfortable shoes or carrying a heavy coat. 
    And in most circles even if the weather is warm and no one has a heavy coat, men start to get casual and want a place to put their jackets.

    That place at the direction of the smart wives is a chair because it marks that the seat is taken and chair plus handbag in adjoining seats says: Two seats occupied.

    Please don't turn your reception into a game of musical chairs for guests.  Those that want to stand will.
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    Jen4948Jen4948 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    Every guest needs a seat.

    If my mother, for example, were to attend a reception, she would have to be seated the entire time because of medical issues. She just can't stand for more than a few minutes at a time. Nor could she sit on a ledge. She needs to sit on a sofa or chair.

    Please have chairs available for all guests throughout your reception.


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    levioosalevioosa member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    Ditto PPs. 


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