Chairs, or, Could I Be Obsessing Over Anything Sillier?
August 14th, 2006 @ 4:52 pm by Mrs. Bluebell
Both of the caterers we have spoken to so far, have recommended the same tent/rental company as the best in the vicinity of our upstate wedding. I looked around their site and everything seems perfectly fine, so I think we’ll most likely go with them since that seems easiest, and they have working relationships with most of the caterers in the area.
However, I came across something on their site which drills fear and anxiety deep into my heart… CHAIRS.
First, I fell in love with the gold Chiavari chairs (the first picture in the chairs section, obviously):
The second picture, of garden chairs, was… okay. Nothing special, definitely pales in comparison to the Chiavari, but not unpleasant at all:
The third picture was plastic folding chairs. These, after looking at the first two pictures, were completely unacceptable, horror! But in truth, seem like perfectly decent chairs. (You can choose all white or all brown, so it wouldn’t have the hodgepodge look of this picture.)
After just looking at the pictures, I definitely wanted the first ones. But then I looked at the prices… $8.50 per chair vs. $3.50 per chair vs. $1.80 per chair. So now the question is, I know I love the gold chiavaris many times more than the plastic folding chairs, but do I really love them nearly five times as much??
To make this a little more tangible, the chair-only prices for 120 people would be:
- $1,020 for the Chiavaris
- $420 for the garden chairs
- $216 for the plastic folding chairs
And when you have it written out like that, it seems pretty ridiculous to even consider for one second spending $800 more just so your chairs are a little prettier, right? So I’m leaning towards the middle garden chairs, but part of me is still secretly lusting after the Chiavaris. And then the other part is saying, why double the price from plastic folding to garden in the first place?
So in recognition of what is probably my first of many adventures in Bridezilla-ville, I would like to ask:
1) How much do chairs matter anyway? As a guest, do you ever remember thinking one wedding’s chairs were particularly nice vs. particularly unattractive? Or is a chair just a chair?
2) What other ridiculous minutiae have you been obsessing over lately? Please tell me I’m not the only one! I literally have broken down to Mr. Bluebell about how we can’t even decide on our chairs!!!! He, strangely, just doesn’t quite get what all the fuss is over. 
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48 Responses to “Chairs, or, Could I Be Obsessing Over Anything Sillier?”
oh miss bluebell you crack me up. your mind process is probably pretty typical of what goes through a bride’s mind as she makes all the small wedding planning decisions.
we had the chiavari or ballroom chairs at our wedding, but I believe they were around $4 more, and the garden chairs were provided free (awesome deal from our venue).
i think the garden chairs are quite lovely, and if you can swing it i’d go with those. but you could also buy some inexpensive tulle and decorate the folding chairs to make them look a bit nicer.
do i notice the chairs when i go to a wedding? lol i notice everything… but then again i’m in the wedding biz. 
Hi Joy - yay for upstate! I bet I’m further upstate than you are though…our wedding is only about 45 minutes south of Canada on the far eastern edge of NY along Lake Champlain, so this vendor is actually based in Vermont (most of our vendors will probably be coming from Burlington as they’re right across the lake from us) Their name is Vermont Tent, and their site is http://www.vttent.com.
Haha, Mrs. Bee, I guess that question would have made more sense to ask on a non-wedding site, since I’m sure everyone’s obsessing over details here!
And I can’t tell you how jealous I am that you had those chairs!!!!!!! Ohhhh my insides are boiling!
And I was thinking about adding ribbon or tulle or something to the chairs, but then I thought the extra expense and effort there might just mean I should go for the chiavaris…sigh….here we go again!
After attending many weddings, I’m pretty sure I don’t even remember what the chairs looked like. Besides, people should be concentrating on YOU so much that they won’t notice what’s underneath their toosh!
yes the chiavaris look great… but when looking at cost… i would DEFINITELY go with the garden chairs… they look very clean… the plastic folding chairs are a no go… and for sure a nonono go with mixed white & brown…
yes… i notice everything… i’m a wedding photographer… i’m paid to notice everything & take pictures of them… i have seen plastic folding chairs.. and i personally think they DO stand out… in a bad way…
Personally, I love those white garden chairs. They are very similar to what we are using at our reception. Of course, they are included in the muesem’s rental fee, so that was definitely a bonus. Honestly, I’d rather spend the extra money on food or flowers than chairs.
$8.50 is CHEAP for those fancy chairs but my gut is go with the middle price….no one will notice the chairs but you!
I got lucky and Battery Gardens had silver chiavari chairs, but I wouldn’t spend extra on them. I say go for the garden chairs — they’re nice and not that much extra.
I like the white garden chairs. Although, you could decorate the plastic chairs…but if it were me, I’d go with the garden chairs, because they are still very lovely, and not quite as costly as the chiavaris.
I had a similar chair rental decision and went with the folding garden chairs. This is hous I made my decision. First, I’m having a relaxed garden party type wedding so a more casual chair works for me. Second, I don’t recall what kind of chair I’ve sat in at the numerous, numerous weddings I’ve attended over the years. Third, chair money is better spent on alcohol, food or music.
i like the chiavari chairs!!! the garden chairs are ok for a casual outdoor wedding i think. the plastic ones…. ehhhhh.
i’ve just gotten engaged and have obsessed over everything. there’s just too many options + ideas + not enough money. =P
heh.
i am so afraid of dealing with vendors, that i have refused to talk to anyone yet. heh. but i’m making myself do it this week.
i think the garden chairs are a fair compromise. i guess you just have to ask yourself, is having the chivaris worth the six hundred bucks to you? becuase if you are going to end up having to spend six hundred dollars to decorate the garden chairs, you may as well just get the chair you like.
Are we talking chairs for the ceremony or chairs for the reception? I would say, a pretty chair is a pretty chair, but a pretty chair is not worth spending big bucks on. The guests who aren’t obsessed with wedding details (most of the world) will not notice. Good times are made from the food, the friends, the music! not the chairs. (And those are my reasons why I’m not spending $ on chair covers.)
I can’t recall — is your wedding outside? If it is, the plastic folding chairs probably won’t hold up as well in the grass as the garden chairs will. You only notice the chairs if they’re folding on in you as you sit down!
I think it’s a great compromise to go with the garden chairs. I would love to have those because we’re going with a laid-back garden party vibe.
Thanks for all the thoughts everyone!
Just to clarify…we definitely won’t really get the plastic chairs. The “it’s MY WEDDING!!” side of me is at least $204 stronger than the “save money no matter what” side of me, so that’s a small enough sacrifice that I don’t want the plastic ones. Now we just have to decide if the It’s My Wedding side is worth another $600…
These chairs would be for the reception only. The ceremony will be outside (unless it rains) and very short, so we’re just going to have everyone stand. I’m talking literally 3 minutes here! There will be a few chairs for elderly/sick/pregnant people, but everyone else can deal with standing that long!
The reception will be in a tent, but we probably won’t get tent flooring, so the chairs would be directly on the grass.
I think the garden chairs are great, and would say you should go for them if you can swing them. This might be just bc I am not so in love with the Chivari chairs - certainly very nice, just not my taste. This is totally why I am putting off making any decisions. Every time I think about one little aspect of my wedding, I nearly have a panic attack!
I love Chiavaris! To me, chairs matter enough to the point that I’m willing to pay for the higher price of Chiavaris. Yes when it’s broken down like you did, it’s quite a bit of difference in $$ between the different kinds of chairs! For where I am, the quote I’ve gotten for Chiavaris is even more…$10 per chair. But good thing we’re having only about 55 people. But then again, that’s $550 I don’t have to spend if I go with the chairs the venue provides me. But for my love for the Chiavari chairs, I’m willing to part with that $$!
The other thing I’ve been obsessed with lately while searching for the right venue is LIGHTS. I absolutely LOVE chandeliers and I’m on a mission to find a venue that is right in every essential aspect (price, size, pretty-ness), AND that has chandeliers. Fine, fine, I’m ok with not having those if it ends up being like that :-(, but I will NOT go w/a venue that has *ugly* lights. Yes… I’m weird :-D.
Ha, I went through the same thing. We started with “we are so getting those ballroom chairs” to “$8.50 a chair!? we are so getting the garden chairs.”
You could go with another color of the garden chair to spice it up a bit. I think some vendors have a few options from dark woods and light woods.
I think that I would probably go with the middle of the road garden chairs, because it’s a compromise between seriously budget and serious splurge. I can honestly say I don’t remember a single chair at a wedding reception I’ve been to.
I think that all brides go thru the minute details and freak out occasionally, I know that I definitely have!! I just constantly ask myself “in the grand scheme of the day - will this REALLY matter? Will anyone notice besides me?” If the answer to both is no, then I stop obsessing and just go with my gut instinct.
I actually think I like the garden chairs the best… but then again it depends on the whole look of your wedding. I would definetly go with the garden chairs. Good luck =)
If you are having a sweetheart table you could just get the fancy chairs for the two of you.
get garden chairs for the party and get the Chiavaris for you and groom.
Garden chairs for sure. People won’t remember the fancy chairs but people will remember if they find the chairs uncomfortable or unattractive like the folding chairs. You can always dress the garden chairs up with a hanging flower on each or something like that.
Little details I have been obsessed with as of late: garters and shoes! The garter is the more ridiculous because it won’t be seen except the toss but I totally don’t want to wear one of those cheap ones. I found one I LOVED but it was 100 bucks! So I think I might be attempting to make one.
i, like you, fell in love w/ chiavari chairs. my venue already provides chairs for the ceremony and reception. since the ceremony will be outdoors in the lawn, they’ll be providing white padded garden chairs. for the reception, they have modern looking chairs that i wasn’t too thrilled about. SO, i’m splurging and paying $$$ for chiavari chairs. i could probably use the money elsewhere but i really like the look of them for the reception and think they’ll look great!
Absolutely no plastic chairs. My venue includes the garden chairs so that’s what we’d be using. The chivaris are nice but only people who are obsessed with weddings and industry pros notice the difference. Also, a good florist can do wonders to jazz up the garden chair. I saved some pics from The Knot bios, let me know if you want them!:)
I was obsessing over chari covers at my reception site. The dinner part of the event is only about an hour and then we move to another room. I didn’t care for the chairs used for dinner. I asked 3 different people who had recently attended a wedding at the mansion (all of them recent or soon to be brides themselves) and they could not recall what the chairs looked like. At that moment I decided the extra $7/chair for covers, was not worth it. I’d go with the wodden garden chair. The little bit of extra money you’d be spending you would probably spend in a weekend going out. Stay in a weekend and splurge on the wooden chairs.
I’d recommend the $1.80 chairs, because if people are sensible [praying that they are...] they’re going to not gripe about the chairs.
So funny! We had a similar problem, but we were “splurging” on the garden chairs (Chiavari chairs were not even an option). Practically speaking, the garden chairs will sit better on the grass if you aren’t renting a floor than either of the other two. We had them on grass for the ceremony and they didn’t sink in at all. I think they are a lovely option, and then you can spend that $600 on something people will *really* notice!
I LOVE the chiavari chairs! We used them at our wedding and honestly, they made such an impact. I had so many guests come up to us and say that when they walked into the ceremony area and saw the chairs with the pink sashes, it was stunning. We used the same chairs for the dinner area so the wedding coordinator just moved them after the ceremony, yet we had everything at the same location so that may not work for you. I’ll send you a picture seperately so you can see!
Just think, at least you’re not planning a wedding in Taiwan where for many, red plastic stools are an option. *shudder* Seriously, though, I’d go for the garden chairs, too, as it is both attractive and practical for the environment. And to keep myself from obsessing over small details, I keep reminding myself that I should be spending at least as much time planning my marriage and my future as I do my wedding - so for every minute spent obsessing over minutae, I should be doing the same on, for example, financial goals in 3, 5, 10 years…buying a house, etc. In the long term, the home you create with your husband will be more important than the chairs you had at your wedding. Helps put things into perspective.
Middle of the road is always the most sensible route. The garden chairs are lovely and look a thousand times better than the plastic ones. Of course, if you have the money to spend on the chivaris, there’s nothing wrong with that either.
I was OBSESSED with chairs…and yes, it does seem somewhat foolish in hindsight. But I don’t regret it one bit.
I know that people won’t notice the chairs per say..like they won’t leave the reception saying “wow..those were awesome chairs!” BUT…it will make a big impact in terms of the general ambience and decor of the room. I know it may just seem like a small, little chair but multiply that by 100 and it makes a large impact.
I also got married in a tent. But ours had a floor. Feel free to check out pictures on my xanga.
With your wedding being in a tent with grass on the ground, I think the wooden chairs would be fine but I personally would get the white chiavari’s. I think the gold works for more formal type weddings. I love the look of white or dark wood chiavari against grass.
if i was a guest, i dont think id like to sit on a folding chair. it just doesnt look..umm.. appealing? if i had to sit on a garden chair, i think i would be fine with it. if i saw chiavari chairs, id fall in love with my chair. so, i dont think you can go wrong picking garden over chiavari just as long as they arent folding chairs. =)
Am I spoilt? I always think that whenever we go to a wedding that the Chiavari chairs will be there under my tuckus as I sit down. Is this a commonplace thing? To charge for chairs? I don’t remember anything about chairs at my own wedding. But then again I probably had the plastic ones, but the coordinators put really lovely satin covers over all of them, with tulle and ribbon and everything. And I had 300+ guests! I’m thinking that’s what they did at every wedding. I can’t believe people charge for chairs these days!!! They should be included in the venue price for free and just pay for extras or something!!! Wacko.
I know it’s a moot point now, but, I think the white folding chairs are fine… I mean, seriously, you are outdoors, and under a tent… they will be color coordinated, and I am sure your table settings will be soo breathtaking that no one is really ever going to really notice the seating anyway
For chairs… as a guest…. all I care is that my butt is comfy for the 30 or so minutes I’m sitting in them. And I think that’s all I remember… cushion or no cushion.
But being a bride, it’s a different story. I’m obsessing over everything too… Here is my latest freak show. I have like 12 days till my wedding, and I am obsessing over the ribbons on my favor boxes. I still have 100 to go… and I am doing every single one because they HAVE TO BE PERFECT, the way I do them. I even re-tie the ones my sister attempted. I perfected the art of ribbon tying in middle school… where I swear to God I spent an hour on one ribbon until I had it right…. and I cannot let one crooked ribbon pass.
Someone lock me up in a mental institution! I am the ribbon tying nazi.
Is it just me, or are these vendors conspriring by calling some fancy spray painted (albeit pretty) CHAIRS “chiavari”, and then offering some equally lovely, simple, sounds-like-more-suited-to-your-reception innofensive and considerably cheaper chairs “garden”?? The names themselves make you think that you have to spend the money on the swanier sounding chairs. I much prefer the white ones which I think look cute, country, suited to the grass and not overly glitzy and more suited to a ballroom reception that the gold ones are… But that’s just me!!
i agree with helen … it’s a conspiracy orchestrated by the chair industry and the wedding industry!
but seriously — go with the garden chairs. the only people who will see the chairs in their “full effect” are the first ones in the reception hall … and then the effect will be ruined by people actually sitting in them hee hee hee!
I covet the chiavari chairs. I lust after them. I want them like Veruca Salt wants a golden egg. But dammit, the lowest quote I got for them was $9.50. So, lovely Miss Bluebell, I am in the exact same boat you are (with an extra 80 people to add into the mix). It stinks! How do I justify spending $2k on chairs? I can’t wait to hear what you decide to do. If you go for them, I’m telling my FI, “But Miss Bluebell did it…” I haven’t decided what I’ll tell him if you don’t though. Hee, hee, j/k!
Wait until you price out chair-seat-covers, table linens and overlays, and whether the plates are up to snuff. Yes, the plates. No joke, we’re letting (paying?) our caterer to use her own plates - nicer, fancier - to serve the main course rather than those available from our venue (which we’re using for all other served food). Because our caterer wants the best possible presentation. Plates.
Then again, I registered for obscenely expensive china, though done for a somewhat reasonable cost at a wholesaler, so I probably shouldn’t shun any expensive plating, huh?
heh.
and i forgot to give my opinion as a guest what i would notice.
i only notice if i can’t sling my purse comfortably over the chair. is that bad? either way though it makes no difference to me.
no one will pay attention to the chairs, they’ll be paying attention to you and your hubby!
I say go with the ballroom chairs. In the OBX, it’s only $7 per chair, but it’s still much more expensive than the garden chairs. I know most people could care less, but I know it will make me feel bad if I didn’t get the ballroom (chivari) chairs.
Do you believe that to BUY the chair only costs $35-40 (in bulk, of course) so rental vendors make a killing!! They just have to rent them 3-4 times to make back the cost! Yeesh…
went through the exact same dilema you are going through right now. we settled for the middle one because about $600-$800 difference, is a big difference and just for chairs. although i do think that those chairs really do make a big difference. i personally, notice these kind of little details when i go to weddings, but i don’t think most people do. after all, you can always buy some cheap tulle and decorate the middle chairs, if you want to spent that time. the plastic ones are just too cheap looking for me.
Chivaris!
We are using them for both the ceremony and the reception (same chairs too). They are $ but so beautiful and worth it.
I Totally agree…I LOVE the Chivari Chair…but mu budget doesn’t!
I was on this site doing some research because I am a wedding coordinator and I plan on purchasing 1000 chiavari chairs to rent but I will rent it for 5.50 per chair. With that said i am taking a poll, will you rent them?
Oh yeh every details counts I think you should remember if you are paying $$$$$ for photography depending on experience he or she will be taking pictures on every details. And looking at magazines and on television as a bride you want to have the same feeling looking at your photos. Lets face it PLEASE do not beat your self up in todays time it is all about what you can afford.
Mrs. Bluebell, New York
Age and Occupation in 07: 26, Finance Manager
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Playing with the cat and/or Consulting
Engagement Date: December 25, 2005
Wedding Date: June 2007
Venue: Bride's family summer home in the Adirondacks
About Me: Trying to find the perfect balance between family tradition (marrying at the house everyone else in my family gets married at), making our's modern, interesting and different from everyone else in my family's, and incorporating some Chinese tradition for my Chinese fiance. I really have no idea what it's going to end up looking like!
Also, I picked Miss Bluebell for my name because I have blue eyes and I'm a loser like that.
what is the name of the rental company? i’m planning an upstate wedding and would love to know more about any vendors in the area.