An excerpt from a wedding scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (don’t worry, I won’t give anything away):
“Ladies and gentlemen!” called the tufty-haired wizard. “If you would please stand up!”
They all did so, Auntie Muriel grumbling audibly; he waved his wand again. The seats on which they had been sitting rose gracefully into the air as the canvas walls of the marquee vanished, so that they stood beneath a canopy supported by golden poles, with a glorious view of the sunlit orchard and surrounding countryside. Next, a pool of molten gold spread from the center of the tent to form a gleaming dance floor; the hovering chairs grouped themselves around small, white-clothed tables, which all floated gracefully back to earth around it, and the golden-jacketed band trooped toward a podium.
“Smooth,” said Ron approvingly as the waiters popped up on all sides, some bearing silver trays of pumpkin juice, butterbeer, and firewhisky, others tottering piles of tarts and sandwiches.
Oh, if it were only this easy.
One of the most frustrating experiences we have had thus far has been in dealing with the cost of white, wooden garden chairs. You know, the kind that fold and have the slightly puffy seat and have a back that is conducive to hanging things from? Those babies are $4.50 a pop!! In contrast, the white samsonite plastic chairs that are tippy and have all rounded edges preventing you from hanging even a purse off of them are only $1 each. With the need to rent 130 chairs for the ceremony and 130 chairs for the reception it becomes a matter of $1,170 vs. $257.40…a whopping $912 difference just to have prettier chairs.
To compromise, I came up with the BRILLIANT plan of having some Mr Corn’s guy-friends at the wedding move all of the chairs from the ceremony to the reception (remember, they are less than 100 ft away from each other). But much to my dismay, although the rental company is all for it, the caterer has put their foot down and will not allow it. Their reasoning…they have a policy about moving furniture during events!
How stupid!!
There is a potential of some people thinking that it is a bit ghetto to have (a pre-selected team of) guys from the wedding move all of the chairs, so I get it that they don’t want people to think badly of an event that has their name associated with it. But that doesn’t stop me from being incredibly disappointed that I can’t have my white garden chairs. Too bad I can’t just have everyone stand and have the entire reception appear around them. Those darn Wizards have EVERYTHING figured out!!
PS – I am still only on chapter 14, so please no spoiling in the comments. 
That’s terrible. Maybe you could use the less expensive chairs for the ceremony and the nicer ones for the reception.
i can’t believe they have a policy against that. my friend used the same chairs for the ceremony for the reception…and the caterer had their team move them! maybe you can look into valeqt’s suggestion, if you really want those chairs. you can easily hold the purse during the ceremony but its nicer to be able to hang it from somewhere during the reception.
Dude! Gah!! I didn’t know there WAS a wedding in the 7th Harry Potter!!!!!!
*Wishes I could perform a memory erasing charm on myself*
I sorta understand why due to liability reasons but they should offer to have their staff move the chairs for you. If that wasn’t in your contract *not allowed to move chairs* then I would ask them to come up with a good alternative, that doesn’t require you spending more money.
um, venues move chairs all the times… in fact, they transform the same exact space from a ceremony to reception, so they have to move furniture in order to do that. i’d suggest finding another venue… but i know that’s too large of a change. how about trying for a different chair company?
i love that excerpt! makes me wanna read the series… i’ve never read any of them!
What about just have the garden chairs for the ceremony and then the lame chairs for the reception?
Unless you have a non-refundable deposit, is there a way to change vendors? Seems like you have a bad vendor.
Laura S - Did you read book 6? They mention it there?
Oh my goodness-I wish the whole world was as easy to transform as it is in Harry Potter. I won’t spoil it for you, but the ending is very satisfying!
Tell your caterer you have a policy against working with people with unreasonable policies. That’s just silly. Besides, you’re not moving furniture during an event, you’re moving it before the event. Ha! Got ‘em there!
Our caterer (of whom I am not fond) insisted that the chairs had to be around the tables in order for his people to set the place settings properly. Well, when he got there, the chairs were all set up for the ceremony, and you know what? His servers were perfectly capable of eyeballing where to put 8 plates on a round table. They’ve done it before, you know?
I don’t even know how the chairs got moved. I assume the groom’s cousins did it.
About a year before our wedding, we attended one that was the same size, the same setup, the same style…I call it the dry run of ours. The same thing happened there. I was a guest and I don’t even know how the chairs got moved.
that is absolutely ridiculous. I agree with Sarah.
I would ask them to account for their policy. Even if it is for liability reasons you should be able to sign a waiver that releases them of responsibility should a person be injured by one of your dangerously moved chairs.
If it were me, I would be just as angry!
That is so lame. I once spent a half hour moving chairs from the ceremony site to the reception site when I worked as a server for a high-end catering company. I really don’t think any of the guests cared, as they were all boozing it up at the cocktail hour when we were lugging the chairs around. Also, what average wedding guest even knows who the caterer is at the event they’re attending?
I totally thought the same thing you did when I read that passage in Deathly Hallows! Lucky wizarding world inhabitants ::grumble::
Hehe Lori, there was always a chance it would not happened due to events in the wizarding world, so it was a tiny spoiler 
Laura - Don’t worry…they mention it in book 6 and it comes up VERY EARLY in book 7, so I really am not giving anything away.
aoedorothee - read. the. books. Seriously, I hadn’t read any until just before 5 came out and I thought the whole thing was silly. But I was bored at a friend’s house one day and started book 1 and never looked back.
Everyone else - I can’t change vendors, they are the premier clam bake company in the North East (and we have a deposit down). I was thinking of getting the nice chairs for the ceremony and the ugly ones for the reception, but I have to convince Mr Corn of that. I have tried to plead my case every which way, but since they aren’t normally wedding caterers, they just don’t seem to ‘get it’.
Oh well. It really isn’t the worst thing ever.
Thanks for your support though.
I agree - read the books. I started reading them between the 4th and 5th…back in 2003 when I was a senior in college. I thought the whole fad was stupid until I found myself bored at work day and picked up a copy.
They are incredibly addictive.
I’m just glad that there are other grown women out there (and future brides) who are just as addicted!
No. You are paying and they need to show you something in your contract that says you can’t do this. You have the purse strings here. You are the boss.
if only muggle weddings were that easy!
i only knew a handful of people who were reading the books the first few years. i had wanted to read them early on, but i knew that i would not be able to stand waiting a full year for each new book to come out… so i waited until about 4 months before book 7 to start the series and bought them one at a time! i can’t believe i was able to do that, but i had 1-6 done a couple of weeks before 7 came out and i had a hard enough time waiting the 2 weeks! i enjoyed them immensely and i’m sad that the series is over.
[...] we rented to get ready in since we weren’t at home) Dance Lessons: $225 Rentals: $5,831 (includes two sets of chairs for ceremony and reception, reception tent and the bazillion things that go with it like exit signs and fire extinguishers) [...]
Mrs. Corn, Newport, RI
Age and Occupation in '07: 31, HR for public accounting firm
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Consultant for public accounting firm
Engagement Date: October 7, 2006
Wedding Date: September, 2007
Blogging Since: June 1, 2007
Venue: North Lawn of Fort Adams State Park
About Me: I am a lazy scrapbooker who loves the instant gratification of making cards and I am very easily distracted by all things shiny. In honor of my childhood nights spent hibachi BBQing on the beach with my family, we are hosting a traditional New England Clambake for our reception.
ghetto to move the chairs?!?!
i have a team of chair movers! and those guys work for free.
that is ridiculous that they wont let you move the chairs, shame you cant make them pay the difference! but that too would be magic.