Wedding Blog
I’m talking about chairs and chair covers today. I know, don’t get too excited. 
But, when you think about it, even though chairs are such a minor consideration compared to other aspects of the day, they will probably sneak into a good amount of the wedding photos. And I don’t want them to look out of place. Yet, in the same vein, our budget didn’t and still doesn’t have a wedding chair contingency plan. Hmm, what’s a girl to do? Let me relay our mini-dilemma.
The first time we toured our venue, our ceremony room was set up for a business conference. Picture long tables covered with white linens and mauve cloth covered metallic legged chairs manufactured in the 1980s, possibly the early ’90s. I perused the room, completely skipping over the chairs, because in my bratty (albeit naive) bridal mind, I assumed that our venue would be providing us with those pretty, “ladies lunching”, delicate chairs that I had seen at friends’ weddings before. Something like this:
{Sigh} I later learned that the chairs I was envisioning were called “chivari chairs”.
When presented with my complimentary chivari chair assumption, our catering manager laughed and resolved my rookie mistake by handing me their pricing guide for venue chairs. My brief love affair with the chivaris ended abruptly. Heck, our venue didn’t even offer free chair covers. You mean I have to pay you to cover up your ugly chairs? Huh? Here is a sampling of what they look like:
In retrospect, they were not bad, but they certainly were not chivari chairs. Initially, we decided that our chairs would need to be covered. So we negotiated with our venue’s manager and got her to throw in chair covers and sashes for free. Sweet. So with covers, the chairs might look like this:
I still couldn’t decide whether I liked the chair cover look or if there was just too much fabric going on. I’ve been in limbo about this for months. Then I got an idea from Weddingbee PRO, Courtney at Flush Designs (more on our meeting in a future post) that I hadn’t thought of before. She suggested we might think about using the chairs as-is. They might fit in nicely with our vintage-inspired theme and the chair covers might actually make the room look too busy. I tend to agree with her line of thinking, and we are now leaning towards not covering the chairs.
How will you handle your venue’s chair situation? Will you cover them or not?
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Share this post: Do We Cover Them?
I wouldn’t cover, because I think they attract more attention when they’re all sashed up. Undone, though, they’re just chairs, and don’t take away from the decor.
I think Courtney is right. We are leaving the chairs as is at our venue. I just couldn’t justify the cost of chivari chairs even though I think they are beautiful!!
We are going to have to cover them…they don’t even match! Some are stained or look like they have been exposed to sun for too long.
Had the exact same issue! At first we were going to rent simple white folding chairs for our rooftop ceremony, but when the logistics made the price sky high, we decided to just deal with the chairs as-is. I don’t think anyone else will notice, other than the bride! And as a sidenote, your venue chairs are way less ugly than mine =)
Not sure if this helps, but our venue has chivari chairs that you rent. They could actually lower the cost of the chivari chairs but couldn’t lower the cost of covering the banquet chairs with linens. We are going with chivari chairs because the banquet chairs are scary looking and its cheaper than coverhing. I think the chairs you have above look nice and you wouldn’t have to cover.
I agree, those chairs really aren’t that bad I wouldn’t go with the chair covers, there would be too much going on.
don’t cover the chairs!
although they are not chiavari chairs, they are really cool looking and vintage! i say embrace them!
We’re in the midst of figuring this out too. Our venue has pretty comfy chairs but they’re blue. Nothing wrong with blue but our colors are the opposite of anything blue. We’re going to rent the chivari chairs (no sashes or ties) but not without doing some major price comparisons and trying to have them discount the price, “in light of the economy.”
If you are having a vintage theme, the regular chairs aren’t bad at all.
I’ve always found chair covers really weird looking, but perhaps I’m in the minority.
Those chairs look good. I would leave them as-is. I think the covers might overwhelm the room. I’m using dark walnut fold out chairs and leaving them as-is because it’s outdoors. I looked in to chivaris, but at almost $9.00 per chair, I said “no.”
Can’t wait to hear how your meeting with Courtney went. I just received our invitation in the mail from her. She’s great to work with.
@theredpen: I can’t stand chair covers, personally. You’re not alone. 
Don’t cover!! Those chairs are actually really nice… most hotels have the “meeting” chairs.. that are SO ugly! But, since I hate the way the fabric drapes over chairs with chair covers, we went with Spandex chair covers. Seriously, best last-minute wedding purchase ever. They looked AMAZING. They looked like normal chairs except with a little pizazz. (yes, i just said pizazz). Not many people know about spandex, but I would say look into it. The company I used shipped them and they were easy to put on and take off.
I like the look of the chairs without any covers or frills. I’m more simplistic I guess.
Your chairs are nice, so I don’t think they need to be covered. At my venue, the chairs are terrible (rips, stains, etc.) and I’m trying to do whatever I can to make room in the budget for covers. I saw the room set up with covers and thought it looked nice, but when I saw how bad it looked without covers, I knew we had to at least try and make it work.
I think your chairs look great as they are. Plus, I bet they are way more comfortable than chivaris. And I am with the group that does not like the fabric chair covers - they generally drape badly, and often just look cheap. And they call more attention to the chair than the chair alone would attract.
And, I disagree with you - unless you’re planning on having a collection of photos of your empty room, I don’t think you’ll really see your chairs in your wedding photos. Your photographer will mostly take photos of people - and while sometimes those people will be sitting down, a lot of the time they won’t - and even if they are, the focus of the photo will be the people, not their chairs. We got our album last night, and out of the 120 photos we selected for our photographer to use, there is not a single one that shows a chair.
Your chairs are WAY betting than our chairs. I agreee with Suzanno, unless you are planning on having photos of just the room set up…I doubt anyone will notice. We are having this same discussion right now, and I have hard time paying so much money for really something no one will notice but me.
Don’t cover! I am biased though I guess, since I am generally anti-chair covers. I think if the chairs are really old and ripped, with stains, then yeah chair covers are a good idea (but I’d make the venue supply them gratis, in the event of old and yukky chairs.)
We were in the same boat. So we are having the florist supply the chivari chairs. I think covering the banquet chairs would cost as much as renting chivari. Anyway, covering isn’t the most awesome–you’re probably doing the right thing to not cover.
please don’t cover them! i really like the chairs as is and i feel like covered chairs and sashes look so stuffy.
but if you do want chiavari cairs - I am also in the LA area and was able to get a pretty good deal. pm me and lmk if you want the info!
Don’t cover them! I like your chairs the way they are - and I am also not a huge fan of how the covers look. I just don’t think chairs are a great place to spend $, in fact I had to check our pictures to even see what ours looked like! (I think they are actually Chivari - our venue pretty much only does weddings and scush so I guess they bought nice looking chairs
I hate sitting in covered chairs. You can’t tuck your feet under when you’re sitting in them- which makes for very uncomfortable sitting! I think that they’re a waste, and I silently cursed the bride at the last wedding I attended for choosing them- as I bunched up the fabric beneath the chair to get some room for my feet.
Just another vote for leaving them as is…yes, I’m a chair cover hater…
Those chairs don’t look so bad, at least they have a nice shape to them and are not beige! Just a tip, though, I asked my venue to throw in the chair covers for free since I’m spending so much money there and they agreed pretty quickly! So…it doesn’t hurt to ask!
The chair covers can be a bit tricky for your guests to sit in since there is so much fabric that may get in the way. I like the chairs as is, and it gives a nice vintage touch.
Am I the only one who doesn’t like chivari chairs?
Your venue’s chairs look perfectly fine, Miss Glitter. I would use them as is.
Thanks, friends! I think the consensus is that I should can the chair covers idea. I must admit that the chairs look their best in the above picture (I couldn’t find any recent photos of the chairs). In person, they aren’t too hot. But, I think we will work with them sans covers.
@suzanno: I’m glad to know that the chairs aren’t heavily photographed. I guess I had visions of them finding their way into every reception picture! It comforts me to know that they probably won’t be.
we’re leaving the chairs as is but i didn’t even consider any other options because of our budget. i think the picture looks great - you should try sitting on them yourselves and maybe taking pictures if they let you
I can’t wait to see what you decide because I’m having the same dilemma. I really want to rent chiavari chairs but am hesitant to pay more for…chairs. I agree that covering chairs will draw more attention to them. Don’t cover them, Miss Glitter!
I’d vote for not covering and leaving the chairs the way they are, which is really not that bad. They actually pretty good looking, with that vintage feeling and all.
And ooooh yeah, i’m another chair cover hater…
We’re not covering our ugly chairs either. They look like yours but in an awful seafoam green. Chivari’s were out of the budget and I’ve never been a fan of chair covers. We splurged on the florals so I feel like that should be enough to take away from the hideous chairs.
If those are the chairs your venue has I would keep them. I also am not using chiavari chairs they are too expensive but if I had the choice of your chairs I would be over the moon with happiness because they fit into the style of your wedding and you don’t even have to spend a dime. Personally I would take your venues elegant chairs over white sashed chairs any day of the week!
I have to admit that I don’t love the look of chair covers — they’re so . . . girly. Blech. I’d leave them plain!
i agree, I wouldn’t worry about chair covers. If anything, they just bring attention to the chairs. We will have to rent ours, so hpefully we can find something thats nice and inexpensive!
I’m betting that if you didn’t notice the chairs when you first saw the venue, your guests definitely won’t notice the chairs with the room all done up!
I’d leave them as is, no one will notice!
I don’t really like chair covers, but the chairs in our venue are really beat up and a crazy color that clashes, so we have to use them. *sigh* I keep putting it off because I am still resisting lol!
I just had this conversation with my planner this weekend. Our chairs are slightly less fancy than the ones that you’ll have and my planner advised us to go with them. She hates covers - they look great when you walk in the room, but then they wrinkle and get in the way and are a great big yuck. She said if anything she’d go with chivalry chairs, but that our chairs were just fine and would barely be noticed since it was a night wedding.
I’m also in favor of avoiding chair covers if you can.
The weddings I’ve been to where they used them at the reception, I always end up catching something under at least one (if not more than one) chair leg. If you do use them, try to make sure they don’t drag excessively on the floor. It’d be a shame to dirty/rip them.
our venue has similar off pink chairs. we are considering covering them, only if the budget allows.
we’re on the fence about whether we should go with chivari chairs. we’re kinda leaning towards it since we have to rent chairs regardless for our ceremony. that’s my justification. i’m anxious to see what you decide…
I covered our chairs. I agree they are just chairs… however, when you have a summer wedding using pale and grassy greens along with buttercup and bright yellows… somehow black chairs didn’t really fit in with that decor. Thank heaven we did too. It looked amazing and really brought the look together. However, those chairs don’t seem too bad.. At least they aren’t black. And they don’t look cheap either. I’d go with what is affordable. Honestly, looking back, maybe a couple of the girls really pointed out the chairs, but I really don’t think anyone else payed attention. Good luck on your decision!
I’m not a fan of covered chairs, so I talked the Mr. into letting me get my dream chivari chairs! It was the first thing I said, I HAVE to have for the wedding and he gave in…too bad I did it for a few more things, lol.
we covered our chairs - I’m not a fan of covered chairs, but I’m also not a fan of ugly ones either! Your chairs aren’t so very bad, though - you could go either way.
Our chairs are super ugly and cheap looking. And black, which doesn’t go with my color scheme (green and white). But I decided that I just couldn’t spend the money on chair covers - some of those are expensive, even just to rent! So I’m trying to remind myself that no one will remember what the chairs look like. I think yours will be just fine without the covers!
I too am a chair-cover hater. We’re in limbo over whether to cover ours. They’re an awkward burgundy color that just doesn’t vibe with our theme. Just as I’d convinced myself that we could use them as is, my fiance decided he wanted to help with a decision and that we needed to cover them. Perfect.
I was torn by this decision because the hotel wanted to charge us for them, PLUS $7 per chair as a LABOR FEE!
We got chair covers from an online source and all the groomsmen and the groom went to the hotel early to cover each chair! I know that was ghetto but I just couldn’t spend $7 on EACH chair when we could do it for free!
Also, in the end, everyone ends up covering the chairs with their suit jackets and coats!!
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Mrs. Glitter, Los Angeles
Age and Occupation: 27, Research Consultant/Writer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Accounting
Engagement Date: May 6, 2007
Wedding Date: June, 2009
Venue: Millenium Biltmore Hotel
About Me: I was born and raised in West Los Angeles, California. I spent eight years in the Northeast working and completing my education. Having split time between two sides of the country has given me a true appreciation for both coasts. It has also provided an overabundance of cross country drives, flights and long distance relationship fun/misery! I love my family, my doggy Emma, fabulous wine, Anthropologie, politics, reading, being outdoors, exploring new cities, and good movies! My fiance and I are complete opposites, but somehow we have managed to fall completely and hopelessly in love.
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