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As I was researching ways to spruce up our budget-friendly wedding space, I discovered something that shocked me, upset my stomach, and almost made me pop out a few tears. Yes, this discovery prompted the Jams to engage in some hours-long What are we getting ourselves into? conversations.
What on Earth could it be, you ask?
Chair covers and sashes are five dollars to rent…PER CHAIR. And for 150 guests, that’s $750…for CHAIR COVERS. That is over seven percent of our entire $10,000 wedding budget…on CHAIR COVERS. Not to mention our guest list is rapidly growing, and we’re quite sure it will be around 200-ish by the end of it all.
Oh yeah, the best part? This doesn’t include setup, tear down, or their delivery fee. Peachy!
What the hell is the chair-cover industry trying to pull on us? We’re renting them, not spinning them out of straw. A rickety chair is still a rickety chair, no matter what kind of cover you throw on it. And that pretty sash ain’t gonna make your guests any more comfortable, so get rid of that wishful thought right now.
It’s pretty clear that budgeted brides and grooms might not be able to have it all, and sadly, that might include chair covers. We certainly can’t afford to rent fancy chairs, so what can we do to to spruce up green and gray banquet chairs?
The jury is still out determining that answer, but we’re making it our goal to find an alternate decorating plan. In the meantime, though, I have a quick little fix. And this quick little fix costs as much as ONE chair cover and sash.
This is a little silver lining for all penny-pinching brides-to-be, budgeted moms-of-the-bride-or-groom, and even those grooms-to-be who love a french manicure now and then. (Don’t worry, we’re not judging.)
Meet my new BFF, Nail Art Pen! Because I’m all about cheapy-cheap finds (while still looking snappy), I am all for this french manicure pen by Sally Hanson that I picked up at Walgreens. Let’s do the chair-cover math: This pen costs one chair cover and sash, as opposed to a professional mani/pedi combo, which can cost you TEN chair covers and sashes. Ick.
And you better believe that spending one chair cover and sash on this is worth it—there are hundreds of mani/pedis packed into this one little pen. Plus, how convenient to carry it around with you in case of accidents? You know that sick-to-your-stomach feeling when you ruin a $20 manicure one hot second after it’s finished, dontcha? I sure do.
Still not a believer? You think your nail salon down the street does a better job and it’s worth it?
Take a gander at this, naysayers:
You’re looking at a TWO-WEEK-OLD pedicure with no touch-ups, just top coat and my trusty manicure pen.
Do you have any secret-weapon beauty supplies that you would rather spend chair-cover and sash money on? Are they cost effective and life saving? Share your wealth of knowledge, and be still my heart.
well if you’re already at walgreens, pick up queen helene mint julep masque. it’s like $3 and a miracle mask. I can’t afford facials on my budget, and this stuff is amazing, I’m not kidding! it feels like you’re rubbing toothpaste all over your face, but it’s worth it! its my super cheap secret!
Oh hunny, I feel you!! I’m having the SAME dilemma and blogging about it THIS WEEK! We’re looking at chair RENTALS, $7 per. BOOO! This industry is ridic!! Love the nail art pen, it’s the small stuff, right?
Wow, I’m really impressed. That looks better than my last professional mani. I wonder if they’re sold in the UK though
$5 for chair covers and a sash?? I’ve gotten quotes for around $2.50 a chair. The deal my DOC has through a linen rental company is $4.50 per person which includes chair cover, sash, table cloth and napkin so about $675 for us. Table cloths for the cake table etc. are additional of course. I looked back at pics I took at our venue and the banquet chairs are a plain grey color so I think I’ve decided to forgo chair covers and use the money towards other decor. Good luck!
Oh my gosh, we just had the same chair discussion. We managed to find chair covers for $3 a pop, but with 200 chairs that’s still 600$! I don’t even want to start on the chivaris.
It’s to bad, but I’d rather spend that money on booze. I wish my budget allowed for both.
Chair covers are such BS and they’re still pretty ugly. Our venue had pretty nice folding chairs that cost like, $1.50 to rent (our venue owned them), so that might be a possibility for you. You don’t have to rent fancy chairs, just less ugly chairs.
Or you could decide to not give a flying f*** about the chair covers and remember that your guests don’t care and you won’t care because in all the pictures, the guests will be sitting in the chairs. It really bothers me when people make aesthetic decisions based on how the room will look when it’s empty - because it’s just not worth it in the end. So I would say…just deal with the ugly chairs, and if you have to, ask the photographer not to include them in as many of the detail pictures of your venue space.
I think your manicure pen is much more important than chair covers. IMO, chair covers are some of the most unnecessary things. Embrace the ugly chairs 
The day that I received the rental estimate for our wedding was by far the worst day of wedding planning for me. We are getting married in an old dairy barn which apparently requires $800 worth of lighting in order to prevent everyone and everything from looking green which is what the barn’s lighting would do. It would have been nice if they had given us a heads up before we booked the venue.
Our rentals are going to end up being more than the cost of the venue. I think I should have gone into the wedding rental business!
Some may think this looked bad, but we didn’t have chair covers at all. It fit with our casual outdoor ceremony, and I never heard a word about it from our guests….
Great tip, Miss Jam! I’ll have to go pick up one of those manicure pens for the wedding. You’ve saved me from having to apply falsies!
Have you completely outruled using chair sashes? If not, you can get them rather cheaply from weddinglinensdirect.com (89 cents each–which still adds up after you multiply that by 200, but far cheaper than the rental). After the wedding, maybe you can resell them to recoup the cost?
It is cheaper to buy the stuff than it is to rent it. I bought a lot of stuff and I am now reselling it.
I am right now selling 100 black banquet chair covers for $2.00 each and 100 light blue sashes for .75cents each. let me know if you’re interested and I will send you pictures
chair covers are stupid. just use the chairs you have. no one will care.
I went through the same exact thing. Everyone told me not to get the chair covers because guests wouldn’t see the chairs. I didn’t believe them but I could NOT swallow spending that much money on freakin fabric. So we went without and…to be honest…no one noticed the chairs. I didn’t either. They were all focused on the centerpieces my caterer and I put together….for free! So that’s one piece of advice “everyone” said that was actually true! Hope it helps.
I’m in your same situation! I am having plain ol’ Samsonite plastic chairs, and i’m LOATHING the way they’ll look in my beautiful ceremony space. I’ll probably end up making sashes…for 200 chairs 
I used one of those pens to do my best friend’s nails before her wedding and it was amazing. It was so easy too!
The rental costs are just oh so very depressing. So much of my initial budget was totally screwed by all of these “extra” costs I had not anticipated. I budgeted for chairs, tables, basic linen, etc, not realizing that the costs I had been quoted did not include the set up or delivery fees which increased it by about 25%. Wtf?! We have had to increase our budget slightly because of it… I mean, we need chairs, it’s not exactly something we can go without! We have already been incredibly minimal on all the other “extras” that I actually want. The rentals are the most depressing part of wedding planning I believe.
You can do what I did and make them yourself (Well, I made my table runners and pew ties, but for my pew ties, I used a chair sash as the pattern). You don’t even need a sewing machine (though it may be cheaper!)-just buy a bolt of fabric, measure your desired width and length, cut and glue the seams down with fabric glue. You could use a cheap cotton broadcloth (generally about $2 a yard) or if you want fancy, pick up a polyester taffeta (a little more expensive, but most fabric chains offer 40% off or more coupons)
Yeah, rentals are the worst…We rented EVERYTHING and that was the biggest cost of the entire budget!
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Mrs. Jam, Chicago Age and Occupation: 25, Writer/Associate Wedding Coordinator Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Structural Engineer Engagement Date: December 23, 2009 Wedding Date: June 2011 Venue: Hunter’s Ridge, Princeton, IL About Me: I’m a penny-pinching cat lady getting ready to marry the frugal dog lover of my dreams. Our ideal Saturday morning includes rummaging around people’s junk at garage and estate sales followed by an afternoon date to our favorite café, where we only eat sandwiches that include the word “salad.” We actually love it so much, it’s sort of our unofficial wedding theme: Look at our delicious finds, eat homemade ham salad, and celebrate our love…barndance style. When we’re not obsessing over our love-fest shindig, we’re planning themed parties for our best friends and jamming to '90s music.
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