If there is one element that can make or break your wedding decor aesthetic, it is the chairs you choose. A beautifully dressed table gets lost in your reception if it is surrounded by ten ugly chairs that stick out like a sore thumb. Fortunately, there are a variety of seating options and solutions available on the rental market. Here are four of the more common ones:


Chiavari chairs (pronounced shih-vahr-ee) are a popular option for wedding reception seating. It's important to remember that Chiavari chairs are an upgrade and are not typically included with your venue's wedding package. If the photos the venue gives you feature Chiavari chairs, be sure to ask if those are their standard chairs or if you will have to pay more in order to have them. Chiavaris run about $8-$15 a piece depending on your market and will be pricier if you are required to contract them through your venue. So, if you have your heart set on this pretty and classic option, be sure to budget at least an extra $80-$150 per table of 10 or an extra $800-$1500 per 100 guests.



Ghost chairs are sleek, contemporary and perfect for a modern event. These are becoming more popular, and more and more rental companies are adding them to their inventories yet they are still not quite mainstream.  Depending on where you are located, you may still need to pay extra for shipping if your local rental companies don't yet carry them. The Louis Ghost Chairs average around $50 per chair, so for these lovelies be sure to budget about $5000 per 100 guests.



The wooden (or resin) padded folding chairs are a popular option for outdoor ceremonies and are usually the most economical at about $2.25-$4 per chair, or $225-$400 per 100 guests. They can be dressed up with a chair tie or ribbon to better fit your overall design concept and they come in a variety of colors. Depending on the formality of your event, these chairs may be a bit too casual for a four-course meal in a ballroom and could end up distracting from your aesthetic instead of contributing to it.



I'm convinced that banquet chair designers and carpet designers are in a conspiracy to make every hotel ballroom as tacky as possible. Banquet chairs are most likely the standard that come with your venue's package, yet they probably won't be the ones in the brochure's photos!



If you are using banquet chairs, you can opt to use chair covers to dress them up. Chair covers can range from $4-$15+, or $400-$1500 per 100 guests, with the average falling around $8-$10 each. Chair covers are also deceptively time consuming to install, so be prepared for a higher fee if you are hiring someone to shimmy the taut cover onto each chair and then tie each bow for you. I'd recommend comparing costs because once everything is added up you may find it is more economical to use Chiavari chairs.




{photo credits: Chiavari Chair, Ghost Chair, Padded Folding Chair, Banquet Chair, Chair Covers}