It is a rare occasion that we get to design a seated dinner for a wedding reception, but when we do we soak it up every time! Most of our clients lean towards wedding receptions that have food stations and heavy hors d’oeurves which encourages guests to mingle and enjoy themselves before they dance the night away. However some of our clients embrace the seated dinner and more and more clients are coming to us interested in pursuing this route.
There are a few reasons why we love a seated dinner for our clients, which we break down below.
Encourages both guests and clients to be present
One reason we love a seated dinner is that it gives our clients a chance to sit down and enjoy the moment with their guests. Allowing yourself to relax, eat the food you chose for your menu, and be present with your friends and family is such a rare moment on a day as busy as your wedding.
Allows for even more gorgeous details
The amount of detail and opportunity for design increases ten-fold when we are working on a seated dinner. We get to incorporate more details in elements like menu cards, linens, napkins, candles, florals, place cards, glassware, chargers, the list goes on and on. We love having the opportunity to make the setting for your guests truly special.
Gives guests the chance to eat and enjoy a beautiful menu
One of the most common pieces of feedback we get from our guests who attend receptions based more around food stations is that they hardly ate a thing. Which then tends to mean they are celebrating on an empty stomach, which no one should do! We love that a seated dinner allows guests to sit down and enjoy a full meal. Especially when the menu truly reflects the tastes of our clients!
Helps control the flow of your crowd
When it comes to the flow of your guests during a reception, nothing helps with crowd control more than a seated dinner. Allowing you to keep guests in one space, entertained, for a good hour or so if you needed to flip a space from ceremony to dancing, or if you hired an epic band that you wouldn’t want any one to miss out on. A seated dinner is the way to ensure that you are in charge of when guests are eating and when they are dancing. One tip we have for getting guests to move from one place to another is to shut down the bar in any room you would like them to vacate, nothing gets guests moving faster!
Bringing it back to basics
While there is nothing basic about a seated dinner, we’re finding that across the wedding industry, clients are wanting to bring it back to what is important. Gathering loved ones together to celebrate your big day is truly what it is all about. It is the reason why we love what we do! And while some may think of the seated dinners of the 80s and 90s, those are a thing of the past. Today’s couples are interested in beautiful wedding weekends that celebrate not just them, but their guests as well and we find that across the country couples are embracing the intimacy that a seated dinner brings.
Images by Ashley Seawell Photography, Lauren Carnes Photography, Robin Gerrard Photography.
