What matters the most when you’re planning an event? Your guests.
As an event planner, you should always remember how much each guest is giving up to attend. Guests for corporate events often find themselves sacrificing precious family time. While wedding guests on average, wind-up paying anywhere from $600 to $1,000, to cover the costs of attending.
Considering how much your guests are investing in you, it’s only fair you focus on delivering a memorable experience. The best place to start is by finding the right event chairs to suit your occasion. If you’re not sure how to choose the right set of seats, we can help!
Read on to find out how to pick a guest-friendly event chair.
What to Ask Before You Buy
Before we start introducing you to different chair types, you’ll want to get specific about your chair needs.
Here’s a shortlist of questions you should be asking:
- Will the event be taking place in a covered area?
- What type of surface will the chairs be on?
- How long is the event?
- How will the chairs look in pictures?
- Do you need seats for children?
- Will there be a bar?
- What’s the attire for the event?
First, consider how long you expect your guests to sit for it. If guests have to sit for more than an hour, splurge and get extra padding for their chairs.
Are you getting chairs for an event that’s going to have a photographer? If so, find out the color scheme for the event ahead of time, and make sure the chair designs will fit into the event’s theme.
Special Seating Needs
Next, you’ll want to ask yourself if there are any special seating needs. Do you need booster seats for children? Will there be a bar that needs bar stools? How about high chairs? These are all questions to consider before trying to pick the right chair color or design.
Match Guests Attire
Finally, think about what your guests will be wearing. If it’s a very casual event, pick a chair design and style that’s laid-back. However, if it’s a classy and elegant affair, you want to get more intricate designs.
When we say chair designs, we’re mostly referring to the backing of the chair. Intricate designs include special woven materials or unique metal shapes.
Different Event Chairs
You can break event chairs up into 2 main groups, banquet chairs, and outdoor chairs. A banquet chair is for indoor events.
Indoor chairs are usually lightweight since you don’t have to worry about the wind blowing them away. Outdoor chairs are usually lower to the ground in a little bit heavier.
Chairs for Outdoor Events
An outdoor event chair will have short legs, sit close to the ground, and they sometimes have cup holders. The idea with outdoor chairs is that your guests will be sitting in them for longer periods. These chairs usually have wider seat options for added comfort.
If you’re having a very casual outdoor event, you can keep it simple with classic plastic, stackable chairs. Plastic chairs are also great if you run into rain. Instead of having to dry cushions you can just wipe the seats dry with a towel.
If you’re having a fancier affair, consider getting wooden chairs for your outdoor event. Formal events and weddings look great with timeless foldable wood chairs.
For sleek and chic chairs you want to go with neutral colors like black are white. You can even take things up a notch and have your chairs highlighted in gold trim.
Banquet Chair Variations
There are 2 main types of banquet chairs. First, there are folding chairs, and next, there are stackable chairs.
Stackable chairs for banquets usually have padding. A stackable chair will either have a dome back, crown back, or even a teardrop back.
If you get folding chairs, they most likely won’t have any padding. However, you can add your seat cushions to the folding chairs. Folding chairs commonly come in metal, wood, and plastic.
Banquet Chair Features
If you’re having an indoor event and you want to get banquet chairs, it’ll help to know all of the features these chairs provide. Fun fact, chiavari chairs served as an early inspiration for modern banquet chairs. It’s common for banquet chairs to fold, or be stackable.
In most cases, indoor event chairs won’t have armrests. The idea is that your guests will be moving around during the indoor activities, so they don’t need armrests for prolonged seating periods. You’ll have an easy time setting up your event since banquet chairs are lightweight.
Common uses for indoor chairs are meetings, town halls, banquets, and of course weddings. If you’re having an event that’s going to be several hours long, you’ll want to get more comfortable chairs.
Since banquet chairs are for short-term seating, they’re designed to be easy to store. This is great news if you have an event where you need hundreds of chairs. It won’t matter how small your event spaces, you can easily store the chairs and pull them out when needed.
Types of Folding Chairs
Whether you’re having an indoor or outdoor event, the right folding chair can make things easy and stylish. There plenty of folding chairs you can choose from, but we’ve narrowed your selection down to five great choices. Here are the best folding chairs for your event:
- Plastic folding chairs
- Wood folding chairs
- Resin folding chairs
- Metal folding chairs
- Bamboo folding chairs
If you decide to go with plastic, your guests will be able to enjoy a sturdy backrest, with a simple metal frame. These chairs are great if you plan on having a lot of guests attend since they’re easy to store.
Plastic folding chairs are also a solid option if you’re worried about the chairs sinking into the ground. The metal tubing between the back legs, make these chairs even with any surface.
Have a Successful Event
There you have it! A short and simple guide on how to pick the best event chairs your guests will love. Now, every attendee can sit back and enjoy everything you have planned.
We hope that our article will help you have a successful event, that you can cherish for years to come. For more ways to be successful, explore the rest of this site.
