Choosing the right chairs for a wedding depends on the venue, the style of the day, and whether you need the same chairs for ceremony and reception. This guide covers the three main types, how many to hire, and what to expect on delivery day.
Choosing the right chairs for a wedding depends on the venue, the style of the day, and whether you need the same chairs for ceremony and reception. This guide covers the three main types, how many to hire, and what to expect on delivery day.
Wedding chair hire is one of the larger logistics decisions in event planning. The right chair depends on the venue, the style of the day, whether you need the same chairs for ceremony and reception, and how you are handling room turnover.
The Chiavari chair is the go-to for formal weddings and black-tie events. It is a lightweight, stackable Italian design with a characteristic grid-pattern back. The Chiavari Chair we hire comes with a padded seat and is popular for marquee receptions and hotel banqueting suites.
Chiavari chairs work well when:
They can be set up in rows for a ceremony and moved to tables for a reception, though this takes time. Allow 30-45 minutes for a crew of four to flip a room of 100 chairs. Seat pads are available separately and worth ordering if guests will be seated for a long dinner. Bare Chiavari seats are fine for shorter ceremonies.
Banqueting chairs are the standard for hotel functions, conference centres, and larger indoor events. They are sturdier than Chiavaris, padded throughout, and comfortable for longer use. The Banqueting Chair is upholstered in a neutral fabric and works in formal or semi-formal settings. It is heavier than a Chiavari, which matters when moving large quantities between rooms.
Banqueting chairs suit:
Seat covers are commonly fitted over banqueting chairs to change the colour or add a sash. That is a separate supplier job, but factor it into your timeline: dressing 100 chairs takes at least two hours for a small crew.
The White Folding Chair is most useful for outdoor ceremonies, garden parties, and marquee weddings where you want a clean, minimal look without the cost of Chiavaris. Folding chair hire is generally cheaper per unit and easier to manage: they stack well, transport on cage trolleys, and set up quickly without tools.
Use folding chairs for:
They are not padded, so for a long dinner reception they are less suitable unless pad hire is added.
For a ceremony-only setup, you need one chair per guest. For a ceremony followed by a reception where the same chairs are reused at tables, you still need one per guest, though you will need to plan the room flip carefully.
If the ceremony and reception are in separate spaces with no time to move chairs between them, you will need chairs for both setups running simultaneously. That can double your hire quantity, so confirm the venue layout and schedule before ordering.
Ceremony rows are typically set two chairs wide with a central aisle. A row of ten chairs takes roughly four metres of width. For 100 guests, that is ten rows of ten chairs, around eight metres deep at standard 90cm row spacing.
For a round-table reception, eight to ten chairs per table is the norm. A 5ft (150cm) round table comfortably seats eight; a 6ft (180cm) round seats ten.
Chairs are delivered on trolleys and placed into position before your venue access time. Most full-service hire orders from Expo Hire include setup in position as standard.
Check your venue delivery access before booking: some ban vehicles on grass, others have narrow service corridors that affect how chairs are moved in. Pass on any constraints at the time of ordering.
Browse all chair hire options or contact us for a quote for your event.
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