Now that you’ve decided to get married, one of the first things on your mind is going to be the event décor. An often ignored but crucial aspect of décor and design is seating, which can make or break the entire look of the event.
When deciding what seating style to choose for the wedding, it is essential to keep in mind practicality (the weather, the size of the venue) as well as the comfort of the guests. There are myriad varieties of seating styles, but the style chosen by you must be in keeping with the vibe and mood that you are trying to achieve.
Weddings in India have been doing the same impersonal décor for a long time. We at The Mogra Collective love to switch things up at events to create spaces that have more warmth and engagement. So instead of going with the common theatre-style, here’s a few ideas you can take inspiration from:
1. Placement
An easy to execute an idea that has great results is to place chairs or small sofas around coffee tables or round tables and create intimate nooks, so your guests can interact with each other rather than just staring at the stage for hours or scrolling through Instagram. Having a more casual seating style also allows you to play with colors and textures to bring out your individuality and personality.
2. Levels
Rather than having seating at a uniform level, you could switch things up by having seats placed at varying heights gradations. If you’re hosting your wedding in a large convention hall or on sprawling lawns that lack personality, you could create variations in the ground level so as the elevate the appearance of the seating.
3. Cushions & pillows
Place or throw colourful pillows and cushions onto your seating and you have an easy yet excellent way to add colour and brightness to a wedding venue. Pair cushions with mattresses or other low-slung options, and your guests will also thank you for the comfort.
4. Furniture style and patterns
Mix and match the kind of furniture you are placing for your guests. For example, you could pair a plain sofa in a solid colour and chairs with patterned upholstery, or offset seating in neutral colours with brightly patterned ones. Mixing and matching furniture or patterns breaks up the monotony of one big block of (usually white) chairs arranged in a row. We are on the constant look out for statement old-school cane furniture and other vintage furniture that makes the entire setting so much more personal.
5. Low seating
Usual wedding seating tends to be stuffy and does not allow for any engagement or interaction with the guests.
A good way to have people get more comfortable is to have low seating in the form of mattresses or diwans. Having a group of people in closer quarters is always more fun than having them sitting on chairs and looking straight ahead and is also much more comfortable.
Now that you know the various ways in which you can seat your guests and play around with seating options, you can go ahead and pick a style that you know will best fit the ambience you are trying to create.
In this post we’ve mentioned a few options that you could explore, and in coming posts we’ll share some detailed ideas on seating guests during the sit-down dinners, mehendi, sangeet and wedding ceremonies.
Remember, cute décor is half the battle won in the quest for an instagrammable wedding!
Love,
Team TMC