Why is Lounge Replacing Sit Down?
Is it any wonder that lounge is replacing large sit-down rounds? Who wants to sit with Uncle Walter at a sixty-inch round for the duration of the wedding? For the entire night? While we all love in-depth conversations, they do not take four hours. And we want to choose whom we have them with, rather than having the choice made for us by a seating chart that might not have our best interest at heart. Lounge keeps the event in motion (Events in Motion used to be the name of my planning company; I was always ahead of the curve.) Lounge keeps the conversation fresh during your event, and it encourages true mingling. New stats suggest that parties last longer with lounge. Good news for me. Bad news for white table cloths.
The question I’m asked most is, “How do I figure out the lounge setup?” Okay, here are some hints.
What is the makeup of your guest list by age? The younger the crowd, the more high-top tables should be in play, with a few stools and plenty of room to stand. The reason I designed our high tops the way I did was to avoid that long cloth that blows in the wind, revealing the underbelly of the table in a not-so-cool way. The younger the crowd, the more ottomans you should have, and not so much on the three-seater couches. The younger the crowd, the larger the “room” area of the lounge.
Now, let’s talk about the older folks. A wedding for 200? You have 30 older people coming? Set up five (always an odd number) 56-inch rounds for the older folks, who do so love to sit at a table. Put those tables as far from the music as you can. Put six chairs around those tables, and everyone is happy.
If you are doing the entire event in lounge (music to my ears), then do lounge seating for 80 percent of your guests (yes, you can count the ottomans). When you do a cost comparison, lounge will be less expensive than the dressed tables of old. Trust me on this.
Yes, the trend for lounge is continuing to grow. So is my inventory. So
is our innovative attention to what is cool tomorrow.
