A Timeless Affair -- Inspiration for Vintage Weddings: Space and the lack there of

Celebrations have friends gathered around one table. Sometimes this table is one long rectangle. Sometimes this table is in the shape of an F. Other times in the shape of an L. But one thing is consistent. All of us are at 1 table.

So why on a beautiful Saturday am I once again talking about tables when it seemed like it was a done deal a few short weeks ago? Because somewhere I misunderstood how all our guests would fit in the hall for dinner. I'm still not sure how I missed this - I could have sworn I asked, especially as I wanted to avoid stairs and rope off the balcony. But nonetheless it turns out there's a reason our space has both round tables and banquet tables - 10 of each. All 20 of the tables fit inside the hall where we're having our reception. Not all the tables actually rest on the hall floor - some of the tables are set up on the third floor balcony.

Now I knew with our venue that we couldn't seat the total number of guests at 1 table. At 6 guests per banquet table when the tables are arranged end-to-end we'd only be able to seat 62 guests. I however had always thought all of our guests would be on the same floor. I always imagined looking out and seeing all of our friends and family members. With guests seated in the balcony, there will be some who I won't see.

It's stupid to be disappointed, after all it's just one meal. But we worked so hard to find a venue and set a budget so that we could invite as many of our friends and family as possible to both the ceremony and reception. All that effort and still some (more than some at least 12!) will miss seeing our faces during the toasts, our faces when we dance our first dance, etc.

I'd imagined after the ceremony and Yichud, that cubes and I would leisurely mingle with guests during the remaining 45 minutes of our cocktail hour. We'd skip the traditional reception line and go table-to-table to greet our guests and thank them for joining us. Unfortunately, there's not enough room on the balcony for us to greet the guests seated there.

(Source)

On the plus side... the tables on the balcony can be set up before the ceremony and the balcony roped off until the reception begins. On the downside... none of the round tables downstairs can be set up until after the ceremony is finished as the chairs take up the entire floor.