By now you probably know that there are two types of materials used most often for wedding-style folding chairs: resin folding chairs and wood folding chairs. Wood folding chairs have typically been the material of choice for event venues and rental companies however resin folding chairs have been gaining steam over the past 5 years.

In today's post, I'm going to provide an honest comparison of the two and then let you determine for yourself which folding chair makes the most sense for your business.

Below is a detailed comparison of these two including the pros and cons of each type.

Wood Folding Chairs

Pros:

• During informal stress tests, breaks at 748lbs of weight
• Lower initial cost to purchase
• Slightly lighter in weight 9.1 lbs
• Stackable when folded flat
• Seat is replaceable

Cons:

• Shows scratches more easily when the wood is stained as the interior of the wood is light
• Need to be secured with bungee cords or ratchet tie down straps as wood folding chairs don’t lock together when stacked and will move unless secured
• Screw covers are not replaceable
• Screw covers are not flush with wood
• Higher maintenance costs associated (wood needs to be sanded and repainted or re-stained to properly maintain)

Resin Folding Chairs

Pros:

• During informal stress tests, breaks at 748lbs of weight
• Stackable when folded flat and locks in place to other chairs – requiring no additional straps
• Doesn't show scratches due to resin being same colour throughout chair
• Low maintenance cost
• Screw covers are replaceable
• Screw covers flush with resin
• Seat is replaceable

Cons:

• Higher initial cost to purchase
• Slightly heavier in weight 9.9lbs
• Can yellow with age

Each chair is a popular chair in their own right and have plenty of fans. Hopefully this comparison post will give you the information you need to make the decision that’s right for you and your business.

Chiavari chairs, whether resin or wood, are an awkward inventory item to transport due to their large footprint and inability to stack efficiently. New party rental companies, existing party rental companies looking to expand from folding tables and plastic folding chairs into Chiavari chairs, and other companies looking to pick up instead of incurring shipping costs often wonder the size of truck is required to transport Chiavari chairs. Below we'll outline the size of truck required for the number of Chiavari chairs, as well as how best to transport them to avoid damage.

How to Transport Chiavari Chairs Without Damaging:

Here at National Event Supply, we stack our resin Chiavari chairs on skids that are 52" x 48" in order to properly ship them across Canada. All Party Rental Companies receive a free Chiavari chair storage cover included with each chair and we recommend that companies continue to use them in transport to their end customers as well as to store the chairs to keep them in good shape and free from minor scratches.

Skids are stacked in 6 stacks of 7 Chiavari chairs, and then wrapped in clear shrink wrap, then cardboard, and finally black shrink wrap to protect the chairs in transit and avoid the stacks from toppling in transit. We would recommend you utilize our shipping methods to transport your chairs to customers – which should minimize the damage caused in transit and protect your inventory investment.

What Size Truck to Transport Chiavari Chairs:

Assuming the skids are 52" long x 48" wide x 89" tall and fit 42 Chiavari chairs on them, below would be the number of skids and number of chairs that can be transported in each vehicle. Note that you can transport more chairs if you stack them in the truck versus take them on a skid. We will however stick to how many you can fit on a skid as it is the most secure method.

Being an event venue or party rental company means hundreds upon hundreds of plastic folding chairs around at any given time if they’re not already in use. One of the main issues with folding chairs is finding the proper folding chair storage in order to ensure your facility is organized and your product is readily available to transport either to another room or into your trucks at a moment’s notice. With the need for ample storage, one of the questions we often get asked is:

How do you recommend storing folding chairs?

There are 3 different ways to store folding chairs, which tend to be dependent on storage space and how the folding chairs will be used. Check them out below:

Folding Chair Cart (also known as a Folding Chair Dolly)

Folding chair carts are available in regular wheel formats and airless wheel formats. Carts with regular wheels allow easy transport on hard surfaces such as concrete or pavement however they can present a challenge when stacked full of chairs and someone attempts to roll them across the grass. Because of the hardness of the wheel they tend to sink into the grass when rolled across it – making it a pain in the derriere if you’re a party rental company attempting to drop off chair carts on grass. The folding chair cart with airless wheels solves this problem by easily allowing a smooth transition between hard and soft surfaces. Both carts hold up to 70 chairs and are best for companies who need to transport their chairs but don’t have a large floor space to store them as they take up more space vertically than width and depth wise.

Folding Chair Racking:

Photo source: eventequipment.com

Folding chair racking are designed for large party rental companies who need racking systems to stack up to 150 plastic folding chairs per rack unit. Companies can stack up to three racking units (one on top of the other), manoeuver them with forklifts from the warehouse to trucks and then from trucks to site via caster wheels.

Hanging Folding Chair Dolly:

The hanging folding chair dolly is used in schools and party rental companies to save on floor space. It features two rows of chairs with three chair stacks per row. They also have wheels and hold between 56 – 84 chairs.

Photo source: hayneedle.com

Since each method is a matter of personal preference we don’t tend to state whether we feel one option is better than the other. There are party rental companies who swear by folding chair racks and those that swear by folding table carts / dollies. It also depends on the number of folding chairs you plan on having in inventory at any one given time and the type of events you service. We hope this post helped showcase the different options you have available for folding chair storage so you can preserve your investment for years to come.

Are there any storage options for folding chairs that we have missed? Let us know in the comments!

Photo source: Stylemepretty.com Photography by: Victor Sizemore Photography

If you are in the market for Chiavari chairs, one of the questions you should be asking yourself prior to purchasing is how many Chiavari chairs fit around a round folding table? Depending on the size of the event venue you own or if you’re a party rental company that can generally rent out to a certain guest count for a party – being able to know the size of the event you can handle helps to determine the number of Chiavari chairs required for your business.

For reference, our resin chiavari chairs have a width of 14 7/8" / 37.78 cm. To illustrate how many Chiavari chairs can fit around a round folding table, I've put together an easy to reference table with the general round folding table sizes available and the number of Chiavari chairs that can fit around each size. The number of Chiavari chairs showcases the optimal number of chairs per table where each guest has a comfortable amount of room around the table and the maximum number of chairs per table should squeezing be required.

I hope this table helps you in planning out your purchase of Chiavari chairs.

Chairs in arenas, theatres, stadiums and auditoriums are a great way to optimize the amount of guests or attendees you can get into a venue. Oftentimes though, these chairs are extremely expensive and are fixed to the venue, limiting the different ways and configurations a venue can be used for (i.e. for weddings, intimate concerts, events featuring lounge furniture + dance floors + banquet layouts). But if you’re looking for seating options instead of a fixed folding chair like auditorium seating, what solutions exist out on the market that keep folding chairs together in rows but can be easily deconstructed and stored after an event?

I'd like to introduce you to a small and unassuming chair accessory called the chair ganging clip.

These ganging clips fit onto plastic folding chair legs just below the seat back and at the bottom of the legs just above the chair feet to keep the folding chairs together in a row.

They make it easy for event coordinators or their staff to set up folding chair rows in any venue imaginable and then easily deconstruct the set up after the event is finished for easy storage. For event venue managers or owners, they are a cost effective way to free up as many different configurations as possible for your event venue. Your venue has the ability to cater to multitudes of different event styles because of this ingenious little product.

I would recommend finding chair ganging clips that are of a similar colour to the folding chair legs of your event as then they blend into the chair itself and allow the event décor to be the main visual instead.