Assigned Guest Tables vs Open Seating

Assigned tables... open seating is a hot mess

If you have any number of guests over your immediate families, you NEED some sort of seating arrangements. Its eliminates chaos, ensures families and couples are NOT forced to split up, and saves you on rentals (tables, chairs, linens, etc- if you do open seating, you really should have extra of everything)...It is really not a difficult process. You can do escort cards or a poster...or check Pinterest for the million other ideas for seating charts.

Both my husbands family and mine have divorced parents and grandparents so I understand where you're coming from. But do a seating chart. It makes it easier for everyone.

Would you recommend just assigned tables (like these guests are at table 1) or should I do assigned seats as well?

Assigned tables.

Majority of the weddings I have been to have not had any sort of seating assignments and it has never been an issue. I've never once experienced the so called chaos that others describe. That being said, for my wedding we will likely do assigned tables mainly due to the fact that FH's parents are divorced and it's not super civil with certain people. Not going to lie though, my mom really hates assigned seating at weddings because there was one instance where all of their friends were at one table and her and my dad were at another table across the room with no one they knew. This might be one part of my wedding where my mom gets a little firey haha.

I think it depends on how many guests you are expecting. If you are expecting 60+ it could get very confusing without assigned tables/seats

Assigned tables.

Having been a guest at weddings where I only knew the bride, doing open seating would've been miserable. I don't mind sitting with people I don't know, but I don't want to have to go from table to table to find out if there are any seats available/if people would mind if I sat there.

The family conflicts gives even more of a reason for you to assign tables.

I have never been to a wedding with a seating arrangement however I have been playing around with it for my wedding

Once you have more than one table, you assign tables.

I've been to a casual wedding in an old barn and they still assigned tables. I didn't know anyone there, so it made me feel more comfortable.

Been to a bunch a weddings with open seating and it's... well it just doesn't end well.

Do assigned seating.

I think since you have family drama you should absolutely assign tables.

We're doing assigned seating - we want to make sure our parents/siblings/the rest of the BP have tables that are close to us, and we want to be able to arrange tables by interests not by there was an open seat.

We went to a wedding two summers ago at which there was open seating, and people were pulling chairs from other tables to sit at a different table - just a mess.

Please do assigned tables at the very least. It's very confusing for guests without a seating chart, and most people aren't going to naturally split off into groups of 8 or 10. It's even more important that you group guests to avoid any conflicts. An organized wedding will run much more smoothly than one where everyone is left to figure it out themselves.

PLEASE assign tables!!! Open seating is a HOT MESS. Unless you have less than 40 guests, you should definitely assign tables, and especially since you wish to avoid family conflicts/awkwardness.

Assign tables please... even WITHOUT family conflicts I'll strongly recommend assigning tables

If your FH's family has issues with each other, you shouldn't leave them to 'sort it out' - you can hope that all adults will act that way during someones wedding, but I've seen fist fights break out at weddings at upscale banquet halls over less. Take the time to make sure these guests are seated in their own corners and let them (and you and your FH) have a stress free reception knowing any issues were prevented.

Thank you all! I'm going to be assigning tables to my guests!