Assigned seats for small wedding?

At the very least reserve seats for your VIP's! It would really suck if they got stuck sitting in the very back or having to be split up throughout the table because there weren't seats saved for them.

^don't do what @Melaina said, it basically tells your guests that some are more important than others.

I'm guessing you're not going to have extra seats, correct? I would 100% assign seats, that way there aren't random seats left open and people having to be separated from their loved ones.

I am having a pretty big wedding (not for a while though) and I will definitely be doing assigned seating. The reason being, I have been to several weddings the last year and many over my life, and seating has always been an issue! Although I have never been to wedding that had assigned seating, but at the weddings I've been too (even at a really small wedding) it was awkward not knowing where to sit and I ended having to sit my people I didn't want too.... now thats not bad, but I do remember at the last three wedding close family members to the bride and groom (grandparents actually) didn't even have a place to sit! They were just walking around with their plates and drinks....

Now since you are having a small wedding this should be really easy to make a chart or cards.... mine however is going to take forever lol but it will be worth it I think....

As a guest I would prefer to be told where to sit, instead of worrying about if I am taking someone important chair...

Especially with the long table scenario, yes please do assign seats.

I wouldn't. Unless you know some family members can't be by each other or you specifically want people closer to you.

Round tables = assign tables only

Tuscan seating (what you're having) = assign specific seats

VIP section is a great idea

We have 25 guests and we will be doing a seating chart. It just makes life so much easier for myself and my guests and I get to make sure all of the family and friend groups sit together. It also makes the flow of the room easier when everyone is arriving.

I am such a big fan of seating charts, regardless of guest list size. You don't want a family of 3 split because there are only two seats left.

I have 40 guests, as well, and we will be getting place cards and assigning seats. I don't really feel bad about sitting people close or not close to us, because there's so few people!

VIP section is the WORST idea.

You are a VIP!

But, you, you're a peon.

I was just at a wedding this past weekend that did VIP seating only and everyone else was just confused trying to figure out where to sit. Assign at very least tables.

Definitely assign seating. Even for my 24 person RD, it was almost an issue when we didn't assign seats because there were three tables. Same with our head table. I had it planned out in my head so people with SOs would sit next to their SO's. But I forgot to relay the plan to anyone, and by the time we had finished our first dance, our WP had arranged themselves around the table. Unfortunately, H's brother insisted on sitting in a specific seat because he was left handed, which left one of the GM's wife having to sit across from her husband. And that was only 14 people.

It felt micro-managey to assign seats but now I see how it will make things easier for everyone in the long run. Thanks for the responses!

Our guess list came to 42 ppl, rather than assigning specific seats we assigned tables. It gave everyone a general direction of where they needed to sit with out making it feel like grade school. It worked well for us, no issues

Personally, I don't like assigned seats at weddings. I have only gone to two of the that were assigned seats. So we are not doing a seating chart.

Seating chart, FOR SURE.

I had a combination of long and round tables, and we assigned seats = 60 guest. The venue had a map of where people were sitting for their dishes. With that being said, a few people decided to change their seats, so I just notified those people that the dishes were coming out at the assigned seats.

I definitely think you should do a seating chart - especially for the long tables!