Escort cards/place cards

I strongly advise against this idea you can assign people to tables instead of seats but without one it can get chaotic and take forever to seat people

I'd also advise against this. People will end up pulling chairs to other tables or the people that come in last will possibly be separated from their significant other/family since there isn't enough seats at a table. You don't have to assign specific seats, but at least assign your guests to specific tables. This is a must if you have a plated meal so the wait staff knows what meal each person wants

If you do not have at minimum assigned tables, you will have pure chaos. Couples get split up, grandma saves a table for people who don't sit with her, etc. Some guests will even leave.

Skip the signs. Use placecards. Also unless you are having a buffet, your caterer will require to know who gets what meal and that is determined by color coding placecards.

I agree with CountryBride. Unless you are having a wedding with like 10 guests, self-seating can be chaotic. People don't neatly seat themselves in groups of 8 or whatever, so you run the risk of partners/ families being separated and so on. It takes about an hour max to figure out table assignments and you can print escort cards for pennies if you get a pack of Avery small tent cards and use their free templates.

“Open Seating”

Please, assign to tables and let them choose seats.

How many guests will you have? Do you have a wedding party? We just discussed this with our venue. If your total count is 50 or under with no (or a small party) wedding party then you’ll be fine- you can reserve tables for family & wedding party. You can either have your greeters let guests know it’s open seating except for the reserved tables. Over 50 it’s strongly advised to do a seating chart.

If you’re definitely going forward with not assigning tables then you need about 20% more chairs than you have guests for all the reasons people have described above. I’ve been to a wedding where there wasn’t assigned seating and it was fine but there were definitely tables with chairs pulled over and squeezed in and tables that were half empty, so just think about if you can deal with your reception looking a bit chaotic. I will say at that wedding it was a bit of a relief not to have assigned seats because at another wedding my partner and I went to, the bride’s mother had assigned the seating and had no idea who we were so she put us with a bunch of random people instead of near our other friends who attended. So if you decide to assign tables make sure to also do it thoughtfully!
Our caterer talked us into assigned tables since we have a lot of guests with dietary restrictions and we want to make sure that they receive the correct food.

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Like Michelle mentioned, if your guest list is very small, then not having a seating chart would be fine but for larger guest counts, it's highly suggested that you do have one. You could always just do assigned tables and not seats. That way you don't have to make name cards, and just have to have a sign with the guest names listed and their table number beside their name.

If you still decide to not have assigned tables, then plan on having more chairs than you expect. I went to a wedding last year that didn't have assigned tables/seats and it was a nightmare. Me, my FH, about 15 of our friends AND several people we didn't know, didn't get to sit down ONCE all day. We stood up from the ceremony till the wedding was over. People would sit at tables in their own groups but leave like 1-2 chairs open which doesn't work if you have a large group or couple that wants to sit together.

Just be wary that you may think you have enough tables/chairs...when you end up not. If you go this route, then a sign that says "Open Seating" or not having a sign at all will work. People will know that it's a free for all if you don't have table numbers or escort cards.

Agreed with everyone else - assign people to a table at the very least! My cousin's wedding was open seating and it was so frustrating trying to find enough seats at one table for our family and sooo awkward asking people to move from the few reserved tables.

For more order and less confusion at the reception I strongly suggest assigning tables. Also, during covid era, household/close family seating is best and ideal for guests and their comfort at this time.