Head Table-What if the wedding party has a spouse?

A lot of people here will say the spouses should sit together. However at our reception the bridal party sits together and the spouses all at one table.

No, you definitely do not sit the spouses elsewhere. Think of it this way - how would you feel if you were sat apart from your FH at a wedding?

We did a sweet heart table. It was the 3 of us, because we have a daughter.But the 2 of you at a table, and then the bridal party right at the front with families. Our best man is married with 3 kids, so we couldn't sit them all at a head table and we couldn't ask him not to sit with his family. It was the best solution.

One of our *potential* gms has a wife not in the party that we will be seating with us. My MOH has a boyfriend, but they're pretty much broken up so unless she gets into a serious relationship by then, any date she brings idk if I'd sit them at the table. But we'll see.

@Jenny I honestly wouldn't mind. My H is a big boy, he can eat without me for 20 mins.

We are having a head table...only 4 members of our bridal party will have a S/O at the wedding and we sat them with people they know and will have a good time with. Honestly, I think its pretty sad if you can't make it through a dinner not sitting next your significant other.

This is why I'm a huge fan of "sweetheart table" and hate the head table. You get to have alone time with your FH because most of the time people are talking to you AND your BP gets to sit with their dates. I have been at a table with people I barely knew and were all good friends because all of our dates were at the head table. It was a little awkward and I was very happy when dinner was done and we could move.

If you want to sit with some BP you can have some at your table with their dates. And if there are more you can just put them at a table next to you, with their dates.

@MrsPope -- I think we will have to agree to disagree. I've been to several weddings with FH during which one of us didn't know anyone. It would have been hugely awkward to be sat with a table of people we didn't know.. and I'm a social person! I would still be uncomfortable.

Plus, it's not typically 20 minutes. It's very often over an hour.

I'm definitely pro-spouses at the head table. Yeah, dinner lasts 20 minutes. But I think it's just a sign of respect. Not all of my bridal party's spouses or dates know many other people at the wedding.

We're doing a king's table (one long rectangular table with people sitting on both sides). It'll go down the middle of the room with the round guest tables on either side. My friend did it this way at her wedding and I loved it! Another great option is a sweetheart table, with just you and your husband. I've also seen like mini-head tables, with the bride and groom and the maid of honor and her spouse and the best man and his spouse.

@Maltese, it's not a matter of "can't." FH and I do plenty apart. But if you bring a date.. you should sit with your date. I just think it's rude.

I think you can do it either way. Ideally the dinner portion of the whole day is only about 1 hour. They will live.

We're having bridal party and their dates sit with us.

You might consider a King's table (a large table for both the BP and their dates). Most people want to be seated with their dates (whether that is a spouse, SO, or plus one). You could also do a sweetheart table (just for you and FH), and then seat the bridal party with their dates at other tables, just like other guests.

We will probably actually do a head table, but only because most of our dates' spouses/SOs know each other. We've asked them and they've convincingly said that they don't care, it's just for dinner, and they expect to be seated with other dates. I've never been to a wedding with anything but a head table, so it's what people expect.

Our venue offered us the option of a "kings table" where the happy couple, bridal party, bridal party's SO, and happy couple parents sit.

I think they either sit at the head table with their so, you do the Kings Table, or you do a sweetheart table.

We wanted to do a "Kings Table" but I didn't know there was a name for it! Yay!

Thanks Lori!

We sat bridal party with their spouse and people they knew. We just did a sweetheart table.

I know this isn't a popular answer here, but we're not having our BP's significant others at our head table.

I've been to so so many weddings (12 last year alone) and I'm not sure if I've ever seen a head table with significant others. Maybe it's just my friends and family. Besides, it's not like the significant others don't know anyone else at the wedding. We'll be seating them with others they know. And we're providing so many opportunities for our wedding party and their S/Os to get to know each other and become friends!

I have only been to one traditional style wedding, and FH was in the bridal party. They sat me with a bunch of the bride's family from OOT that I had never met before. It was a bit uncomfortable, but dinner isn't that long so it wasn't that big of a thing. I ended up hanging around a table of mutual friends after eating, there just hadn't been enough room for me at that table I guess, and as a "single" b/c FH was at the head table, I got stuck in a single spot at an otherwise all family table. I am only planning on having the bridal party at our head table. We have 5 BM and 5 GM already, so with the 12 of us we may have to have 2 head tables as is lol. I am going to seat their +1s either with people they know, or at least together so they have something in common. After dinner I imagine people will be on the dance floor or roaming around with their dates anyway.

@Jenny...No, its not rude of a bride and groom to want their FRIENDS to be a part of their day, its rude of a guest to assume that they are going to tag along and dictate to the friends of the S/O how to do things on their wedding day.

Lets say our FH's were friends and we were only friends because of them. My FH asks your FH to stand up in the wedding, and I don't ask you because I want my nearest and dearest around me...thats just the way it is. You can show up at the ceremony at the start time if you want, and then you can go to the reception, but I'm not including you in our wedding day events just because your FH is standing up in my wedding.

IMO when a person is invited into a bridal party, this is all stuff that they have to assume will happen...that they won't see their S/O for much of the day until after dinner. The bride and groom asked that person NOT that person and their S/O to be a part of their day because of the relationship they have, and S/Os basically (IMO) need to shut up about it and accept it. There is nothing wrong spending the day apart, there is nothing wrong not eating together....

But on the flip side, I do think the bride and groom should be considerate where they seat the S/Os and be sure it is with people that they know or have at least met before and make an effort to be sure that S/O meets (like at the RD) other people to ease the sometimes awkwardness that a person can feel