If you have a wedding party, do they have to sit together for the reception?

We’re having sweetheart table & the wedding party will sit with their spouses/sig others.

I'm not having a wedding party table. For the most part they don't really know each other so they'll all be at different tables with their family and friends, as you suggested.

You don’t have to have a head table, and in my opinion, it’s better to not. Your friends want to sit with their dates, not on display for the rest of the guests.

I've been to weddings where it is done in all different ways! I'm having a long feast style table for us and my wedding party (and their plus ones).

I went to a wedding where the wedding party was told to sit at a table with the rest of the party, without their plus ones, and it was kind of awkward. I was the plus one of someone in the wedding and it was a little weird not knowing anyone. But depending on your guests and what you want to do, you can honestly do it however you think works best!

View Quoted Comment Right. I think I’m going to do a sweetheart table and have the wedding party sit with their friends & family.

View Quoted Comment Can I ask what made you decide on a long feast style?

View Quoted Comment Yeah! We weren’t originally going to that style. We planned a much bigger wedding and were going to do circle tables that sat about 8 each. We downsized to 75 people but we kept our big wedding party (we both have 12). Our venue has a really cool part of the reception hall that’s kind of longer with windows all around. So we decided to do two long tables side by side for a more intimate, feast style dinner. It just fits the style of wedding we’re having now and was much more functional that way in the venue! But I actually love the idea and think it’ll be fun for open speeches and toasts. It’ll just feel more intimate. But for a larger wedding, we wouldn’t have gone that route. We didn’t plan on having our party sit at one table together, but I’ve see it done that way and it can still work and be beautiful!
This isn’t my wedding but this is our venue and how we will have our tables set up!

Head tables aren’t really common anymore. Having them sit with people they know has become the norm from what I’ve seen. I’m in a friend’s wedding, and I’d much rather sit with people I know and can talk with than the other people in the wedding! That’s also how we plan to do it at our own wedding.

View Quoted Comment Also, most of my bridesmaids are married or in a relationship with my fiancé’s groomsmen! So no one will have to sit with people they don’t know. If you have a range of friends, I def would let them sit with their dates and family!

We are doing a sweetheart and then having the bridal party sit with their partners. Like others have said I think more people are moving away from the traditional head table.

Team sweetheart table.

Two of my BMs are married to each other, another is married, my bridesman had a girlfriend I didn't even know about until 2 months before the wedding. (Shocker: that relationship cratered fast. ...Not.) DH had his sister, 2 married guys, and his BM brought his dad with him, because he's like an uncle to DH, and a single woman. So... yeah, a gazillion times easier to put them with friends and family.

Every time I've had to sit at a head table, I've been MISERABLE and don't want to subject my friends to the same. Like PP said, it feels like you're on display and my introverted self was not about that. We plan on either doing a sweetheart table and having our wedding party sit with their SO's or a long feast-style table with ourselves in the middle and our wedding party (and other friends - it would be a really long table!) on either side. We just wouldn't have anyone seated across from us so our photographer can get pictures of us during speeches, etc.

We let our wedding party sit with their significant other and plus ones because that didn't really make much sense to me for them to sit separate from them

Before COVID, our initial plans was to have the wedding party sit together and close end nearby the sweetheart table, but due to COVID we have decided to do household seating only to make everyone feel comfortable.

We also did a sweetheart table and had our bridal party sit at the "family" tables - but our parties were perhaps a little "odd" to the usual - my best friend (who is married, so her husband sat with them as well), his best friend (who did not bring a plus one), my brother and his wife, H's brother and his wife, and H's nephew - and obviously our brothers and their families would have sat with the families regardless.

No, the wedding party should sit among everyone else.

Your attendants should be allowed to sit with their significant others among the rest of the guests.

I love the sweetheart table idea! Because more emphasis is on you as the couple and you can really dec out your table. Also, the wedding party will likely want to sit with their respective spouses/families. As a bridesmaid in the past that’s been my preference vs the long table etc

It's totally up to you! We're having a sweetheart table and all of our wedding party will be sitting at other tables with their significant others.

View Quoted Comment I decided to go ahead and do that. ☺️