No seating plan!

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll have to rethink this whole assigned seating idea. After the horror stories ya'll have put in there, it's making me rethink having no seating chart haha. I don't want someone to have to sit with no one they know. I'm just not looking forward to doing it. I know its going to be a headache and a half.

I've been to a wedding where it was a free for all. Fh was the best man, and we were told that the bridal party was to sit at 2 tables. The ceremony and reception were in the same space, so the guys partners all sat at our table without the guys during the ceremony. At one point, a couple sat down at the table, and since none of us really knew them, no one had the guts to say you can't sit with us lol.... so we had to squeeze an extra chair once the bridal party was done with pictures. It was just such a mess.

Moral of the story: you don't have to assign seats, but you should assign tables.

Also, no need for sarcasm. You ask for advice, that's what we'll give you. It's not all sunshine and rainbows.

I'm not sure I've ever been to a wedding with a seating plan. Maybe my family tends to be pretty casual and easy going, but I've never seen any sort of mad dash to get tables or fights, or even families being split up.

You got no crust. You got actual answers from actual situations. As a person who is at dozens and dozens of weddings every year, I can tell you that when people find out there are no table assignments, they get nuts. And then they territorial, holding seats for people who may not fit or may not want to sit with them. It's like the Hunger games with place settings.

Reserving tables for your family isn't enough. This has nothing to do with 'your style' and everything to do with a smooth beginning to the party. I know it's a pain; everyone knows it's a pain, but it really is necessary.

The only situation that where this is appropriate is a cocktail style wedding with lots of little tables, casual seating and those airport tables.

Assigning tables for every guest is the polite thing to do.

That's waaayyyy too many people for no seating chart!! Here's the problems:

1) People will only sit with people they know. You'll end up with half full tables because groups won't want to split up. You will have to pay for more tables (and centerpieces, and linens, etc.) than you really need as a result.

2) People will have a hard time finding a seat and it may be chaotic and take longer to get guests seated to start your reception.

3) Groups of friends and even families will end up split up because they will have to awkwardly fill in gaps at tables or not have a chair.

4) VIPs like your bridal party, parents, etc. may end up at tables far away from you - they should be seated in positions of honor near the bride and groom, plus they need to be close for speeches, special dances, and to ensure they can see everything!

Seriously, please do a seating chart! It was one of the simplest tasks of wedding planning, honestly.

I'm having one because there are 125 guests and most people don't know each other. I've been in that position as a guest before and it sucks because I had to wonder around looking for a seat. "is this taken? " then when I found a seat I barely spoke because I knew no one.

This is a subject I always beat a dead horse with because I think it's so important. Please, please take the time to do a seating chart. For the ease and comfort of your guests and your pocket book. The ONLY "down side" to it, is it will take you a bit to actually do it once you get all your RSVPs. But it will be worth it to make sure everyone is seated with their entire party, won't have to split up and won't have to scramble.

I went to a family wedding without assigned tables and as others have stated it was chaos and awkward. None of our family was able to sit together, and as others said it ended up being tables of 3-4 people and tables of 12+ squeezed around.

If anything, assign tables for your family!

Assign tables, it is less awkward for guests, it fills the tables so there is no need to have extra, and let's you have control over where the important people end up. Don't want grandma and grandpa squished between random friends in a corner

Omg 100 plus people wondering around? What are you crazy?

The last wedding I went to with open seating had the exact number of chairs for people. FH and I had to sit at different tables, and I didn't know anyone else there. It sucked. At least assign tables. It doesn't take that long.

We are having around 85-100 friends and family for our wedding. We will not be doing a assigned tables/seats (except for parents and our elders) due to the our families not meeting until the week of the wedding and we want to encourage mingling with new family. We have so amazing people in our life so I really think it's about know your guest and making a decision based on that.

Let us know how that works out, Future.

We are not having a seating chart or assigning tables. we have the Bride/groom table but then the rest we are doing the long rectangle tables. i personally have been to both types of weddings and at one of the ones where there were assigned seating i actually got sat at a table at which another guest and i had a huge falling out. which made it very awkward. I ended up leaving that wedding quite early. the ones at which there were no seating charts seemed to work out great. and i hope that with mine everyone will seat swap and have conversations with others. after the dinner portion that is. Good luck with your decision.

@Danielle, just because a couple did a bad job seating you doesn't mean you should be rude to your guests.

@JennyFromTheBlock your response just made my day! I'm home sick and miserable reading WW and that cracked me up!!! Haha

But for the OP.. definitely do a seating chart/plan.

Since everyone we're inviting already knows each other we won't be a doing seating chart. .

It'll be a waste of my mind. Since I'm speaking musical chairs into existence. ..

@A.L I said nothing about being rude to my guests. Most of my guests know each other and both families have already met and enjoy holidays together, also most of my guest already know that there will not be a seating chart and they all loved the idea.

We went to a wedding that we didn't know three quarters of the people there. It was so awkward. We ended up sitting at a table that we knew no one at and we left right after first dance.

Another one we had to pull up an extra chair as there was a family of three and it was either be split up or grab a chair and smush in.

Think of your guests comfort. If you know that they won't be comfortable with someone sit that at different tables

No one will mingle it up for dinner. They go with comfort. They will sit with people they know and leave tables with odd numbers. You will need to have extra tables and chairs and have odd number tables