No seating plan!

Please assign tables! It doesn't take that long and ensures every guest has a seat! I have been to several weddings that went with the we are all family, no seating plan and it has not worked at all. I had no seat at one wedding as there were not enough seats and at another wedding, the parents of the bride had nowhere to sit! Split up the list if you want and FH assigns half and you do the other! We went out to eat and assigned tables, it was much more fun that way! Good luck!

I dont understand why reserving tables for your close family is ok....just makes it more obvious that you don't care about the rest of your guests. If you don't assign tables, you have to have at least 10-20 percent more open seats available (which increases your costs). Worst wedding guest experience of my life was due solely to no assigned seating

I suppose it depends on a few things to determine if you want to do a seating chart or not. 1) if you have a large number of people attending and 2) if there's some saltiness that might go down between guests. We are personally not doing a seating chart (besides the bridal party/immediate family.) We're estimating to have around 80 guests, we don't have anyone coming that can't get along or will have issues, so therefore we feel that we will not have an issue. Our venue provides more than enough tables so if each table isn't completely full then fine.

The most annoying posts always begin with "where I come from..." or some variation. No, it's not where you come from. There is no region of the country that holds a monopoly on rude behavior. The farmer's daughter in the country hills is quite capable of holding an elegant and beautiful wedding that meets all the requirements of etiquette, just as the yuppie Upper West Side couple is capable of holding their Four Seasons bash with the rudest honeyfund or cash bar you'll ever see. It has nothing to do with where you come from. It has to do *who* you come from. Just because your family/social circle throws weddings a certain way doesn't mean you need to let the cycle continue when people are giving you anecdotes about why your way isn't good for your guests.

It is rude to your guests to let them fend for themselves in a room of strangers, hoping they get to sit next to their significant other. The only way to insure couples/families stay together is to do table assignments at the very least. We also may not do assigned seating, but we will appropriately assign our guests to a table and each table will have enough seats with plenty of room to move around the table if they wish.

I just shared this story on the TACKY post:

FH and I were photographing a wedding, at a fire hall, groom and groomsmen wore camo vests (oops, got off-topic), and it was an open seating plan. Someone was gracious enough to move from a table so FH and I could sit together for the meal service (buffet on styrofoam plates). And their DJ was a radio host of some sort. I know the DJ should get the crowd pumped up, but he used his radio host voice the. whole. time. Luckily it was an open bar, so I took full advantage (even as a vendor).

Just my experience with a no-seating-plan wedding.

ME.. they are grownups they will sit with who they want.

@MrsMarsh, it is rude not to have a seating chart, for the reasons that are mentioned by almost everyone in this thread.

I'm not doing a seating plan

At least assign tables. Open seating can get extremely hectic. You'll have large groups that want to sit together, random amounts of empty seats, and late arrivals won't be able to sit with their party.

Please assign tables.

I wish I could be a fly on the wall for some of these disasters.

We've gone to 3 weddings with no seating plans that ended badly for us or friends.

The first, we ended up squeezing 12 people at a 10 person table as 2 of our friends arrived after us and there were no seats around us left. (Plus we were all the out of towners at this wedding so we knew less people to just go sit with.)

Second my FH and I ended up sitting across from each other, instead of next to each other,(at a round table) as those were the only 2 seats left when we got into the reception (that's what we get for being nice and offering to clean up a few ceremony things while they took pictures. Haha)

Third and most recently, we got up to get drinks and appetizers and another group took our table. I had to politely point out the purses on the table and the jackets on the chairs.

I have been to a lot of weddings with no seating plan and have actually only been to one wedding that had assigned seats and it was not the greatest in my opinion. There was no mad dash, fighting, or yelling about seats at any of the weddings with no plan, but when we had assigned seats, I heard more then one opinion that they didn't get to sit with who they wanted and it was awkward. The weddings with no plan however, all had a few assigned tables for immediate family. I don't think there's a completely right answer to this topic, it just depends on the type of wedding and maybe the area.

I hate going to a wedding without assigned tables. I've been using the seating chart in the WW planning tools. When I get an acceptance, I put them at a table. I'm putting family groups together and matching friends with other friends who may have things in common. I also have some guests with mobility issues, so I'm making sure they are at tables where they don't have to walk all the way across the room. I'm sure I'll be doing some shuffling around but at least I feel like it won't be such a burdensome chore. And all my guests will know that they have a seat at a specific table with compatible table mates.

I'm not against seating plans but all 3/ 4 weddings I've been to with assigned seating/assigned tables have been terrible. I recently went to a friend's wedding from highschool. She had seated the group of us friends from high school all together along with her cousin that we had also gone to high school and been friends with. All of us got our placement cards and went to the table and noticed that our table was already filled. We checked the seating chart twice and realized there were people at our table that were not placed there. A friend said something to the gentleman seated there with the cousin. The people sitting there stated that they had not seen this cousin in quite some time and blantenly told us that they were not moving. We didnt want to make a scene. All of us group of girls had to sit at other tables with family members we didn't know. I sat by myself, and left after the introductions along with many of the other woman. This has happened at 3 out of the 4 weddings I've been to. You would think that adults would sit in their assigned seats but alas it happens.

I think it totally depends on how the reception will be set up. For my the dance floor will be in the middle and tables all around so there really isn't going to be a awful seat. I am probably going to reserve tables for family and I have extra tables too. I will probably have about 100 people if that with tables of 12 seats. We are having mostly just family at our wedding and only a few close friends so it shouldn't be an issue if when I begin getting rsvps back and the party size of each family seems bigger I may do table numbers but not certain seats. But for now I am not going to do it because we're all gonna be family and I want them to be social and get to know each other.

It's not the best idea. I went to a friends wedding, I wasn't in the bridal party but helped her set up and stuff. She didn't have a seating chart or anything and let me tell you I was pissed. I was one of the last people to sit down because I was helping her with something AND I GOT STUCK SITTING OUTSIDE! I was stuck with the worst seat because everyone else got first dibs on the best seats. Please at least have assigned tables or plan on having extra tables at least

I'm thinking about not having assigned seats. I went to a wedding with assigned seating, they had a plated dinner so it was necessary for assigned seats. We were sat with all the older people and weren't really comfortable cutting loose. I recently went to a wedding with open seating and it was fine. It was mostly family so everyone was mingling. I guess at the end of the day guests may be unhappy either way. "Why did you seat me with them?!" Or "I don't know where to sit"

Do a seating plan. You're actually thinking that leaving 120 guests to figure out where to sit is a good idea? It isn't. It says, "We didn't do a seating plan, so have at it." Single chairs, weird groupings...it's a terrible idea.

You are hosting a very expensive and large party. A seating chart comes right after collecting the accepted RSVPs. It tells each guest that you thought about them and placed them at a table with people you'd thought they enjoy. Please, I'm begging you, do the right thing. Assign your guests to specific tables.

If it's possible, maybe have extra chairs available?

Oh, first world problem alert -- apparently people get bent out of shape when the passed apps, booze and dinner are diminished by older table guests who, by their mere presence at the table, prevent younger guests from cutting loose (Why? Do the younger people want to dance on the tables? Clue -- head to the dance floor).

Who cares who you sit next to when you eat dinner at a wedding, as long as the seating is effortless and service is competent? Once dinner is over, it's a free for all anyway. Just assign tables.

Allymonbanana -- extra chairs available? For whom? Are there tables to go with those extra chairs?