Open Seating for Reception

Yeah, I made sure to seat my guests at tables with other people they knew or would want to sit with. It wasn't hard. And after dinner, very few were sitting anyway...

I went to two this way. One was a small wedding (like 75 people) and there were no issues the other one was large (150+) and it was a nightmare.

I am having open seating with reserved tables for family only. I have never felt stressed as a guest finding an open seat at a wedding. I've only been to 1 wedding that had assigned tables and I felt much more uncomfortable when I had to sit next to people I had never met. I guess seating charts are uncommon in my area also.

You know how difficult it is to create a seating chart on paper weeks beforehand? Imagine 100 people trying to navigate it live and in-person.

Table assignments are really not that hard.

Put the bridal party and their dates together. Put your parents and their friends together. Put your couple friends with a few of FH couple friends, repeat as needed. Put pervy uncle Steve next to your Grandma so she can keep him in line...

I personally am doing assigned seating and im having 80-100 guest but how well do your mixture of guest know each other? Is it less formal where everyone would be fine regardless of who they ended up next to? I just think it can get awkward for guest.

It's not finished yet, but you get the idea

ASDM717 - so basically you didn't want to do what is required to ensure your guests don't have to stress over where they sit. That spin on "they can sit where they want" is more like "they will have to fend for themselves and be placed in awkward situations where they will have to navigate their seat for the entire night and ask if they can sit here without moving around tables to accommodate people who get split up".

Assigned tables are so easy. YOU KNOW YOUR GUESTS THE BEST so you should know who can sit with whom so they can enjoy the night the best. Having people figure out for themselves just doesn't really work well. I know I would hate to go through that.

PLEASE do table assignments if nothing else. They are your guests, and you should be able to figure out who they would interact best with. I have had horrible experiences at weddings without seating charts where parties / families got separated, Like PP's have stated, it isn't that hard.

We went to a wedding to 3 weddings this summer that did not having a seating chart. It only worked if there were WAY more seats than people. The wedding with "one extra table" was stressful and people who came together got split up or ended up standing.

Yeah, being the last 10 or 12 people to arrive basically sucks because you could easily get split up. Be a good host and do a seating chart.

She asked for advice on how to set up for a reception that doesn't have a seating chart. Not if she should or shouldn't.

@FutureMrsJenkins she also said she was "considering" doing it. Look - don't come on here telling us what we can and can't comment on. You don't want to go there.

"We are considering doing open seating for our reception and I wanted to see if anyone else is doing this as well."

ETA: @Jeleebeenz - exactly. I was too busy looking for FH and came back and we almost got split up.

@FutureMrsJenkins, so if I asked if there was something in my teeth but you noticed that I had a booger hanging out my nose you wouldn't tell me because I only asked about my teeth?

I guess some people would rather a thread just sink and die because if NO ONE RESPONDED THE WAY THE THREAD STARTER WANTED, these threads would be dead.

@FutureMrs Jenkins, I'm pretty sure that sign is for the ceremony seating, not the reception but I could be wrong

I'm not trying to tell anyone they can't comment. I was just pointing out the fact that just like everyone can comment their opinion the OP can comment responding to whichever comments she wants to.

This won't be read by OP because it goes against her opinion, but I hate open seating. I and FH both have anxiety (I don't use this term lightly as we both go to counseling for it) and open seating makes our asses sweaty. It causes us to way overthink where to sit and makes a wedding way less enjoyable for us. But fuck us, right? It's your day.

@Ragan, you are correct. Those types of signs are definitely for ceremony seating.

I vote table assignments. At least in my case, we have some guests who can't dance (medical issues, or older guests) who would want to be near the dance floor so they can enjoy the atmosphere, see our first dance easily, etc. Even if you don't have people in this situation, you may think about a couple guests who may not be head-table or VIP table worthy that need some type of accommodation or you would like seated near or away from certain areas (away from speakers, near a bathroom, near the entrance, on the outskirts for the party people who you know will mingle). As people say a lot, the reception is to thank the guests, so I want to help them feel comfortable in the room. Which means not having to worry about the numbers at each table, and getting a seat that they would appreciate.

I actually think doing the table assignments is kind of fun, it's like a puzzle!

@FutureMrsJenkins, she asked if anyone has/is doing this. We are saying no, why not, and advising (wisely) against it.