PSA: Open seating SUCKS!

I agree. If you are having more than 150 people, do a seating chart. If it's a smaller gathering where just about everyone knows everyone, open seating is just fine.

Or they were just plain disgruntled. It also took FOREVER to get people seated! So long that the bride and groom had to wait almost 20 mins to make their entrance!That, coupled with an open bar, made for an "interesting" night.

So just sayin....if you have the option, ASSIGN SEATS! IT's a lot of work, but man, it would have been so much easier for everyone!

Yikes! Thanks for the PSA. I was halfway thinking about doing open seating with a guest list of 120. But that sounds like high school kids trying to find seats in the lunch room.

I actually work with a girl who had a big wedding (200 ) and had open seating. There are a few girls from the office that attended that felt the same as you. A lot of them left earlier than they planned because they couldn't sit with their signifcant other!

Disorganization bugs me anyway. I'd be going crazy. I went to a wedding this summer that had tables of 12 (huge round tables) and our place cards simply had our table number on it.. So you got to choose where you sat at the table. That was confusing enough! It took about a million "musical chair" moves to finally get everyone in FS's family seated.

That's awful. I went to a wedding once that only had seating for some tables, and since she invited more people than seating, me and my friend shared a chair. lol

I totally agree. I think it's do-able, but moreso with smaller guestcounts. If you do open seating, you definitely need reserved tables for family, VIPs, etc. Otherwise, grandma may be standing and/or sitting with your drunk friends from college!

You answered a question I had in my head. Are we so fine tuned that you can read my thoughts now?

LOL.

Thanks for the PSA, and for reading my mind. You go, girl.

Oh ya, they actually did have reserved seating for VIP's...but they couldn't find it! The tables just said "reserved" with no assignments. Oy vey.

Totally agree analy. i went to a wedding with open seating and couples that got there late couldnt even sit together bc there was only seat left here and one over there. i think it is a bad idea if you are having a lot of guests.

I totally agree! Thank you for sharing your experience with us :-)

Agreed! seating charts are the way to go with that many people... I went to a wedding and they had more seats then guest luckily, but me and DH ended up at a table with my parents and one other couple at a table for 12... we looked like the loser kids... haha... it was then a vowed to do the seating at mine... much better...

I recently officiated a wedding and was invited for the reception. It "appeared" that there were more guests than seats.

Turned out it was the right number, but 7 guests wanted to sit together and all tables were mostly filled (with only 1 or 2 empty seats available). Staff had to set up another table, get chairs & napkins & flatware & plates from other tables, find a tablecloth and a centerpiece -- just to get those friends seated together.

@Nancy- Yea, some of her guests actually tried to bully us to move so that a few of her (drunk) friends could sit with them. We were NOT moving by that point. Didn't get ugly...but I could see that some people were getting really mad. I would have avoided that at all costs...especially if you know your guests...

Ummm yeah i would go nuts and be upset!!!! im going to to have assign seating

AGREED- this is way we had assigned table seating!!!

Analy thanks for that info. I have been planning to do open seating, but we are only putting 6 people at each table (the tables normally are 8-10 per but we want room) and the place told us people can fill in if they want, but we are also having 5 extra tables put in and set (we need 25 tables so we are setting 30) I helped wiht a wedding a couple years ago with open seating for 200 and except for 6 people it went awesome and no one got upset about where the bride put them. We are planning to have assigned seating for the immediate fam and wedding party but otherwise open. Also, we are doing cards, but becuase they have the assigned seat but so someone could put them at thier seat to hold thier seat, it will be warm and outside so people won't have coats. But i will give this another thought after having heard your experience.

Oh and the reason we were doing open seating is I have been to several weddings where people look at where the bridde and groom but them and made judgements about it and I don't want to deal. My mom still hasn't forgiven my cousin for putting her in the back of the hall with the paid band when my mom was her stand in mom for all the planning and such.

I'm having open seating but I'll have fifty ppl or less and most of them my side so they all know each other. If it looks like it's going to go up though, I'll totally take your suggestion and make a seating list.

Wow!! Good to know since I will be having an open seating (around 100 guests). I don't want my mom 'fighting' over her own chair.