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October 2019

Reception Seating Arrangement - Help!

Lori, on September 25, 2019 at 3:32 PM Posted in Etiquette and Advice 0 6

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Hi all,

For the reception, I have already decided who is going to sit with who. However, I'm not sure where to put all the tables.

Our reception venue has a dance floor down the center and a bunch of tables on either side. There's also a bar on each side. Originally I was thinking of having my family on one side and his on the other, but a friend told me she thinks this would separate the families too much. She said I should mix the families every few tables so they mingle. However, if we mix the families together (so some of each family on the right and some on the left), I feel like I'm splitting my own family up. People who are really close but not sitting together would be across the room from one another. I'm not sure what to do!

Any advice or personal experiences with this? Anything is appreciated. Thanks!

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6 Comments

Latest activity by Lori, on September 25, 2019 at 4:44 PM

Champion October 2018
Kelly · on September 25, 2019 at 3:34 PM
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We put each of our families by each other. In my experience people want to sit by who they know and no one wants to get up to go to the other side of the room to talk to people during dinner. Forcing people to mingle wasn’t something I cared about at my wedding.
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Master July 2019
Hannah · on September 25, 2019 at 3:36 PM
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Mine was set up the exact same way, and I did exactly what you wanted. I wanted the tables with our parents to be the closest tables. Then I kind of went from there. It ended up being more split, but I don't think it really mattered. After dinner people were on the dance floor or mingling with whoever they wanted to, sitting at different tables, etc.
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Legend June 2019
Melle · on September 25, 2019 at 3:39 PM
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I had the same set up aha and what I did was I put everyone on our parents lists on one side and our guests on the other ahah
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Master October 2017
karen · on September 25, 2019 at 3:40 PM
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I would keep the older people away from the band, I don't think they like the noise
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Master July 2018
Mcskipper · on September 25, 2019 at 4:23 PM
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I split our sides up, more or less inadvertently. In a few instances, there were tables that we wanted close together as they were larger groups we had to split up — ex: I had THREE tables of 1st cousins (all cousins with eachother)- I ended up dividing them all up somewhat randomly between the 3, so I wanted them all right by eachother so that they could all catch up and mingle even amongst tables with ease. Same story with some of H’s friends— the same social circle took up 2 tables, so we wanted them next to eachother. Though it’s great if everyone gets to mingle and meet new people, the reality is, forced mingling doesn’t work as you’ll always have people wanting to visit with the people they know— separating their tables won’t actually change that.
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October 2019
Lori · on September 25, 2019 at 4:44 PM
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We're definitely going to have our parents at the closest tables but it's so confusing because we have the same amount of tables that are more his side and my side. Not sure if I should mix or keep his side on one and mine on the other. But you're right, people will be up and moving after the dinner anyways! Thanks!
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