Reception Seating: Open or Charted?

I don't think it's hard. I already have my rough draft of a seating chart made. When rsvps come in it will be updated. Do you have guests that dislike each other? Think of it this way, dinner is all of an hour. They don't have to sit the whole wedding. I think it helps things flow way better. Make a rough draft now then when you get declines remove those, and when all rsvps are in complete it. I only asked my mom on an opinion of our family members because they have an oddball amount of kids and like who should I sit the singular uncle with, etc. FH will help with who he wants his military guests to sit with.

View Quoted Comment Yeah the “you won’t know” is a great point— I see the argument “no one complained!” offered in this discussion a lot, but, most polite people will never complain to the bride and groom. I’m sure someone had something they weren’t fond of at my wedding, but no one said a word to me.

i went to a friend’s wedding once that had open seating, except for a sweetheart table for the bride and groom, and a table for the wedding party and their SOs. Well, the ONLY people that I knew at all at that wedding were: the bride and groom, people in the wedding party, and their SOs. Well, and technically the bride’s parents but I hadn’t seen them in probably almost 10 years and her mom literally introduced herself to me, so, I won’t say that counts for much. Walking into a room of strangers who seemed to all know eachother , seeing everyone I knew sat together, and a sea of people I’d never mer was such a horrible feeling. Such a moment of panic. Does the bride have ANY idea of my anxiety in that moment ? Of course not! I’d never say anything like that to her. I only raved about the positive things, and remained quiet in how uncomfortable that situation was for me.

I just went to a wedding with a seating chart, it was actually pretty nice, plus made me interact with new people lol

I think whatever you do, things will be okay, but we are personally going for a seating chart for our wedding even though it's on the smaller side, primarily because we have a lot of weird/awkward family dynamics. My best friend is getting married next month and she's doing the same thing for her 300+ guest wedding for the same reasons. It only took her and her FH a few hours to put the first draft together, and she said it was worth avoiding the stress of so-and-so getting put next to so-and-so. Also, as a guest I can say from experience it can be pretty awkward if you don't know a lot of people to try and find a table to sit at, and I would have preferred at those weddings to just have been given a place to sit from the start. Good luck!!

I would definitely recommend a seating chart! It helps families be able to sit together and just removed a lot of headache and frustration from your guests!

I read your comment saying you'll have 300 plus guests. Definitely do seating chart to avoid chaos. People who have tiny weddings can do open seating no problem because they don't have such a big crowd. You should know your family and friends and be able to figure out who to sit with who.

We plan to have a seating chart, assigning guests to tables rather than specific chairs. It sounds daunting to work on, but I'd much rather put in the time & effort now than hear about guests' complaints later. We also need to tell our venue the number of each type of entrée, so that will be marked on guests' escort cards as well.

We were also going to initially do a "free for all" seating plan. But then I realized that our tables are limited, and they will need to be as full as possible to fit everyone, plus I know that I personally hate the social awkwardness of trying to find a seat with people you don't really know. SOOOOO. I decided to split the difference and went with assigning tables to everyone, but they can choose their own seats. I drew out a template of my tables, numbered all of them, and then used the post - it note method (write everyone's names on a tiny post-it, and stick them where you think they will fit. Then they are easily moved if needed as you try and figure out where to put everyone). I pretty much grouped everyone with people they most likely would know, with a couple of "random" tables for several of our couples who don't really know anyone but are still coming! FH just looked at my completed arrangement last night and had a few minor changes, but for the most part it was pretty straightforward! It did take a little bit of time, but not as much as you'd think to do table assignments!

I also want to note that I went to an open seating wedding last fall, that had approximately 200 guests, and it was fine. They had extra space for people, and most of the tables were decently full with only a few spaces.. The primary reason I went with assigned tables is because of my limited space, but if your venue has the space to have some extra tables and seating, then open seating might work just fine for you!

Personally, the only wedding I've been to with open seating...I left before the reception even started. I attended with two friends and seating was such a wreck because there weren't enough open seats together for us to sit with each other. I know some folks say "well I didn't hear any complaints" but really...how likely are people to go tell the couple that it sucks? Lol. I don't say that to be rude, but I would never take complaints back to the couple. I'd keep them to myself and the internet.

Im doing open seating! I really want the guest to be able to mingle with each other. Plus I really dont want to have to figure out who can sit next to each other and who cant. I rather not put that stress on me!

Although another task can be daunting, a seating chart will create less stress on your wedding day for everyone!

I went to my friends wedding this past April and she had open seating. It was awful, my fiance and I were two of the last people to find our seats and there were none together, when people got up other people would take their seat, a lot of champagne went to waste because everyone kept forgetting which glass was theirs. It was truly a mess. Now that may not be the case every time, but it could save you a headache on your big day!

The actual seating arrangement (figuring out where to put people) took me an hour to figure out. It took longer to input all the names to the chart on Zazzle. Honestly, their interface wasn't that user friendly for the chart. In hindsight, I wish we had done cards instead of the big chart.

See this as an investment in your day, not a waste of your time. Your friend is right, weddings with seating charts are much smoother and all of your guests will have a seat and not be separated from their families/dates. Win - win - win.

The wedding's I've been to that didn't have a seating chart I left immediately after the cake cutting (except the one I was a bridesmaid in). It is awkward because you don't get to sit by who you want to sit by, you just get stuck at the table that had a seat open.