Seating at dinner

If you are inviting 100 then you need to plan for 100 people. You most likely won't have everyone attend, but that still doesn't mean you shouldn't plan for that many. Obviously once people rsvp you can adjust. That being said even if only 60 of the 100 people attend that's a lot of people to have seated at one table. I don't see how that could feasibly work.

View Quoted Comment Yeah I've been struggling to.. if I mathed it right it's 80 ft of table.. space isn't an issue as we are doing it in our backyard on 2 acres. I just love the romantic, intimate, idea of a family style dinner. Not to mention its how ive always seen Viking tables in movies.. soo much comroderie.. We also discussed a rectangle.. but that leaves an empty space in the center to decorate. If I come up with a good idea there maybe..nothing to high.. I have a thing with looking around things to talk to the people across from me. Or 2 40 ft long tables maybe. We are fancing up some large wire spools for the entry tables, and or other necessary flat surfaces. Maybe for tables by the fire pit. And of course Cake table, n the cook needs space, the bar..ect..

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I think another issue is how you plan on seating everyone. The only way I could see this working would be assigning each person a specific seat otherwise you are going to have a mess with everyone trying to decide where they want to sit and if they can sit next to who they want to. This would make extra work having to assign a specific seat. Most of the time people just assign guests a table, but that wouldn't work with only 1-2 tables.

We did one long table for all our guests, and everyone LOVED it! It really gave a feeling of one big family/community, rather than smaller segregated groups. They do this for weddings all the time in Italy, even with huge guest lists. That being said, you will need to assign seats for everyone once you get all RSVPs back. It sounds daunting, but it really wasn't that bad! I cut out little slips of paper with everyone's names on them, and just moved them around our dining room table until I had everyone where I wanted them.

Here are some inspo pics where they've done it beautifully.....

View Quoted Comment Ohhh.. Thank you!! I really am not about the seating arrangement.. but if it makes it easier for everyone.. maybe a guide.. I was reading earlier.. someone just did table Numbers...maybe a grab bag of numbers 😃😃. We'll have people trading n bargaining numbers😀😀... the only assigned seats I planned were my husband's n I's n my parents... cause as much as we dont agree... for all they do for us, they deserve places of honor. ( He n I have been together almost 20 years.. just now actually doing the deed)

View Quoted Comment Yeah.. definitely have time to think on it. I'm thinking maybe even if i go with one long table.. putting table numbers, and a grab bag at entry table with I believe 10 per 10 ft table.. ill have to look that up again.. and just enough info so they know how many seats per table. 😀😃 Could be fun.. everyone trading to sit at the table they want 😃😀.. only assigned seats as I mentioned earlier. I was also starting to warm up to U shaped.. I don't like the " head table" part feels very elite.. but I was looking at my space, placing the sun at ceremony time n such.. n it would work well.

I think a U-shape might work better with the space — 1 table for 100 people is very loooooong and awkward to walk around! If you’re not planning to assign seats, you’re also going to get awkward clumping and some poor person stuck sitting very far away from everyone they came with.


I don’t know that one long table really helps with camaraderie that much. I’ve been at long tables for banquets and you’re basically stuck talking to the people on either side and maybe across if it’s not wide. A 8-10 table lets you talk with everyone at it fairly easily.