Seating chart VS seat yourself???

I would definitely make a seating chart. It'll really make things run smoothly and people will be able to find seats faster.

I've heard bad things about seat yourself weddings. People want to sit with people they know. I've also heard of people stealing seats which sounds so dumb but it happens. My event coordinator actually told me that she just hasn't had good experiences with it.

FH's brother got married last year and did a seat yourself. We hated it. I think they did it b/c there weren't enough seats. about half had to stand.

^^ ditto to the above. I say if there are more than 3 tables involved, then a seating chart is necessary.

We're seating ourselves. I know people here go crazy over this. We are assigning tables to the wedding party and immediately family. Aside from that, it's all unassigned. Weddings are all about mingling and having fun--You only have 40-50 people, I think you should be fine.

I don't like seat yourself. FH and I went to one of his friends wedding they had no seating chart. we sat and it was just the 2 of us the whole night, the table behind us same thing only 2 people.

On behalf of wedding guests everywhere, please, please do a seating chart.

It can be a real hassle to wait until they figure it out. I would see how many people who like one another enough to sit together you can put at each table and go that way. Assign the tables and they can figure out which seat they will sit in vs having to find a table, who they like to sit with and then hope there is enough seating at some table for their group. It seems like the smaller the group, the easier it should be. Sadly, it doesn't seem to make a difference.

Definitely a seating chart! I'm on the planning board at my job for our annual fundraising gala, and one year some genius suggested open seating and the other 10 geniuses went along with it! Talk about a fiasco! 400+ people milling around looking for a seat. I know your guest count is small, but the extra effort will save time and stress!

I would recommend a seating chart as well. However, if you do decide to do open seating, make sure you have a few extra tables above what you would use if you had a seating chart.

ETA: I am confused as to why you need placecards with meal choice if your dinner is buffet?

You can get a cute one made on Etsy. I was browsing the other day and seen really cute ones for $30-100+

Reasons:

*The last few folks at the buffet will look at the room, with everyone already seated, & feel embarrassed looking for those final seats. They'll feel like the last kid picked for the team at school. Just imagine if one of those last people is that difficult aunt, and how hard it will be for her!

*People will grab chairs from other tables and crowd in at tables with people they know. This will make mingling difficult because walk-ways are blocked by extra chairs. It can also make getting to the dance floor (if you have one) hard.

*Because of chair-grabbing, some people will sit at tables with only one or two people. They'll look & feel like wallflowers. AWKWARD.

*If there are people you want to meet each other, that's harder, because people will naturally sit with only those whom they know.

I dreaded the seating chart but it ended up being a DELIGHTFUL way to introduce people. I mixed every table with half "mine" and half "hers." Mingling was GREAT.

We went to a wedding this summer with no seating plan. People were propping chairs up to reserve their seats. Gorgeous, expensive venue and chairs were propped.

I went to an event, not a wedding, recently and there were 8 reserved tags placed in the middle of the table. When you chose your seat, you took a reserved sign from the stack and placed it at your seat so people knew someone was sitting there. I thought that was a better, less Bingo Hall way of doing things, but. . .

I'm still a fan of assigning people to tables.

Laura :o) our caterer is getting an exact count for each dish... the guests are just walking up to *them* to receive their food (versus the caterer serving each plate to guests at their seat).

Deborah :o) you, solely, could have made up my mind with your post... SOOOO many good points. Seating chart it is!

Thanks again ladies !!!