Seating chart

OMG, a lot to think about but I realized that we are doing assigned tables for 100 guest. Where everyone may not show up. Tables hold 6 to 8 guest and we are blending the guest list. sweetheart table for us, both parents at the dame table wedding party seating with their plus 1. And everybody else at tables. I think people will most likely seat down for dinner and the toast, After that dancing and mingling

Take a breather and come back to it in a few days. As a guest at a "free for all" wedding reception, it didn't turn out well. Guests were moving chairs, or straight up moving tables, and this confusing caterers.

After the bridal and family tables we're grouping guests on their social circles.

Sweetheart Table

Table #1 Bridesmaids and guests

Table #2 Groomsmen and guests

Table #3 Bride's parents, groom's parents, groom's grandma, FFSIL and kids

Table #4 A mix of our aunts/uncles

Table #5 A mix of aunts/uncles and older cousins

Table #6 My younger brother, his fiancé, and a mix of our younger cousins

Table #7 My college friends

Table #8 His childhood friends

Table #9 Our mutual friends

Table #10 Single guests or those who may not know others at the wedding

I need help with this too! Hang in there girl.

I'm doing table assignments, but if it gets to be too much we'll just have reserved signs on the sweetheart table and the family tables. I'm not trying to have all kinds of stress over Suzie Q not liking Cousin Bob.

Courtney, that was so kind of you to take the time to give your template. I think guests OVERWHELMINGLY prefer table assignments rather than to go, table by table and get told we are saving seats. It is humiliating.

Denise, people may still get stuck sitting with people they do not like. The do not get to choose their seat, they get what is left.

And without assigning tables, you will need 10-20% more seating, to ensure that parties do not get separated. You do not want couples separated. You may need a larger venue, you will need more centerpieces, tablecloths, etc.

I would add to Courtney's great chart, consideration should be given to children. If you are allowing only family members to bring children, then keep that table family only. Don't put your work friends with your cousin with kids. This to me is another reason to limit kids at weddings, it makes seating more difficult.

That's all we are doing, just bridal party and immediate family. Luckily, we have a larger venue than we need so they are setting up 20% more seats than we actually need to avoid couples/families getting separated. I can understand why it's needed when you actually need all your seats though to avoid issues.

We just came to the same conclusion last night. We've decided to only have a seating chart for the couples we will have sitting with us the headtable. The rest are open. In that way, we can encourage everyone to mix and mingle. It also does away with the hierarchy thing that can happen at weddings.

Having assigned tables at the very least is a good idea. Especially if you're only putting out around the amount of chairs for the people you have. If you leave it as a free for all, groups/families might have to break up because all other seating is taken (with tables having a chair or two open at each, what is a family of 5 supposed to do?), also it ensures none of your guests will be left out at a table by themselves etc.

I definitely feel your pain though, I'm already dreading the point of figuring out table assignments. My side is easy peasy. My FH's side however? There is a lot of bad blood and drama... so figuring out where to seat everyone is going to be tricky. I know they will be cordial at the wedding for our sake in passing, but if I sat certain ones together it wouldn't stay that way... lol

Guests prefer at least assigned tables.

https://www.perfecttableplan.com/html/assigned_seating.html

If some people got assigned seats and I did not, I would consider myself a second class guest.

It is rude for the host to take something for themselves ,whether better food, drink or seating, that they do not provide for others. It is the ultimate in guest hierarchy.

We will have our head table and a table reserved for close friends and family. But everyone else can pick their own seats. Because it is very stressful and it will make it so much easier for you in the long-run. That way you can focus on other details that could be more important and you're not pulling your hair out!

That's what I am doing. I have 2 tables reserved for my parents and immediate family that aren't in the wedding and one for his. I also reserved one table for my coworkers but other than that everyone is sitting wherever they want. I've worked a loooot of weddings and feel that with my guest count, a seating chart isn't necessary.

It will be ok!

Please don't do open seating, every wedding that I have been to that has had open seating has felt like a chaotic, disorganized, free-for-all, with somehow never enough seating.

Not worth stressing about. I would not be offended if I showed up to a reception and a few tables had RESERVED signs on them and the rest were "free for all". I was just at a non assigned seating reception and there was no problem finding a table.

I am assigning tables. I am using the app on the Wedding Wire website to help me along.

Don't stress over it. Let it go.

Im only doing a sweetheart table and a table reserved for my family. Everyone else is first come first serve. Both of our sides dont know each other and most of the people within our sides dont even. So why stress? we are all family, take a seat

I wouldn't be able to do that as a guest or as a bride, I would likely have more of a panic attack that the wrong people could accidentally end up at the same table, then I'm having trying to figure out how to keep them apart. I have just started to do a bit of a rough draft and for the few people that are difficult to place, mainly my parents I'm just going to ask them who they want to sit with and am seating neither with my sister to avoid any drama over that.

Unless you have under 30 (maybe 40) guests, I wouldn’t do open seating. If you think you have a headache now, you will have a headache, stress and embarrassment on your wedding day when guests are trying to find seats and it’s like a premier of a new movie...One single seat left here, a single seat left over there... A table with 2 seats open but a family of 3 need to sit down 🤦🏽‍♀️ . You get the picture! Plus I feel like seating shows your guests that you thought of them enough to actually reserve space for them.

If it's stressing you out that much than let it be. I personally recommend a seating chart. I feel it's much easier for guest.

What exactly is stressing you out? With our friends, we put together people who knew each other and then mixed people based on who had common interests (ie I have a friend who does PT and so does FH so we put them at the same table. We also put 2 friends who are in law school at the same table.) also just by personalities and who we think would get along.

1. Mostly my high school friends
2. Mixed my and FH’s friends
3. My extended family
4. My immediate family
5. FH’s family
6. Mixed my and FH’s friends
7. FH’s college friends
8. Family friends
9. Mom’s friends
10. Mom’s friends
11. Family friends
12. Family friends

If it’s causing you that much stress, I’d imagine it’d cause guests the same level of stress to try to sort out on the spot. Open seating is a major source of anxiety for me, so Id never recommend it. I’d start by isolating what the stressors are— is it people who may butt heads ? If so, start by setting those individuals at separate tables. We divided and conquered— H grouped his guests by who they knew and I grouped my guests by who they knew, and then based on the size of those groups, they became whole tables or we pasted groupings together where they fit at tables and made a reasonable amount of sense. I had the most trouble with my TONS of cousins (3 tables worth!) at first I tried to go by age but that left too many siblings all together and I wanted all the cousins to be able to socialize . Ultimately I basically just pulled them out of a hat to divide the cousins amongst tables without playing favorites. Lean on your FS for help (they know their side best, so it shouldn’t be all on you). Try not to overcomplicate it— it doesn’t have to be *perfect*

My FH keeps talking about "strong tables" (by how people are grouped). Its our wedding, I could care less about how people are grouped and what tables are "strong" (why does it even matter). He also wants everyone at 10 person tables (our venue only has a few 10 tables, the rest are 8). I only have about a quarter of the guest list, so I think I'll fill my people in and then FH can do what he wants with his. In my mind its our wedding (we are paying), our table is the strongest!