Seating Guests with people they know vs having Bridal Party closest to us at the Venue

I went to a wedding that had a head table for the bride and groom. Then a bridesmaids table and groomsmen a table and they sat with there dates. It was nice because then I got to sit with my date and get to know his friends with him there. Would they make the tables even? Also could you tell people to sit wherever they want? I’m not sure if that’s allowed. I was thinking of doing half and half. Half of a table is my family and half of the table is his family, so people they know but also people they should get to know. I hope it works out!

We sat bridal party scattered throughout. They do not need to sit right next to you to feel important. I also don't really see how it looks nice. We just made sure that tables with the bridal party were closer to us than some other tables.

Personally, I am with you. I would much rather have my wedding party scattered throughout the room with people they know and are comfortable with, and have even numbers at tables (cuz eeek! OCD!) I understand the thought process behind wanting the wedding party clothes because they are such important people in your life in on this day- but isn’t everybody invited to your wedding important to you? I feel like standing up with you during the ceremony is enough recognition. Everyone at the reception knows they were part of your wedding party - they don’t need to sit at a table with/near you on top of that. Besides, like your fiancé and his sister said, these are people that are important to you, so wouldn’t you want to make their experience as fun & comfortable as possible by sitting them with people they know? I say go with your idea! 👍🏻

My FH and I are doing a sweetheart table for us and our bridal party are sitting with their plus ones. Most of our bridal party members are married, dating or engaged and we didn't want their plus ones to be sitting without them.

One thing you could do if your FH wants your bridal party close to you is what my FSIL did at her wedding. She had her bridal party sit at the table with her and her husband facing the rest of the guests (so they were all together), and the other side of the table - facing away from the guests - were the bridal party's plus ones. She used rectangular tables for the bridal party/plus one table and the rest of the tables for the reception were round.

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Having a no seating plan is not an option due to having a plated dinner. Also that's what's driving me crazy, having them in one table is ok but by doing so it makes my guests count per table very uneven. I now understand why so many people say this was the worst part of planning .

View Quoted Comment I gotya! Sorry I understand. I haven’t gotten to that part yet but I am ocd as well so I might be doing the same.

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Thank you, that's exactly what I had in mind, having as many as possible sit near us, but didn't think it would impact the night if they were not on the same table.

We scattered our wedding party amongst the guests and I’m so glad we did! People want to sit by who they know best at weddings.

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Thank you!! My thoughts exactly!

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Funny you said that, I had that thought crossed my mind, as an option too, just not sure my venue has square tables. I guess I can ask, but thanks for pointing this out because it did cross my mind just wasn't sure if others had done something like this. Thank you!

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Thank you!

Our wedding party was sat with their friends & family, not all at one table. They were much happier that way, and so were we. We had a sweetheart table. It sounds like that's what you want to do, so I'd go for it.

We had our bridal party spread throughout and as far as I know no one had a problem with it. We did just have to make sure that we called tables to the buffet in a way that bridal party members' tables were amongst the first called.

Figuring out seating charts is definitely tricky and lots of people have opinions about it, that's for sure. In the end you have to just do what you feel is right.

I've been on the other side of this. About a year ago my FH and I went to one of his friend's weddings. My FH is very close to the groom now, but they were still new friends at the time that groom picked his party. All the people my FH and I knew at this wedding were either bridesmaids or groomsmen and they were sat separate. The 2 of us were mixed in with some relatives. They were all nice enough people, but it was a bit awkward when they all knew each other and we didn't. Would have been nice if they'd mixed bridal party in so we could have sat with friends that night.

View Quoted Comment That's exactly how I feel about this, we have a few guests that are friends with the bridal party only and I feel they should sit with people they know even if it means spreading the bridal party around so they feel comfortable vs being sat away from people they know only to keep wedding party together. If my seating plan is used what happened to you and your FH won't happen at my wedding, which is exactly my concern if I listen to my fiance and my Future sister in law.

I sat mine throughout as well. mine was moreso based on the people they knew and just how it worked overall with the amount of people. for me, because all of our bridal party members had significant others it was important for me to keep them altogether and so that was just so many people that it would not fit into just one table