Seating ideas

Our wedding wasn't super formal or traditional, nor did we have any guests that physically needed help getting seated, so we didn't bother having any ushers. We did have the first two rows of both sides reserved for family (parents, siblings, and grandparents), otherwise we didn't care where people chose to sit!

View Quoted Comment Thanks for the input! How did you reserve the rows for family? Did you have a sign of some sort?

We are hanging reserved signs on the first two rows on each side.

Assigned seating with some sort of sign when they walk in. There's a million ideas on Pinterest.

View Quoted Comment Thanks! Yeah I've checked pintrest but figured I'd come to the forum to see if anyone else had any personal input.

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We just had reserved signs on the aisle chairs - we actually didn't need two rows for my side so only had one reserved, but guests still knew not to sit in the first two rows unless told to

No assigned seats but we're reserving the front row for a few specific people (great aunt who uses a walker, relatives who are doing readings during the ceremony).

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I was married before and we used this photo for inspiration. My wedding planner made our actual one. I'm not sure if she bought a mirror and had the names put on it or ordered it from somewhere.

We did reserved seating for the front row, by name. We didn't have ushers, but we had a DOC. I labeled the seating order on the schematic for her and her assistants to guide family members who weren't in the processional. Then a few minutes before the ceremony, I sent my sister-in-law in with a copy of the diagram and post-its to mark our mothers' seats and his grandmothers' seats to guide the groomsmen in escorting those ladies during the processional. Since most guests were seated by then, no one in the other rows saw the post-its. And all the other family members were in the surrounding seats. The little notes helped make sure the right mother was seated in each remaining chair.

View Quoted Comment I like that idea! Thank you for your input!

Of the weddings we have attended regardless of formality the groomsmen always do double duty as ushers. Otherwise your guests seating themselves gravitate to the back of the area. I’ve seen many vendor websites of pictures and video where there is a gap of 2-3 rows that are completely empty as the bride is halfway down the aisle. That can be avoided by having ushers and clear communication of how many people are in the front row/s.


Aside from signage for the bar and buffet at the reception, no one reads signs. However you need place cards for assigned tables at the reception. Following dinner, they can move anywhere they wish.

For the ceremony we just reserved the first two rows for family and let everyone else seat themselves since our wedding was on the beach and not very formal.

Only 3 (my mom, my grandma and an aunt of mine) will have a designated spot. My aunt is my grandma's caretaker. My FH family live in FL and his mom can't travel, his dad & grandma passed away. My dad, grandpa and stepdad passed away. Other than those 3 people, we don't care where people sit.

For ours, we had the first 2 rows on one side reserved for my husband's family, and the other side had 2 seats reserved for my family. We didn't have ushers because we wanted people to seat themselves!