Strolling reception!?

Please, for the love of all things, have assigned tables and enough seats for every butt. Nothing sucks quite as much as having to eat alone with strangers b/c there weren't enough seats for fh and I to eat together. ETA And if I was forced to mingle while fighting to find a seat and balancing food, I'd most likely leave. I am extremely introverted and this would be one of my circles of hell.

You need to have a seat for every guest. I would be really pissed if I went to an event and dressed up in a dress and heels, and had to fight for a seat.

If I have a plate of food Im going to want to sit down and eat. Please have enough seats for everyone. Eta: Also, not everyone loves mingling with strangers. Speaking as an introvert I would be really uncomfortable sitting at a table with no one I knew, especially if I had to be separated from my date because we couldnt find two seats together.

Assign seats unless your planning on double the amount you need. Because what you think is not what happens.

You need to have enough seats for everyone. You should assign tables as well so couples and families are not broken up. People can always move around as they choose.

I would not be a fan of this. I'm an introvert and being forced to talk to people I don't know would be very uncomfortable for me. I'd probably leave honestly

We aren't doing assigned seating. We are doing reserved tables for immediate family only. Everyone is going to end up sitting wherever after dinner anyways. You do need to have enough seats for everyone, though.

@Tina. So only some people are important enough to sit with people they know. That's nice...

Whatever you do, there needs to be at least one seat for every butt invited. Often when you fail to do a seating chart, people leave gaps between themselves and strangers. So you then need to have more chairs than there are guests.

Also, even if you have a seating chart, people can still get up and mingle and dance with people they aren't sitting next to.

I didn't do a seating chart because we had extra seating, and our wedding was small (60 guests) and all the guests were family and very close family friends. They all knew each other and we knew how seating would play out.

No i don't like this idea I want a seat and if I didn't have one I would leave

@Tina. Way to broadcast which guests are important and which are not.

Tina, I strongly urge that you reconsider that. Assume tables to everyone!

People also have mobility issues that are not readily apparant. Seat for every butt. Also, the receptions you did not enjoy were poorly hosted. You don't seat people who all know each other already at the same table. Everyone should know one person, then you think about who you think would enjoy getting to know each other.

Every person should have a seat and at least assign tables. People gravitate towards people they know, not people they want to meet. Not assigning tables is an utter nightmare for anyone with the slightest bit of social anxiety.

I'd punch a bitch for a chair.

If I don't matter enough to you to warrant a place to sit, I'm going to take my card and leave. I'll use the money in that card to take myself out somewhere I can sit down.

Parents need to sit down, and have a place for their kids to sit down, in order to eat. Anyone with a bad back, knee or ankle is going to be in pain. Women are going to be wearing heels and their feet will hurt. Introverts will literally be escaping that situation like a fire.

Don't do this to the people you care about.

I'm on team introverted too and would hate having to mingle because it was more convenient for the host for forgo a seating plan

As many others have echoed, please have enough seats for every person. I went to a wedding where there were not enough chairs and so the older guests sat the whole night and the younger crowd had no choice but to stand the entire time. It was pretty excruciating but since H was the best man, we had no choice but to endure.

Also, if you are paying for drinks by consumption, keep in mind that having a "strolling" reception could increase your costs. Every time someone wants to dance, they will set their drink down and the waiters will clear them. So the guest goes and gets another drink. If there are assigned seats, they can leave it at their place.

That sounds like a cocktail party, not a wedding reception. I agree with everyone else; assigned tables and seats are necessary.