Wedding seating chart!?

I would organize people by who they know and interact with! Seat your family members together, and seat your fiance's family members together. If you have a group of 2-4 people who all know each other, and your fiance has a group of 2-4 people who all know each other, but the two groups don't know each other, it's totally fine to seat them all at the same table, as long as everyone at the table knows at least 1-2 other people at the same table.

I organized people by who they know. I'm more of a visual person, so what I did was write every guest (or couple)'s name on an index card. I then grouped people together by who they knew. From there, I set out to make tables of 8 (tables could hold up to 10 people, and they ended up anywhere between 7-9). If a full group of people didn't reach that, I would then combine certain groups who I thought may have some common interests and get along well. I didn't really focus on blending families. I sat them based on who they would have the most fun talking to over dinner. That can honestly be a huge buzz kill. We went to a wedding recently, along with husband's parents, and my father in law got stuck sitting next to this incredibly annoying woman who got drunk and wouldn't stop talking to him. He was miserable the whole time he was at his seat.

I did a parents table. my family together for the most, part then his family, and siblings. I made sure that everyone would have at least one person that they felt comfortable with at each table. and I grouped couples with other couples I felt like they would get along with and the same goes for my single girlfriends. I have spent hours doing it but I want to make sure that everyone feels comfortable.

Have one or a few tables (however many you need) so your bridesmaids and groomsmen can sit with their significant others. Have one table for your parents/siblings and any significant others. One table for fiancé’s parents/siblings and their significant others. Group everyone else together by family or common interests/social groups. Make sure children are seated with parents.



You can make seating chart drafts on rsvpify.com. That is cheaper than making a poster board with each guest’s name on a post it note strip to move around as you new to.

When everything is finalized, put the assignments on tent cards. If you are having a plated meal with choices and need to alert the waitstaff, you can order on Etsy pre-folded colored card stock tent cards and pick a color scheme. For example red = beef, pink = chicken, cream = vegan, and let the caterer know what the color code is. Arrange the cards alphabetically on a table near the entrance. Last minute changes are much easier and cheaper with tent cards.
A fraction of the price of a seating poster, easy for guests to grab and go instead of trying to read illegible fonts in small print crowding in and forgetting wheee they are when they get caught up in conversations on the way.

Definitely just seat people with those they know as much as you can (and/or those you think they'd get along with). Ultimately people only *have* to sit at their table for dinner so if they aren't crazy about the crowd at their table, it's not the end of the world as long as no one is seated next to someone they're actively feuding with or something.

I found my venue was very accommodating about smaller table sizes, BTW bc they're so used to having to flex due to COVID. I had lots of tables of 6-8, one table of 10, and even one table of 3 bc only 3 members of my husband's extended family could come. I could've theoretically combined tables to avoid that one table of 3, but I knew they were somewhat concerned about COVID and didn't want to seat them with anyone they wouldn't normally spend time with indoors. I think my venue said there would normally be an extra charge for linens for tables smaller than 6, but they waived that for me under the circumstances.

I'm asking the important people at our wedding, like our parents and siblings, who they would like to sit with. Then I'm moving on from there.

It depends on how you want to do it and what your vision is of it. I have been to weddings where groups are mixed and it is fun to meet new people and really feels like a "merging" of the families. But I have also been to weddings where they keep all the brides side separate from the grooms side. It was nice to be with the people you knew, but the B & G ended up getting stuck on one side the whole night and never got over to the other side to say hi to anybody.

What I am doing for mine is keeping families at the same tables but then mixing up the tables. So like a table of my side next to a table of his side but at least the people you are eating with you know but you can still mingle with others.