Seating Plan Etiquette

Organising guest seating is one of the most stressful parts of wedding planning. The logistics of a seating chart can be tricky, especially if you have friends, or family members that don’t speak to each other. To make sure that everyone has a good time follow this simple guide.

Table Design

Before you start planning where each guest is going to sit you should first consider how you are going to set your tables out. Are they going to be long, rectangular, round or a mixture? And how many people are you planning on fitting on each?

The ideal number of guests for a table is eight. You should try to avoid putting odd numbers of guests at a table so that a good mix of conversation can be had and none of your guests are left out.

Seats or Tables?

The next thing you need to decide on  is whether you want to assign seating, or just tables. There are pros and cons to each of these. Firstly assigning tables rather than seats is a lot less work for you, and it allows guests to sit next to who they want. It also allows you to save money by not having place cards. However, a lot of guests tend to prefer being seated in specific places as they usually like the guarantee that they will be sat next to someone that they know rather than a stranger.

RSVP’s

Before you decide who is sitting where, you first need to know who is coming to the wedding. This means that you should send out your invitations a few months before the wedding date. In these you should include your RSVP’s, which you should request to get back from guests a few weeks before the wedding. This will give you plenty of time to put your seating chart together.

Seating Arrangements

When considering your seating arrangements you should think about the type of people that you are seating. You should always try and seat your guests next to at least one other person that they know and make sure that guests with similar interests are seated together.

Then there are the obvious things that you need to think about, for example, don’t seat one guest next to another guest that they don’t like. This means no ex’s should be sat together, unless they get along, and no family members who no longer talk.

Escort Card Tables, Seating Charts & Place Cards

Whether you have assigned seating, or just tables, there are plenty of creative ways for you to tell your guests where they are sitting.

Escort card tables are pretty self-explanatory, and are literally tables that have been set up to hold cards with peoples names and the table number they are sitting on written onto them. These are great if you have only assigned guests to tables, but they can also be used along with place cards if you have assigned seating.

Seating Charts

Seating charts set out which guest is sitting on which table. Unless you have decided to pair this with place cards, or make really creative seating plans, seating charts are ideal for brides and grooms who want to make minimal effort, or who are on a budget.

Place Cards

Place cards are similar to escort cards, except that they are already on the table. Place cards can become quite confusing if they are not combined with either a seating chart or escort table to tell guests which table they will be sitting at.

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If you need help planning your wedding or even need some assistance with creative ideas for your special day contact our partners, The Proposers, at info@theproposers.co.uk or for more information visit their website here.