Tips on Making your Seating Chart

The seating chart is can be one of the most daunting tasks with the wedding planning process. You get all the way to the end of the planning and you almost feel a little burn out, and now you have to do the grand seating chart. Here are some tips to help you with the seating…

MAKE A CHART

There are several online forms of making charts now – theknot.com & weddingwire.com both have great online charts to help. If you want to do it the old fashioned way, get a large poster board, some post-it notes and push-pins. Draw out your diagram (your venue should provide one for you) and label each table number. Know how many seats will go at each table, and then start pinning names to each table. If you don’t want to do a visual chart then I recommend making an excel sheet. Label the table number or name as the header and assign people to those specified tables with their names below.

START EARLY

Start putting your chart together as your RSVPs come in. If you know there are FOR SURE YES people, such as immediate family and wedding party, you can start early and add people as your RSVP cards arrive.

ESCORT CARDS & PLACE CARDS

Some people still don’t know what the difference is… escort cards take your guest to a assigned table, a place card will actually assign your guest to an assigned seat at that table. I recommend for large groups, SKIP the place cards, it eliminates more to do before the wedding day, and also allows your guests the opportunity to sit by who they want to sit by at there table. However, don’t skip the escort cards or assigned table board. You definitely want to assign guests tables and you definitely want to make sure your parents have a A+ table!! If you want, consider place cards only for VIPs,  like parents or your wedding party.

 CONSIDER RELATIONSHIPS

When making a seating chart take into account who guests may know or what their marital status is. You would want to avoid having one single friend at a table with all married couples whom this single friend doesn’t know. Put college friends together, put uncles and aunts together. Make sure children are close to the dance floor and definitely close to their parents, guardian or sitter. Ask your parents who they would like to sit with. Be open to their suggestions of their friends and their friends relationships. Also, be aware of who you are putting in the corners… would they be offended?

DON’T SQUEEZE

Nothing is worse than sitting at a table that you don’t fit in. Make sure that you don’t over pack the tables just so you will have less tables and save on a centerpiece or two. Your guests will be very uncomfortable sitting at a table bumping elbows with the person next to them. Leave your guests some breathing, eating and socializing room; leave them space to pull their chair in and out as well. When considering a venue, make sure you consider your guest size so you don’t run into a “tight” situation.