It’s getting closer to your wedding day and it is time to prepare your seating plan. If you're having 30 guests at a buffet, you may not want to assign specific seats to people. But if you're having 80 guests or more and serving a seated meal, you'll definitely want to make sure everyone's got a specific place to sit. Why? Most people like to know where they're sitting and who they are sitting next to. It's also helpful if you're serving several different choices, because the caterer - you can find amazing catering services through PartyCityCY- can figure out beforehand how many dishes a table gets, because they know who's sitting there.
Read on for stress-free tips on how to seat your guests.
There are plenty of couples who have been sitting the night before the wedding just starting their seating plans. It’s OK to make last minute changes but have the chart done at least a week before the big day, trust us it’s a lot of work.
HOW TO CREATE YOUR SEATING ARRANGEMENT?
If you haven't already created a spreadsheet, insert a column into your guest list document categorizing all the invitees by relationship. Start with your friends, and family, your partner's friends, your partner's family, your family friends, your partner's family friends and so on. This way, you'll be able to easily sort the list and break it down into more reasonable table mixtures. After you are done with that task you will need to separate these lists into distinct tables.
THE BIG SET UP
Grab your pen and paper. You could get sticky notes and place them accordingly or draw circles on a big sheet of paper and write names inside, visualizing as if they are the tables at the dinner. To avoid confusions at the dinner ceremony it is best if you create a seating board with the guest names and the table numbers. You could also place a seating card on the guest plates if you want to specify their sit on the table to dodge any misunderstandings about who is going to sit on which chair.
The head table is customarily long and straight and is usually set up facing all the reception tables. Traditionally, the newlyweds sit in the middle (where everyone can see them), with the maid of honor, best man and the parents. But you don't have to do it that way. It could be a situation where simply family members don’t get along. Maybe they haven’t spoken in years or they had a past argument. Clearly you want them as far away from each other as possible. You should keep in mind these types of family feuds before you start building your chart.
REUNION TIME
If you are considering inviting old high school friends it may be a good idea to arrange a little get together before the big day to avoid any awkward moments at the dinner table, after all, you want everyone to have a good time! Plus! it will give them the opportunity to catch up.
