Wedding seating charts can be a headache-taking into account family dynamics, figuring out where to put the guest that’s attending solo, and attending to age dynamics can seem stressful and overwhelming. Use this guide to make a daunting task easy-breezy.
1. Start Early
Before you start assigning guests to tables, there are a few decisions to be made, like if you’re having a head table (and who will be seated there) and the size of tables. Ask your venue for a floor plan and gauge how you’d like tables arranged- do you want all 6 foot round tables or a mix of long rectangular tables with a few rounds sprinkled in?
Decide if you are assigning guests to tables or chairs. This means will you have a place card at the exact chair guests will sit in (this is usually required if you’re having a plated meal) or will guests just be assigned to a table and can sit at any available seat. This will help with the following steps.
2. Group Guests with Commonalities
While you have to wait until all the RSVPs are in to finalize your seating chart, there’s no harm in grouping guests now. Begin grouping your guests into obvious groups- bridal party, bride’s family, groom’s family, college friends, guests with children, etc.
These are just preliminary groups, so don’t stress over it too much and prepare for it to change after you receive RSVPs.
3. Draw it Out
Break out that floor plan you requested from the venue in step 1 and upload it into an online software (there are many to choose from, but we’re partial to Social Tables) or draw it out yourself. At this step, use a pencil or a digital tool, like Notability, because changes will definitely be needed.
Draw out the correct number and shape of tables (that you decided in step 1) and number them. Make sure to account for spacing between tables so you get a realistic vision of what can fit in the space.
4. Make Edits After RSVPs
With most of the leg work already completed, all you have to do when you start receiving RSVPs is make small edits to the groups you created in step 2. Inevitably some guests will not be able to attend, so slight adjustments will need to be made to your groupings. Start assigning guests to the tables (or chairs) you drew out in step 3.
Some great ideas to do this if you hand drew the floor plan are stick notes or clothes pins!
5. Creating Your Seating Chart Sign
You’ve got the hard part out of the way, and now you just have to create the signage that will direct guests to their seat. Whether you’re dreaming of an elaborate display or a simple poster, the biggest piece of advice we can give is to organize it alphabetically instead of by table. This will allow your guests to find their assignment a lot faster and keep guests flowing through to their seat.
Get creative! There are so many cool ideas to direct guests to their assigned table, like personalized notes, a glass of champagne, luggage tags, and vinyl records- just to name a few.
If you have chosen to assign guests to a specific seat, you also must create place cards or escort cards.
Bonus Tip:
While it’s easy to feel like choosing where guests will sit can make or break their experience at your wedding, just remember that most guests will only be seated for dinner before getting up to dance or mingle. Don’t stress! After all, every guests has one commonality: their love and support for you and your spouse!
If you are planning a wedding in Roanoke, Richmond, Fredericksburg/Northern Virginia, The Shenandoah Valley, Coastal Virginia, or Charlottesville/ Lynchburg, Virginia, we can help with your wedding planning and ideas.
