This is a thread that was started in our old BlissWeddings.com forums by catina on 09/09/2004.
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posted by catina
I'm working on the main list for the seating assignment, which will be left at the main entry door to the hall. It will list the guests alphabetically. When it's a boyfriend and a girlfriend so I list it like this:
Smith, John & Jane Doe
or
Smith, John
Doe, Jane
Keeping in mind the Doe and the Smith will have other names between them. Or do I list them like this:
Smith, John & Jane Doe
Doe, Jane and John Smith
Again, there will be a bunch of other names between them.
What do y'all think?
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posted by lilhoney1976
I'm not an expert but if it were me,since all the names are going to be in alphabetical order, they could search their names on the list when they arrive and it could look like:
Doe, Jane Table #4/Seat#1
(scroll down to the S's)
Smith, John Table #4/Seat #2
In the case of a married couple, you could put:
Smith, John and Jane
BUT, bear in mind that I am no where near an expert.I'm still a bride/work in progress.Hee,hee
Smooches.And good luck!
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posted by TheaterDiva1
I made up invidual placecards for each person, regardless of whether they're part of a married couple, stag or what. They will be placed alphabetically be last name, so if John Doe and Jane Smith come together, John Doe will look for "D"'s and find
"John Doe, Table #4"
Jame Smith will then find under "S"'s
"Jane Smith, Table #4"
Even with married couples,
"Jim Jones, Table #4"
"Mary Jones, Table #4"
I only assigned tables - not seats within a table.
-Maggie
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posted by TedLovesMe
How about NOT having a seating assignment? Is this considered rude or tacky? I want people to sit by who they want to talk to or hang out with...I've been to weddings with seating charts and end up sitting by icky peoply, maybe it's just my bad luck
Any thoughts? Thanks!
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posted by wynelle
You need to have some way to reserve tables for the family of the bride,family of the groom, old college buddies, work friends, etc. It can be done with signs on the table identifying who should sit there. If you don't, then when the guests arrive they have no idea where to sit. So they stand and mingle until they see someone to sit with. Very disorganized.
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posted by munchkin
The problem with no seating plans is that some people will be stuck without a seat. For example, if there's only one seat left at a table, a couple can't sit together. Also, sometimes very important people are relegated to the back because they didn't get there first, while less important people are right beside the head table.
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posted by feb-bride
My wedding is the only one I've ever attended that HAD a seating chart. At every other wedding I've ever attended, it was open seating.
Guess what? The guests at my reception were seated MUCH more quickly than at the other receptions. I spent weeks poring over my guest list, making sure that I had people seated with other people they knew or, if they didn't know anyone, people whose personalities would "click" with each other.
I was able to keep a few relatives apart (they don't get along). I was able to make sure the guests that were closest to me were seated closest to us. I was able to make sure the elderly guests weren't seated too close to the dance floor (loud music).
I highly recommend that you assign at least tables (that's what I did, rather than assign a specific seat at a table).
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posted by catina
We're assigning tables, no seats. And, I must say is all done! What a chore that was!! Worth the effort though! I ended up listing everyone separate, alphabetically, last name first. The list on the tables, will be first and last names.
The day is getting closer!!!! Can't wait!
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posted by gymrat
We had our head table then the three front tables closest to us reserved for our families, the BP's SOs and children, and our officiant (and wife) who decided to sit with other people in the end.
We had an additional table set-up just in case because we heard that a few others might end up showing up. We had 8 tables (3 reserved) of 10 plus the head table (10 people total). I know two of the tables were half empty or so. One table was my teenage boy cousins that sat together away from their parents (they sat at the reserved family table since I had their twin girls do my guest book and hold my train coming down the stairs).
Everything seemed to work out fine with only reserving the 3 tables for me. I know I would of had troubles trying to figure out who to have sit by who on Steve's side of the family. He has tried to tell me several times who talkes to who and who does not but I never remember how it goes exactly. It was easier just to let them sit themselves away from one another.
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posted by lilhoney1976
I think seating arrangements are very practical because you don't have to bother with people having to sit with people that they don't particularly get along with as a result of there not being enough room due the the first come first serve thing. Also,couples don't have to worry about getting split up and not being able to sit with one another because they were forced to take whatever seat was available.Anyway,good luck!
P.S. To Catina: when is your daughter's wedding?
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posted by catina
It was on Sat. And seating assignments are definitely the way to go in my opinion! It worked very well for us and was very easy for the guests to find a seat!
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posted by TedLovesMe
So the consensus is to assign TABLES but not actual SEATS? I think that would be fairly easy to do. Anyone run into any problems with that with people getting upset about who they were assigned to sit with?
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posted by catina
As long as you put some thought into the seating assignment, you should be okay. I was compplemented several times about how well I had done the seat assignments, and how happy they were sitting with who they sitting with. It's not an easy task. Sounds simple, but it can get tricky. It probably took me 4 or 5 go arounds to get it right! And yes, I wouldn't worry about assigning actual seats.
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posted by feb-bride
I didn't hear anything negative about having assigned tables at my reception. In fact, I got a lot of positive feedback from my guests because they didn't have to worry about scrambling to find seats.
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posted by Lindsay
I was recently at a wedding of a close friend who didn't have seating assignments and it ended up that myself and some other friends were relegated to the back of the room because all of the other tables were taken. We still had fun, but it was a bit of a bummer to have to sit that far away. I'm going with a seating chart to avoid all the family conflicts and because I think it's just easier for the guests..no scurrying around to find a seat. I'd hate it if my closest friends were at the back of the room because someone beat them to a table.
Lindsay
Seating assignment
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