Planning a Wedding Reception Seating Chart

Planning a seating chart for your wedding reception is hard work, especially if you do not have a plan or a simple understanding of tradition and how the rules of decorum impact your choices. It is difficult, but it is also worthwhile. Remember, a wedding dinner often lasts for two or more hours. Your wedding will have the greatest chance of enjoyment if you carefully consider your seating arrangement.

Of course, your first and quite probably your easiest decision is the seating arrangement of the head table. Do you want to pair or alternate groomsmen with the bridesmaids on either side of you, or do you want to have all the bridesmaids flanking the bride and the groomsmen flanking the groom just as they were in the ceremony? Or perhaps you would prefer adding parents?

Or would you prefer to simply plan a romantic table for two like in a Parisian cafe. Or...? Have fun planning the seating chart on the head table. A little creativity and some well chosen themed wedding decorations could go a long way toward making your wedding celebration memorable.

Planning the seating chart for the rest of your guests is a bit more challenging, but with patience you can find a workable arrangement. Here are ten tips to help you achieve success:

1. First and foremost, think of what will make the most people happy and able to best celebrate your new marriage That is the goal after all, isn’t it?
2. Seat close family and friends nearest to the bride and groom.
3. When using long tables, couples are traditionally seated opposite each other and in an alternating male, female pattern.
4. When using round tables couples are traditionally seated next to each other and then arranged the same alternating male, female pattern.
5. When assigning specific seats, be sure to use place cards. This can be done with 'tent' cards or if you choose you can develop the theme of your wedding decor by choosing decorative place card holders.
6. Make sure that all your wedding guests are seated with someone they know and are comfortable with.
7. Avoid creating tables that are a single family group. You want them to mingle with the rest of your guests. That's one of the points of developing a seating chart - so your guests will talk to each other and enjoy one another.
8. Where possible, group guests (especially those who do not know each other) by interests to encourage interaction and build relationships within your community of friends and family.  For example, do you have a friend who isn't real social but loves to make jewelry?  Pair her with other guests who are into crafts as well.
9. When common interests are not known, you could potentially achieve the same thing by designating the tables by the names of significant places to you along with a story about why that place is significant in your life. It might spark some conversations and for those in the back it’s better than sitting at table number '43'!
10. Do have fun seating singles together, but don’t be obvious and avoid at all costs a table completely populated by single single people unless the majority of your wedding guests are single. To do otherwise is tacky and incredibly uncomfortable for most anyone at the table.

Start working on planning your seating chart as soon as you have your guest list made up and you know what kinds of tables will be used. Buy a bag of poker chips and write each guest's name on a chip and set up a table with the layout of your wedding reception hall so you can lay your seating chart out visually and easily revise it as you need to. Or use a spread sheet like Excel to lay out your seating arrangement. You can even find software to help you with the process of planning your wedding reception seating chart.

Planning a Wedding Reception Seating Chart