Arranged Seating

We're assigning tables and chairs because his side will likely only sit with people they know. My side is a little more outgoing but they have larger families. So we're assigning everyone to make sure a) everyone gets to sit with whoever they're with, b) no seats are empty and nobody has to be separated, c) mixing his side and mine so that people will chat (they should be a pretty good group for this), d) we have a number of people with dietary restrictions so we'll be able to let the serving staff know what tables they're at and names etc. It works for us because of how our wedding is going to be, but if you have a more relaxed day planned then you can totally let them choose their seats/tables. Or even assign tables but let them choose seats. Whatever you feel most comfortable with

Im not assigning chairs. i hate that (as a guest) i always get stuck beside someone who doesnt talk and im bored. we are doing assigned tables and guests can choose who they want to sit beside. i would spread all the people out as much as possible but wedding tables are large and centrepeices in the middle so people dont have to talk to the person they dont like. ugh why cant people grow up lollll

We had assigned seating at our wedding, as we only had 5 long rectangular tables. One of the tables was going to include a mix of his and my family, so we definitely had to make sure we put the right people in the right spot! All things considered, it was a success and nobody complained about their table/seating!

My fiancé and I are assigning tables, but not seats. It was a very political process for our family as his dad side and moms side cannot be anywhere near each other. We had to seat everyone at tables plus place the tables a certain way so they weren't next to each other.

I think even with long banquet tables you should assign tables and try to make sure everyone will get along. You sound like you are in a similar situation (although less extreme) I think it might be a good way to keep those who don't like each other separate, and just place those who do get along together, I wouldn't go as far as doing specific chairs tho.

Definitely have assigned tables. Otherwise 7 people might sit at a table of 8 and leave one awkward empty seat where a guest and their date won't fit.


I wouldn't worry about who sits where at each table, but assigning tables is always a good idea.

I guess I should add we are having really really long banquet tables so it's not a situation where theres round tables with only a certain number at each table... this might make it easier I'm hoping...

We had to have assigned seating as everyone selected a specific meal (and there were dietary restrictions as well) so it was a requirement from our venue so the servers knew which dinners had to go where. Otherwise, I would have been happy to let everyone pick their own seats. We also only had 46 people, so that would have been pretty simple as well.

Definitely doing assigned seating! Otherwise, you may get an uneven number of people at tables, or you might have people who already like each other choosing to sit together and then guests who don't know or like each other get forced to sit together. It's a great way to make sure that people who will mingle well together end up at the same tables. Even if you let them pick their own seats at the table, I definitely think it's best to assign everyone their tables!

First we were going to assign seats... then with all the people who couldn't make it last minute we decided to only assign seats to our immediate family. Worked out way better than expected!!

I’m not doing arranged seating. I’m going to assign tables to guests but they can pick their own seats.


I’ve been assigned a seat at a wedding before and I didn’t really care but my back was to everything that was going on so I would’ve preferred to pick a seat on the other end of the table. So as a guest, I’d prefer to pick my own seat. Regardless, someone’s back will be to what’s happening anyway so there’s no real way around it.