Seating plan

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I think I’ll try and at least assign tables and let them sit at whatever seat at that table. But I’m still thinking about things. I love hearing what people are doing

We are doing assigned seating because of a few people who do not get along the best. It will be the easiest way to prevent drama.

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I'm glad to have been of some help! Yeah, these discussion boards are so helpful

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That’s a good point, I hadn’t thought about just assigning tables. I was thinking assigned seat or not at all.. I didn’t think of in between. But that’s why I love these discussion boards! It helps so much with things like this

I'd say do assigned tables at the very least. It's easy to assume that people will just figure it out, but what about those guests who don't know anyone else that well? It would be nice if everyone was told what table they were sitting at so people don't feel left out or at the random table.

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That is an awesome idea for music, it sounds like it would definitely be very "you"!

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Thank you so much for all this! It will definitely come in handy I’m gonna take this down in my notebook! I wasn’t thinking about food yet for sure, this does make s huge difference. I already definitely wanted to do a table for just the couple and have our wedding party sit with their families, my FMIL says they need to sit with us, and I said no that’s not what I want lol.

I can see your view for not doing a seating plan for the reception.

Just some things to consider and keep in mind:

1. Food choices based on the person will be hard to know who has what if you have plated service.

2. Sweetheart table is better for you both and wedding party can sit with their other half at the table. A large table with wedding party will be more to worry about and questions may arise.

3. Playing musical chairs won't be fun knowing your guests have their belongings at that table.

Pros for Seating Plan: (this is the option I took to create family as main and others towards tables in the back row).

1. Every guest knows their table number and if putting a favour with a tag to them personally.

2. Meals can be verified by the same layout provided to the venue and if anyone with allergies or vegetarian. Some go by gem stones to represent different meats and vegetarian/allergies. Indicating by codes also help. I had done this way to create a smoother process for the venue and myself to be clear and organized. NV-Non-Veg, V-Veg and K-Kids.

Hope this helps and guides you if your family is still on the edge of this topic.

View quoted message You’re right about drinks! This place has a mixologist instead of just a bartender they said. I just gotta get an idea of average cost of drinks and such. I’m not sure what I wanna do for music yet. My FH has a few family members in different local bands that are really good we could ask. But every time we get together they all start singing karaoke and it’s awesome, so we thought we kinda might wanna make a playlist for while we eat and start partying and then have them hook up I the amp and take out the guitars and jam like we do at all our occasions. It’s a hotel we’d be renting out so it’s the perfect place for that. If we go with any other venue we’d probably need a band or DJ. Because I totally agree with you music is important for guests.

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For us it was venue, food, beverages and DJ - basically things to keep guests happy lol. Everything else is extra to us.

View quoted message You’re so right! We said the Venue and the Food is most important to us, so we can cut everywhere else and we would still be happy.

My sister’s a bit disappointed I don’t care too much about the dress. I have a style and look in mind but I’m all about saving, I’m down to play dress up, but I made her promis me not to spend over my budget and to remind me about my websites I found lol!

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Sometimes it's better to splurge, especially when it comes to wedding stuff! You could also find somewhere to cut a bit too, especially things that aren't as important to you.

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Yeah I know! I was always trying to be thrifty and do as low budget as I could. But when it came time to actually start planning I noticed that’s not really what I want.. lol my FH actually surprised me by being super into this place too, without seeing it he keeps saying you know that I already want that place haha! He can rarely make any decisions, but this place he says is perfect because I wont have to stress about the decorations. The memories are worth the extra expense, I can make more money I cant get that time back again I suppose!

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If the visit goes well, I would definitely go with that option!!

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Yeah same here, we didn’t pick a venue yet. That’s first step, because depending on where we pick the options are a bit different. If we get the place we really want the chef customizing some options after meeting with us and getting an idea of our favorite meals. Needless to say it’s the most expensive option but the most memorable one... We gotta visit it first, it’s only 2000$ more and they would take care of all the decorating too..

A huge reason I am doing a seating plan (probably just tables and not specific seats) is because at my sister in laws wedding a few years ago they had open seating and a bunch of people who had not RSVP’d showed up for the meal. They ended up running out of food!! Assigned seating won’t stop people from showing up BUT it will ensure that the people who did RSVP take priority. There won’t be room for people who are rude enough to just show up without notice.

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I hear ya! I'm not sure what our final meal(s) will be either! We might even go for just one option.

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That’s a good idea, they can sit where they want and make sure the card matches what they got, if I get a little picture or a steak or a chicken. WTV it’ll be, I’m still not there yet. Just trying to iron out what I can think of ahead of time.

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Lol I've done it too, I'm really not looking forward to creating a seating plan, even with just assigned tables so I want to be as prepared as possible. We do know that we have a vegetarian table (group of couples who already know each other) which makes things easy. There might be one or two still amongst the crowd but we'll be able to let catering know!

We also might have escort cards with the seating plan, with different coloured stickers/gems so catering knows who's getting what dish. (i.e blue for steak, purple for chicken, green for vegetarian).

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Haha yes all in laws hard to deal to please!

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Great to hear from someone who it went well for. My FMIL is a little harder to please but I couldn’t tell her that lol.

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That’s a very good point, I think I’m just thinking ahead. But you’re right about the food and stuff. I will most likely have an option for the meal and I’ll need to tell the caterer how many of one and the other. So in that case I could assign the tables. We talked a little bit about a buffet option in that sense we could go the open seating option. I hadn’t even considered the plates!

I went to a wedding that was open seating. What they did was have the tables closest to them as family, kids table, and any not reserved were open for us to sit at. It worked pretty well as got to sit next to whoever wanted

I've been to a wedding with open seating and it worked pretty well. they had tables reserved for parents, grandparents, other immediate family, vendors and everyone else fended for themselves. My FH and I got stuck with the groom's great aunts and uncles, but it was only for dinner/speeches and by the time dancing started, they had left so we had a whole table for ourselves.

You could also do table assigned seating, so seats aren't assigned. This is what we are doing for ours (we need some sort of assigned places so catering knows where different meals are going).

Also, don't stress about it until you send invites and get RVSPs. The people you might be worried about for seating plans might RVSP no so you don't have to worry about it.

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That’s true, I didn’t think about just assigning a table and letting them pick a spot. I was either gonna do assigned completely or not at all I hadn’t thought much about how there could be in between options too!

Perfect! That works for me! I can seat the immediate family easily enough, it’s the rest of them that were giving me a headache lol

We’re assigning tables but not seats.

Do your best but ultimately don’t stress it too much. Adults are expected to behave at social gatherings. They’re there to celebrate you and your SO, not pout and throw tantrums if they don’t like where they’re seated.

Silverlining: maybe this will give folks more reason to spend time on the dance floor than brooding at a table 🤣.

I would just say to have your immediate family have reserved seating closest to you and the FH and the rest can figure it out.

That way, if people wind up sitting next to people they don't care for - it's not your fault and maybe they should have gotten there sooner!

(The reserved seating would only be for; you, FH, parents, grandparents, siblings. Aunt's/Uncle's, cousins etc. would have to find their own seats. Of course make sure you include the wedding party if you are having one though as you will most likely want to be next to your friends.)