Seating Plans – The Do’s and Don’ts!

So you know you need one… but which one do you need?

We get it. You know you will need a seating plan at your reception, but you have multiple tables, a fair number of guests and a layout suited to your venue capability. So how do you get that on to your seating plan so it’s legible? Well, that’s where we come in to play.

We understand that no two-wedding receptions are the same. We believe the key to a good wedding seating chart comes down to many key factors including:

MAKING IT LEGIBLE

By legible we mean don’t try to cram 150 guests over 15 tables onto a regular size board (i.e. a standard 600x900mm), the text will have to be too small and you will have 150 people fighting to find their name on their table.

We recommend that if your guest list is 120+ then print your wedding seating chart to a larger size board. This will ensure that more then one guest at a time can find their name easily. Our larger size wedding seating plans will also fit on a standard size easel.

ALPHABETICAL VS TABLE ORDER

We recommend that if your guest list is 120+ then print your wedding seating chart in alphabetical order. This will make it much easier and quicker for guests to find their name, then their table number allocated next to it

If your wedding is smaller then 120pax and you have multiple round tables or long banquet tables then you would leave your guests in order of what table they are sitting on and who they are sitting next to.

ADDING THE BRIDAL TABLE ON YOUR WEDDING SEATING CHART

Do I need to put the bridal table on the seating plan? This is a common question we are asked and is completely personal. If you feel like this will help having it on their then add it in but if you’re not too fussed, you can leave it off.

FIRST AND SURNAMES

Another common question we are asked is whether to add guests surnames to your wedding seating chart. Our answer is usually yes.

Guests want it to be easy to find their name so even if they’re not looking for their first name, often it’s easier to find your surname as it isn’t as common.

If you don’t like the idea of how formal it feels with all of the surnames, then just add an initial to the names that are double ups so that the guests with the same name know which seat and table they are at.

DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF

Placing all of your guests at a seat they want is nearly impossible. Not everyone is going to be 100% happy with who they are next to or what table they are on, but guess what? Chairs are portable items so if after all the formalities Uncle Joe wants to move… let him go.

Another thing that we believe isn’t worth the stress is trying to remove a name off the wedding seating chart once it’s been printed. If someone decides to pull out at the last minute, just leave them on there and if another guest will take their seat, then just let them know who they are next to. It’s honestly not worth the stress, you’re by now weeks if not days away from your big day, reduce your stress and start enjoying the lead up to what will be one of the best days of your life!

Once your seating chart artwork is finalised by us, be sure to forward it onto your wedding stylist or wedding planner so that they also have a hard copy of the final layout and know where to place your wedding place cards also.

Be sure to ask us to email you our wedding seating plan template so that you can easily slot your names in and send it back to us in the correct format.

We hope that this article has helped you with some questions you have had. If you do have questions regarding wedding seating charts be sure to contact someone from the team who will be more then happy to assist!