To seat the guests in the reception venue, you have basically two options: you can leave it up to each guest to choose its place or you can go for an organized seating plan.

A seating plan has several goals:

• To reduce the confusion at the moment the guests enter the venue
• To stimulate friendly conversation, preventing that the guests feel uneasy because they are not acquainted with any of the other guests at the table
• To honor special guests

To be able to elaborate a seating plan, you must know:

• What guests will actually be attending the wedding
• How many tables will be placed in the reception venue
• What types of tables are available and how many guests will be able to seat at each table
• If possible, the localization of the tables in the room, not forgetting the space needed for the wedding cake or maybe for some wedding entertainment you are planning on

Top Table

Normally the top table (also know as head table) is the easiest to set up. Traditionally:

• The wedding party will seat at a long table with seats down one side
• The bride and groom will sit at the center, the groom to the right of the bride
• Male and female will alternate

If the parents of the bride or groom have divorced and remarried, the issue of the top table will be trickier. Although the partners of the Best man and Chief bridesmaid traditionally sit at other tables, as far as the step parents go, there is no right answer. You will have to consider your own feelings here and make you sure you let everyone know about your decision well ahead of the wedding day.

An elegant way to bypassing issues about who should be on the top table is actually not to have one. You can choose to have a romantic “sweetheart table” instead, where the bride and groom sit on their own (this is what David and Victoria Beckham did). You can also choose to have two free seats at each table and mingle during the meal.

Table Names or Numbering

The tables need to have some kind of name or numbering, so that it is possible to place the identification of each table in the seating plan.

The simplest will be numbering the tables. Other alternatives will be to give more or less creative names to each one, such as:

• Names of flowers
• Names of cities or countries
• Names of precious stones
• Colors
• Names of animals, birds or butterflies
• Famous couples
• Cars or motorbikes
• Something related with hobbies of the bride and groom

Giving each table a name can be a little complicated when there are many tables, but as a general rule, the existence of a name for the table makes itr easier for the guests to memorize which one is their table. If you choose to go with numbers, make sure that the top table is number 1 or doesn’t have a number.

It is also important that each table has its identification showing in a visible and clear way. You can choose to add an image related to the name of the table. If you’re dealing with numbers, an original idea is to place a photo of the bride and groom at that age (for example, 2 years old on table 2). Another idea is to use the hearts from a deck of cards (for example, the 2 of hearts on table 2).

Look for the similarities

Try to place the guests according to their life experiences and common interests. Obviously, you should seat couples together. If possible, put together people that Are already acquainted. If this is not be possible (and you will probably have some table where it is not…), try to group people using the following criteria:

• Guest of the bride or the groom
• Profession
• Age
• Hobby

Also try to obtain a balanced number of men and women. You might be tempted to also use the marital status as a criteria, but take into account that many bachelors might feel uncomfortable in a bachelor’s only table; it is usually better to mix couples with bachelors.

Finally, try to avoid creating a “leftover” table with the remaining guests. Although it will be harder, try to distribute them to several tables.

If you’re having trouble with the seating plan, try some of the following strategies:

• Write the name of each guest in a small Post-it and to try to organize the guests by placing the Post-its in a large table or a wall.
• Create an spreadsheet table with the names and characteristics of your guests and use Copy&Paste until you are happy with the final result
• Use specialized software. You can try Perfect Plan can which supports up to 1000 guests
• Unfortunately, this software is not free, but it is useful, especially if have a large number of guests.

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