Would I put Megan and Aunt Becky together or would Megan go at Tim’s table? Will Erica feel uncomfortable being seated at the same table as Michael- they’ve been broken up now for over a year so I’m sure they’re over it…right?
The interworking’s of your own family and friends can be very difficult to navigate, now throw your fiance’s family and friends into the mix and you are faced with what feels like a giant undertaking: the seating chart.
Here are a few tips for getting started:
In order to determine your layout, first think about whether you and your loved one want a sweetheart table for yourselves or to have a head table where you are seated with others
Find out how many people should be seated at each table at your venue. Some venues offer round tables, others long. Typically, tables will seat 8-10 people.
Sit down with both your parents and your fiance’s parents to get a better understanding of who they think could be seated together. A lot of times, there may even be family friends that you can’t even remember how they are connected to you but mom and dad said they must be on the invite list ;-)
Get a copy of your floor plan from you venue so that you can match table numbers to ballroom floor locations.
Once you’ve gone through these exercises, it’s time to get prepared for the RSVP’s to start coming in. Here’s what we recommend:
Pick up a big piece of poster board- yes, the kind you used in grade school. Even places like CVS should carry it!
Draw out your tables with circles or rectangles. You won’t know yet exactly how many tables you will end up having, but you can estimate for now (typically 10-20% of your invite list will decline)
When you receive an RSVP, write the persons name on a Post It sticky tab
You can start putting the tabs out at the tables. The nice thing about doing it this way is that you can easily move the tabs around rather than having to erase or cross off
Don’t forget, not every table has to be full, you can always go with the low end one some and the high end on others depending on how things work out.
In the end, take a deep breath and remember that your music is going to be so awesome that everyone is going to be up dancing anyway!
