7 Tips To Create A Wedding Seating Chart

Oh, the joys of wedding planning! You’re probably excited about a lot of the things on your wedding planning to-do list. After all, you’ve waited your whole life to pick out the wedding dress of your dreams! However, you probably haven’t waited your whole life to create a seating chart for your wedding reception. If we’re honest, it’s definitely one of the more mundane tasks on your to-do list. But, that’s where we come in. We’ve got 7 tips to create the ultimate wedding seating chart – just to make your life a little easier!

Don’t Wait Until The Last Minute

Most importantly, do not wait until the last minute! Making the seating chart is an easy task to want to put off, but trust us, it’ll take more time than you think. The last thing you want is to be up way late the night of your wedding trying to figure out where everyone should sit!

Draw It Out

It’s time to get out the craft supplies! But in all seriousness, the easiest way to see and create your seating chart is to actually draw it out. Draw the floor plan, the shape of the tables, the seats at each table, and then fill them in! Don’t forget to place the DJ/band and food where it’s going to go and fill in the tables around them. Pro Tip: Use a pencil instead of a pen, or get the white-out ready!

Decide Where YOU Want To Sit

Next, it’s time to decide where you and your new husband will sit! Do you want some alone time amidst all the wedding day craziness? Then a sweetheart table is a perfect option for you! Or, would you rather party it up with your wedding party? Create a head table that seats you and your wedding party or your closest friends! On the other hand, maybe you want your wedding to be all about family; in that case, the head table would seat you and your closest family members. You’ll want to do this step first and then place everyone else around the head/sweetheart table.

Decide Where Your Parents Will Sit

Traditionally, the bride and groom’s parents sit together, but it’s best to ditch tradition if that doesn’t work for your parents. If they all get along, great! But if your parents don’t get along with the groom’s parents, or your parents are divorced and don’t really speak to each other, seating them at different tables is the best way to go.

Seat The Rest

Okay, so now we’ve got the DJ/band, food, bride and groom, and parents taken care of – it’s time to seat everybody else! We recommend seating people by who they know instead of their relationship status, age, or anything else. We know you might be tempted to do a singles table to set your friends up, but let’s be honest, no one wants to be at the singles table. Your guests want to sit with people they know and can have fun with! Especially if they haven’t seen them in a long time, they’ll want to be able to catch up! If certain guests don’t know anyone, then you can use your matchmaking skills to seat them at the table you think they’ll enjoy most.

Don’t Forget The Little Ones

Don’t forget about the kids! Decide if you’re going to have a kid’s table or seat all the kids with their parents. We love the idea of a kid’s table with fun activities for them to do! But, if you go this route, remember to seat their parents nearby.

Diffuse The Drama

This might sound obvious, but if you know two people don’t get along, don’t sit them together! It can be tempting to seat all of your family at one table or close to each other. However, if there’s some family tension between two people, sit them as far apart as possible! They won’t think it’s weird that the whole family isn’t at one table – they know the situation and they’ll be grateful.

BONUS TIP

When creating your seating chart, make it fun! Grab some wine, your fiancé, and make a date night out of it! And don’t forget to use these 7 tips to create the ultimate wedding seating chart!

For more wedding planning advice and inspiration, come hang out with us on social media! Instagram | Facebook Page | Facebook Group