Tips for Your Wedding Seating Chart
Guest Lists & Seating Charts. Who knew they could be so convoluted?
You have just spent what feels like a life time picking and choosing your guest list. Who should be invited with a guest or without? Are they on the list because another family member insists on it or because you chose them? Do we have too many, but how do you pick and choose where to make the cuts?
You have finally sifted through all these choices and the RSVPs are flowing in.
Now that is done, you are onto the next task of creating the actual seating chart. Who should sit next to who? How many people can we fit at each table?
All of these questions and decisions can be draining - believe me, I have been there and done that for my own wedding! But I am glad to say that I am here to help you make things a little easier when it comes to your actual seating chart! (If you choose a seating chart rather than Escort cards!)
So here are my tips:
Know where it will go. Be sure you have a set place in your venue where your seating chart will be placed. You want this to be in a guest centric location so they do not have to go hunting for it. You want to ensure that it is visible in some sort of entrance - whether it is the ballroom entrance or cocktail hour entrance - it makes things much easier for your guests if they can easily find and read it.
If you have a large guest list - 100+, I always recommend to my clients they organize their seating chart alphabetically for many reasons. Main reason being for guest ease. The last thing you want at your wedding is a long line - a line at the bar, a line for the bathrooms, & even a line of guests looking for their tables. When the list is done alphabetically, it significantly reduces the amount of time a guest is standing around looking for their tables.
Start early, but prepare to make changes. You can have an idea of your table assignments in your head before your RSVPs come in, you can have them all solidified & then a week before your wedding date someone all of the sudden can’t come & this changes the whole plan. You are going to want to prepare mentally that changes will be made that you may not have been prepared for. If you are working with a calligrapher, be sure to chat with them about a what if scenario.
Double check. Always have a second (or even third) person double check the spelling of your guest list before handing it over to whomever is creating your seating chart - even if it is you! The last thing you want is to get back your finalized project and have a guests name misspelled. You are also going to want to double check it when it has been completed!
Make sure it is legible. Of course you want to choose a design or font that is visually appealing but you also want to make sure that your guests will be able to read it. You do not want people to mistake their names for others causing more confusion or another reason for a lines to build up.
If possible, work with a professional (like me, cough cough) who can help guide you through making these choices. It’s not always easy keeping all of these little details in mind so having someone that is used to all of these little nuances would be a great help.
Hope this helped!
