Top tips to navigate seating arrangements at your wedding
Your wedding is a day of celebration, showing your love for your partner and coming together with family and friends. On paper, that sounds fairly simple. After all, all you technically need is a registrar and two witnesses. However, the reality is that the practicalities of wedding planning can get complex, especially when you take your guests into account.
One area that couples often struggle with is the seating plan for the wedding breakfast. It can be difficult to know where to place people, especially if you have guests who don’t know anyone else, or don’t get on with another family member.
Seat people by common interests If you want to mix everyone up, or have lots of guests who don’t know each other, one of the best ways to seat people is often by common interests. This does rely on you knowing your guests fairly
well, but hopefully you do anyway if they’re coming to your wedding. If you get stuck, try asking your parents or close friends to help you, based on their knowledge.
Not only does doing your seating plan this way mean that guests will have something to talk about, but it also avoids the feeling that some tables are ‘better’ than others. If everyone’s mixed up, there’s no preferential treatment.
Have your bridal party split across the tables If you’ve got a confident set of bridesmaids and groomsmen, then enlist their help when it comes to
your wedding breakfast. Depending on the number of people in your wedding party and the number of tables, you can sit one or two bridesmaids/groomsmen on each table to get the conversation started. Give them a list of guests on their table ahead of time, and some info about them, so that they can have something to add if the conversation goes stale.
There should be no pressure on your bridal party to do this, nor should they be expected to remember facts like it’s a quiz, but by giving each table a familiar face it can help your guests mingle and feel more comfortable.
Avoid the top table question
Some couples find that deciding who goes on their top table (i.e. is seated next to them) causes a lot of hassle. Especially if both sets of parents are separated, there’s often not room for everyone to sit on the top table, and it may leave your parent’s new partners stranded by themselves
elsewhere.
Instead, why not keep the top table just for you two? You can enjoy an intimate dinner together, talking over the day so far, and avoid any political issues around who sits where. You may even find that your venue can provide your favourite drinks if it’s just you, rather than the standard house wine, giving the meal that extra special touch.
Make a plan ahead of time
No matter what you decide, planning ahead of time is essential when it comes to seating arrangements. Make sure you start working things out around a month before your wedding date.
Whilst you may have some last minute changes, having a rough plan in place will help you keep calm in the lead up to your big day.