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As you get ready for your big day, one of the few last items to tick off your checklist is a seating plan for your reception. Albeit it is not a necessity, it helps create order during the wedding breakfast and ensures tables are filled.

A seating plan will help you:

  • Account for all your guests by getting enough seats and tables for them
  • Avoid confusion or scrambling of seats
  • Show or utilise your creativity in décor arrangement
  • Ensure all tables are filled
  • Prevent unwanted guests

When creating a seating chart, you can group individuals at a table and select their seats or assign seats to individuals by placing name cards on them.

Here are a few tips to guide you through creating a perfect seating plan for your wedding.

Table Shapes

The first place to start when planning your seating arrangement is the selection of a table layout and floor plan. You need to choose the type of tables suitable and work out how many tables will accommodate your guests.

Typically, you can use either of these three table layouts in your wedding; rectangular tables, round tables, or long banquet-style tables.

If you’re looking to give your guests ample legroom space as they dine, then a round table design is preferable. If you want your guests to interact and make the event more social, a rectangular table design will help deliver that.

Categorise Your Guests

After you have figured out the table layout desirable for your big day, it is now time to assign a table. Categorising your guests into different clusters will help in making the allocation easier. You can cluster your guests into groups based on their relationship with you and your spouse.

These clusters do not necessarily need to be placed in specific tables; however, they will help in accounting for everyone on the guest list.

Prioritise Your Guests

The next step is to allocate seats to your high-priority guests. This includes your bridal party, parents, close family members, and friends. A table close to you and your partner will be ideal.

Your wedding is a special day to you, and so is it to your high-priority guests. You need to make them feel special as well by giving them the best seats in the house.

Avoid Single Tables

Your wedding reception might seem like the ideal place to fix up your single friends. However, this can lead to an embarrassing ordeal, especially if it is done at discretion. It is prudent that you account for emotional feelings that could be invoked due to your seating plan.

Skip the single table and include a mixture of married and unmarried individuals for diversity.