Assigned Seating/Tables?

nannabug42

So I know a bunch of you are doing outdoor BBQs, but what are your thoughts about assigned tables? I've honestly never been to a wedding with them, and I really don't want to dictate where people sit. The few friends I've run it by haven't ever been to a wedding with it either.

However, my concern is that we are inviting people who don't really know anyone else. Also, I don't want families split up. Our ceremony is in the same room as our venue and everyone will be seated at the actual tables for it. Then the cocktail hour will be in the next room, and everyone will come back for dinner. Due to venue restrictions, this has to be the setup. Ugh, I don't want people meandering around, wondering where to sit. Chris definitely wants assigned tables.

Thoughts? What are/did you guys do(ing)?

sarahmarietm

I worried about that too, but since our venue only has tables that seat six per, it was going to be too big of a headache for me to figure out where to put everyone.  I've never been to a wedding with assigned seating, and I'm sure all that I'm saying is some huge faux pa, but whatever.  I would feel more comfortable picking my own place to sit, and not stress myself out wondering if people were okay, if families were split up, ect.  Besides, I figure if people really want to sit by someone particular, they can move their chair, ha ha!

I'm sorry I haven't been too helpful Nana, I'm sure you'll figure it out

DramaGeek

We didn't bother doing assigned anything.  It all worked out just fine.  If people wanted to sit together and there wasn't room, they pulled more chairs over to the table.  We did a buffet, though, so that worked just fine.

snarky_girl

I'm in the same situation as you. We just decided to let chips fall where they do and let everyone choose their own seat. When it comes to families, most people I know would be wiling to move -- if asked -- to let them all sit together. As a compromise, you could do a mixture. Create assigned seating for the families and let everyone else choose their seats. But that might cause a lot of confusion as well. That's a hard one nanna!

jennylee753

I'm on the other side of the fence. We did assigned tables and everyone really appreciated it. It allowed families to stay together and people that didn't know many people guaranteed to sit with someone they knew. In my personal opinion, I wish that all weddings were assigned, I HATE having to search for a seat.

One thing you do have to do if you go with unassigned seating is put out 4 or so extra tables. You will be more likely to avoid families being split up and awkward moments when people don't want to sit at a certain table.

qu33ncute

People are like cows, they like to be herded. You can assign people a table and then they can choose which chair to sit in, if you are more comfortable with that. It is your wedding, no one will say "Hey, I don't want to sit at Table 6". I agree with JennyLee. I think it makes it look like you cared enough to think about everyone's feelings.

kizat

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_oregon_assigned-seatingtables?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:119Discussion:662af593-f846-46d6-a6f2-08591a942c30Post:877cf6a6-30dc-433b-9a39-b122406c5b10">Re: Assigned Seating/Tables?</a>:
[QUOTE]You can assign people a table and then they can choose which chair to sit in, if you are more comfortable with that.
Posted by qu33ncute[/QUOTE]

This is what we're doing.  We're assigning tables and letting people pick their chairs.  It allows me to keep some of my rougher friends away from my very conservative family members and also keep families together.

I"m doing a kids table as well... Since a lot of the "kids" invited are actually a little older and will want to sit with their cousins with out the interference of mom and dad. haha.

What I've done so far for this is make a spread sheet... in column A is a list of all the people coming, then I've prioritized them, (Mom gets a seat near the dance floor/right in front of the ceremony/friend from high school goes to a table near the back) - I'm using a color coordination process for myself - and then I've just worked from there... i have 12 tables that fit 6, and 4 tables that fit 10. 

I"ve gone as far as to make a to scale replica of my ballroom (hi, I'm crazy) and little tables and name tags to pile on the tables so I have a visual.

I'm not sure if any of this makes sense.... But, I"m all for making a seating chart, let them pick their seat... and if they wanna move, they can move to a different table later on after the ceremony and dinner.

velocitygrl

We did assigned tables, and it worked really really well.  I had the same concerns about people who did not know anyone else there, plus DH's parents are divorced and we had to make his two brothers run interference with them. 

Some friends who I seated together that did not know each other still talk to one another, so it worked better than I even would have guessed.