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Escort cards at a big wedding

cmcinernycmcinerny
First Comment
in Oregon
I'm having a really big wedding, probably 600 - 700 people, and I'm not sure how to handle seating. It seems like every wedding I see on The Knot and wedding blogs have escort cards. How would this work for a big wedding? And is it necessary? We will most likely have reserved tables where we can assign seating for certain guests, like family members, but I don't know how that would be possible with everyone.
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Re: Escort cards at a big wedding

  • CaliopeSpidrmanCaliopeSpidrman
    First Comment Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    You could do assigned tables and let everyone figure out the seating part themselves.  Just create a board with each table number and the list of people assigned to that table underneath.

    Personally, I hate assigned seating.  I'm a capable adult who can find myself a place to sit near people whose company I enjoy without the bride and groom's help.  They don't need to sit me away from people I hate -- I'm pretty sure I can do that on my own. 
    BUT my opinion seems to be unpopular.  I see more people saying they prefer assigned seats/tables than not.  I just think it's such a huge hassle for the bride and groom to have to deal with.  It's a detail they can't work on until the days before the wedding because they have to wait for RSVPs to come in.  And it makes the RSVP situation even more stressful when people pull the typical crap of inviting extra people or not sending their RSVP in.
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  • DramaGeekDramaGeek member
    5 Love Its First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Ditto Cali.  In your situation, I would do reserved seating for the wedding party and close family (parents, grandparents, etc) and let everyone else figure it out on their own. 

    Of course, I'm also the jerk that didn't have enough chairs for everyone Surprised  Know what?  no one cared, or even seemed to notice.
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  • bethbloombethbloom
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I would say do table assignments and let them pick their chair. To not do any kind of assigned seating at a wedding that big would be chaos.

    Do you have entree choices or anything like that? That's often another reason people do escort cards (to indicate food choice)
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  • cmcinernycmcinerny
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We're doing a buffet on the way into the reception room so that we can get that big herd fed quickly ;)

    We'll have a lot of ushers on hand ready to escort people to help fill in tables and make sure all the seats get filles.

    It's good to know my options: Assign all tables or just assign them for close family and bridal party and let the ushers help everyone else find a seat.
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  • reddy123reddy123 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    wow I thought my 250 person wedding was too big for escort cards! trust me it's more of a pain trying to pair people together for just 250, than it would be for them to choose who they sit next to naturally in the first 15 minutes... 600 ppl?? forget it. get fancy place cards for the wedding party and close family, and then get bigger fancy signs that say "reserved for the Smiths", "reserved for McClain's" for the few other special people, and right before the wedding have you or someone you trust set the signs about close to you, so you get the benefits of a seating chart without the headache.
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  • lindseroolindseroo member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    My wedding will have about 350 people, and we didn't even CONSIDER assigned seating.  That also stems from the fact that I hate it, and escort cards are an unnecessary expense.  We are having a head table for the WP, and a few reserved tables for parents and grandparents.  Everyone else can figure out where they want to sit for themselves. 
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  • sassypdxbridesassypdxbride
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I had close to 400 and we did escort cards.  I think its a little more elegant and there is nothing worse then when people flip their chairs up to save a spot...drives me crazy.  I actually enoyed setting up the tables and it was actually pretty easy.  You don't have to have 8 at a table...7 or 9 works too so just having that flexibility makes it less stressful.  When I go to events, I like knowing what table to sit at.  I wouldn't worry  about assigning actual seats though---that would take WAY too much time.  Where is your wedding?
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  • mayflymanitoumayflymanitou
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I like the idea of assigned tables mostly because I'm one of those people who appreciates having a designated camping spot for the evening.  Plus table assignments would be slightly less work for you than full-blown escort cards.

    Actually, this seems to be an ideal task to delegate to a wedding planner... and with 600+ guests I hope and pray that you have one :)
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