Do parents have to sit together at the reception?

NCSUWolfpack

For those of you that are getting married or have gotten married, did  your parents and your FI parents sit together at the same table during the reception, or are they going to sit together?

Our parents have met a few times even though they are 5,000 miles apart, but I'm wondering if they would enjoy themselves more sitting with their own family and friends in which they are familiar with instead of sitting them together at the same reception table where conversation may be a little akward. FI and I will not be sitting them with.  We will have a sweetheart table. 

What do you think?

sparklegirl84

Our reception is only about 30 people and i'm letting our guests choose where they want to sit. My FI and I have been together over 10 years and our parents have never met! If I had assigned seats I wouldn't stick them together because 1. I have divorced parents so it'd be weird and 2. They'd probably have more fun around their own friends and family and can choose to mingle with my parents on their own. It's really up to you though. 

AKWinterBride

We are actually having both sets of parents sit with us along with my MOH and her boyfriend.  We have 8 people per table, and I know our parents would love to get to sit with us, and truthfully - the rest of my bridal party has small kids.  I would rather sit with both sets of parents for days than sit with little kids at a wedding!    I love my niece and nephews, but I want to celebrate - not worry about what the kids are doing! 

Otherwise - no, I don't think you have to have your parents sit with your FI's parents.  If they weren't sitting with us, they would be sitting seperately, I hadn't even really considered putting them together at a table unless we were sitting there as well. 

Tanq&Tonic

I think it depends on your guest list.  If each set of parents has friends in attendance, then let them set with their friends.  If the parents have no guests, and they get along, sitting them together is nice. 

carrieoz_76

We had 29 guests, had one long table (pics in bio under Wedding Pics), and didn't assign seats.  As a result, our three sets of parents (my two sets, and his one) didn't sit next to each other.  

I kindof which I could have manipulated the seating a bit better so that our friends who were the last to arrive at dinner didn't end up at the end of the table, but the downside of assigning seats was so great that it just wasn't worth it.  Too many ways to offend people, and not enough to make them happy, if you know what I mean.  

sld0618

Our parents will sit separately.  I want each to enjoy their own parts of the family.  I hope they won't be sitting down the whole time anyways!!

lamoureux86

OP,

I noticed your username and wanted to say hey! I just moved from Raleigh to Hawaii in August..I lived there for 2 years and loved every second of it! I almost chose NC State for grad school but went with ECU instead. Do you live in NC and just having your wedding here or do you now live in Hawaii?

NCSUWolfpack

lamoureux86:

I am originally from NC.  I graduated from NC State, and then moved to Hawai'i following graduation. I love Raleigh (one of my dogs is named Raleigh!), and I miss NC very much!   I've been in Hawai'i for 4 years! I lived on O'ahu for the first two years, and now I've been on Maui for two years! NC will always have my heart.  Although FI is from Maui, he really enjoys NC too, so apart of our life together will be spent in NC with my family. 

How do you like Hawai'i so far?

TripleAubs

We sat our parents at separate tables, with immediate family members. We didn't have a head table or sweetheart table so DH and I sat with my parents since they were tables of 10 and it worked out!

jaymers99Wed201055

I had over 200 guests and figuring out seating was one of the toughest parts of planning a wedding!  The stress of making sure everyone would have a good time and feel comfortable...ahh!  Most of the weddings I have been to have a "bride's family" table and a "groom's family" table, so I hadn't even thought about seating the two sets together.  I originally had my parents seated with my grandparents and their brothers/sisters, but my mom said she wanted to sit with her friends.  Since she sees her family so often, she wanted a chance to catch up with those she doesn't see as much.  We then asked FI's mom who she would want to sit with and worked it out that way.

I've also been to weddings where parents (mom and dad) don't even sit at the same table because as hosts, they want to be able to interact with more guests.

breaness

In our case, my parents are probably not going to be on speaking terms with the rest of the family by the reception, so we are going to have them sitting with FI's parents. FI's parents and my parents get along really well and having them near each other will help take the pressure off to sit with and entertain the family that they are currently falling out with.

lamoureux86

NCSUWolfpack - I sent you a private message!

kimmykupcakes

There will only be 21 of us and three tables, but we are still assigning the seating. We are putting both of our parents at the same table.  We don't have a wedding party, but still want to sit with out friends.  We also wanted to make sure that FI's mom doesn't make a mad dash to sit next to him and push me out of the way, once again to do so. We wouldn't find sitting with my parents, but if we do that FI's mom would freak out. So don't want to deal with that on our wedding day.  Plus, we were planning on putting FI's dad next to my grampa since he can get anyone to talk.  That is if FI's dad even comes. With only 21 ppl how can there be this much drama?

motoLyn

I'm just going to seat everyone with people that they know.  One side is Vietnamese and the other side is Danish, the language barrier alone would make for a silent table.  The question is how to divide the friends up.