tell me more about sweetheart tables

pinklilly122

So this is a new concept to me, but it makes total sense. I remember feeling so left out and bored to death at a wedding an ex was in, where I didn't know anyone.

Anyway, is doing a small table for our son, fi, and I a good way to do this? Then have the front row of tables closest to us be for our wedding party, their families, and our parents?

I've seen about having a huge table for all of these people, but most of our party have multiple kids who will most likely be there as well, so how would that work? We'd be talking over 30 people if we included kids. Thanks ladies!

[Deleted User]

If you want, you can also seat yourself, your new husband, and your son at a regular table with some other guests (like your MOH and her family) that you'd want to talk to.  Or you can sit at a table with your parents or a couple with a kid the same age as your son so that when you go do table visits or dance, your son has someone to sit with and talk to.

Bubblegum5586

I personally am a huge fan or sweetheart tables. The whole night H and I were busy greetings and hosting everyone it was so nice to have sometime with just him! (if only for a few minutes as we squeezed in table visits between courses).

MandyMost

I don't think it works to have a sweetheart table when you add in your son. You'll probably be eating quickly and then getting up to visit with your guests as much as possible. He may just want to stay seated.

We're planning to just sit at a regular table, and have all of our family and bridal party at regular tables as well. I think this works the best for everyone. We'll get to chat with our friends while we're seated, and all of our wedding party and family will also be seated with people they want to be with, instead of awkwardly at a head table. 

holyguacamole79

pinklilly122 said:

So this is a new concept to me, but it makes total sense. I remember feeling so left out and bored to death at a wedding an ex was in, where I didn't know anyone. Anyway, is doing a small table for our son, fi, and I a good way to do this? Then have the front row of tables closest to us be for our wedding party, their families, and our parents? I've seen about having a huge table for all of these people, but most of our party have multiple kids who will most likely be there as well, so how would that work? We'd be talking over 30 people if we included kids. Thanks ladies!

How old is your son?  If he's old enough, you can ask him if he wants to sit with you & FI or if he'd rather sit with family.

When we were planning our wedding, we had initially thought of a head table.  But, we didnt' want to exclude spouses and kids.  And, one of our GMs had 2 small daughters with him and his wife, so it made more sense for everyone to just sit with their families.

pinklilly122

Our son will be 3 1/2 by then so I probably could ask him who he wants to sit with. I just figured he'd sit with us. I doubt he'll want to sit for long anyway.

I originally planned on a head table too, but I feel like this is a much better option. Hopefully fi will go for it. I just gotta figure out how to do it, I have no clue how it's normally done.

levioosa

I like sweetheart tables.  And as long as you're not separating your WP from their SO's, you should be good to go! 

holyguacamole79

pinklilly122 said:

Our son will be 3 1/2 by then so I probably could ask him who he wants to sit with. I just figured he'd sit with us. I doubt he'll want to sit for long anyway. I originally planned on a head table too, but I feel like this is a much better option. Hopefully fi will go for it. I just gotta figure out how to do it, I have no clue how it's normally done.

Can you seat your son with his grandparents?  I remember our wedding, and it was hard to eat because people kept coming up to congratulate us.  I can imagine if you have a 3 1/2 year old, it will be even more challenging to get a bite.

And there really isn't much "to do".  Just have a table for you & your husband and seat everyone else with their families.  Easy peasy. 

pinklilly122

Yes I can definitely seat him with grandparents. I actually didn't think about how hard it would be to eat! Thank you I think that is the plan I will use when I pitch the idea to fi

wandajune6

We're doing a sweetheart table. FI has a 15 year old son who would rather sit with cousins and we need a few minutes together that day.

Plus, too many people in the wedding party will have dates who wouldn't otherwise know anyone. Head tables seem unfair to them.

huskypuppy14

I need to ask my parents where I sat at their wedding (I was the flower girl). I'm assuming I sat with my maternal grandparents, not at the head table. Just for curiosity sake.

OliveOilsMom

pinklilly122 said:

Yes I can definitely seat him with grandparents. I actually didn't think about how hard it would be to eat! Thank you I think that is the plan I will use when I pitch the idea to fi

I'm going to embody kssmmg for a moment.  She always says that she doesn't want to babysit at her kids weddings because she herself wants to have a good time with friends, not play grandmom for the evening.  Could you invite a designated babysitter for your son?  You can pay the babysitter to watch your son for the evening.  No need to have a separate room or anything.

Also, another idea for where to seat the WP.  You could also spread them out throughout the reception tables so that they sit with other people they know.  

lurkergirl

I love sweetheart tables!  I also like seating the WP at tables with people they know.  We have a mix of family and friends in our WP, so I know my liberal feminist BFF won't want to sit with my conservative fox news FFIL.  I'm just going to seat them the same way I would if they were non WP guests.

tammym1001

We had a sweetheart table. It was nice to have that 20 minutes or so while we were eating to just be able to talk to DH and enjoy ourselves. I'm glad that we did it that way. I don't think either one of us went back to the table the rest of the night after we ate.

jnissa

Another vote her for how amazing sweetheart tables are. But I think we were up and down from ours in under 30 minutes so that we could go do table visits (and that was with a long toast in there).