We are having a wedding of about 90 people. We have 4 longtables with 20 people plus the head table. I have been to weddings with longer tables where they just have a place card, but no table numbers or assigned seats so people just walked around and found their card (it was not an issue at all). I would like to do this at my wedding, but everyone keeps telling me to have table numbers and escort cards (or a seating chart sign) for the caterers/ to avoid confusion. I just honestly have never seen this be an issue so I am wondering what everyone else thinks! My opinion is that it would look silly to break up the tables into smaller sections with table numbers and having one table number for the long table doesn't really help (since people would have to walk around and find their spot anyways - I definitely want place cards with assigned seats since I don't want people to get split up since they are rectangular tables).
Help!
Re: Long tables with assigned seating - do we need numbers and escort cards?
OP, there is no reason you cannot place a number in the center of every six or eight chairs. Please consider your guests first. As far as assigned seats are considered, if guests find a need to do some simple rearranging, it is easy to do. It sounds odd, but there are couples that insist on sitting side by side versus across, while other couples much prefer being seated across from each other.
At the very least you should have a seating chart with tables1-4 (one for each long table) so people only have to look at 20 seats to find their own. Every table is would be even better.
Either assign everyone a seat or no one a seat. With long tables, you may be better to assign seats so that people won't leave seats between them. I went to one wedding that this was the case. Once people sit down, they don't want to move. Small tables are easy to just do table assignments and not seating assignments.
If you do long banquet tables, I would highly recommend indicating where one "table" ends and the next begins AND assigning places so couples don't get separated.
I do understand assigning seats in this situation; sometimes with long tables it's a little harder to know where to sit if you're the first ones there, etc. That way you could make sure couples or families don't get separated. I also agree with PPs that you might want some sort of seating chart with the number of the table everyone is at so that it would be easier for them to find their seat.
All you need to do is assign numbers to the tables, then have a seating chart as guests come in that tells them which table they are sitting at. You do not need to assign individual seats; people will figure it out and no couples will be separated.
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