Texas-Dallas and Ft. Worth

Seating...

So my lovely FFIL wants a seating chart to keep track of people. I like my FFIL a lot and I don't mind doing this for him.
We are having 400- 500 people so I need to find a way to keep track of it and I need ideas for the table numbers.

What did you guys do?
Any creative ideas?
How would you organize it with so many people?

Re: Seating...

  • edited December 2011
    We didn't do assigned seating, so I can't give you any good ideas. 

    However, I can tell you what I don't think you should do. haha. 

    I went to a wedding about a year ago where they made personalized little candles with all the guest's names on them, and table numbers. Very cute, don't get me wrong. They had them all at a table by the bar. This was not fun, because it was a mad dash to that table after the ceremony to find where you were sitting, and they were all crammed onto one small table, with 150 people trying to find their candle, in no particular order. Alphabetized you say? No. not so much. No order. DH's (bf at the time), wasn't even next to mine! 

    So, don't do something "cute" like that. It's a pain in the butt. I say do something simple and easy. Don't make people work to figure out what table they're supposed to be at. It's not cute, and it's not fun.
  • edited December 2011
    Well they are there at cocktail hour for an hour before we get there. I hope they would have enough time to figure it out then. I hope! I don't want candles or anything extra I have to spend too much money on. The budget is getting stretched a little too much already.
  • edited December 2011
    I think the key is just to make sure it's organized.
  • edited December 2011
    I had found tons of cute seating things on the Martha Stewart Weddings website.  I'm not sure any of them were for 400-500 people though.  That makes my head hurt just thinking about it.

    Also maybe look at www.weddingchicks.com. They have a bunch of downloadable templates so it could save some $.
  • tdqtdq
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    I like the chalk boards that I've seen with the guests names and table numbers on them. I also like the idea of naming the tables instead of numbering, but I can see that being a HUGE mess.
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  • carmen9311carmen9311 member
    500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    i think keeping it simple is key. if you're doing place cards, then alphabetize and put them on 3-4 different tables a-f, g-l, etc. so that it doesn't bottleneck. with so many people and so many tables, i would go with the traditional number. if you want to name the tables, put the name under the number so that it's easy to find. also, number the tables in a logical order. go from the table closest to the door and down instead of making the lower numbers closer to you. that way, people aren't mulling around trying to figure out the numbering system. 

    i'd also use excel to help me keep on track with the tables. with that many people it will be hard no matter what you do, but i think keeping it as simple as possible will make it less of a headache.
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  • edited December 2011
    Wow 500! I don't want to know what your catering bill is! 

    I think Carmen makes a great point. The easier the better. I was actually thinking of having ushers for the reception that would play "hostess" and tell people what table they are at. So if there are 3 entrance doors to the hall, then at least three people with the seating chart letting people know what table number they are as they enter. 
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