Assigned seating or not?

annieravensfan528

I am having a very small wedding in August. 42 people are invited (this includes the bridal party). There's a bit of family drama on both sides and I am stumped on seating arrangements I have only been to large weddings with seating charts, so a small wedding is new territory to me. Could I get away without a seating chart and just leaving a few extra tables than needed? TIA.

jessicabessica

I think you can get away with no seating arrangement, but if there is family drama, I would assign seats or tables so that you can make sure people who will make drama together sit away from each other.  

heb557

Assigned seats if there is drama!! You don't need any problems on your wedding day. 

[Deleted User]

I've seen some cute signs on Pinterest that say "we're all family, just pick a seat" or something like that.  So I think, especially with such a small group you could get away without.  Hopefully they will put aside their differences for your big day and if attempting to do a seating chart is such a headache, forget about it!

TiffannieF

I think assigned tables would work out. It's not as tedious but for 42 people it shouldn't be as hard as 200. GL!

kmmssg

With the family drama I would do this out of courtesy to everyone as well as your own piece of mind.  They really aren't difficult to do and with only 42 people it won't take long at all.

GreenEire

I'm a fan of assigned seating.  Or at the very least, assigned tables.  There's much less stress involved. 

I went to a small wedding once and there was open seating at the reception.  It took ages for people to figure out where to sit because everybody want to sit by their nearest and dearest, and there wasn't enough room for everybody at one table, and another couple was by themselves at a table so that looked awkward.

I went to a larger wedding once where tables were assigned.  I didn't know anybody besides my H, so I appreciated having direction on where to sit and knowing that I wouldn't be by myself in a corner or something.

LovelyLauren21

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_assigned-seating-not-2?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:5Discussion:4fcf4f20-20b9-478d-80f2-a56450832b19Post:3b5cd777-9d0d-4a0c-afa4-af571d1023de">Re: Assigned seating or not?</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm thinking no assigned seating. My family is high-drama, and the "well why are we over here and they are over there" questions would last for years.Posted by rachers1017[/QUOTE]

hahahaha. i could totally see this happening in my fiances family.

Erinkathleen84

I would go for no assigned seating.

alithebride

with 42 people it shouldn't take you more than 40 mins to assign tables.

just doit an avoid the drama.

AurorasEnvy

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_assigned-seating-not-2?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:4fcf4f20-20b9-478d-80f2-a56450832b19Post:abcd186c-4613-4866-8915-e251bd759997">Re: Assigned seating or not?</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm a fan of assigned seating.  Or at the very least, assigned tables.  There's much less stress involved.  I went to a small wedding once and there was open seating at the reception.  It took ages for people to figure out where to sit because everybody want to sit by their nearest and dearest, and there wasn't enough room for everybody at one table, and another couple was by themselves at a table so that looked awkward. I went to a larger wedding once where tables were assigned.  I didn't know anybody besides my H, so I appreciated having direction on where to sit and knowing that I wouldn't be by myself in a corner or something.
Posted by GreenEire[/QUOTE]

<div>I agree with this.  I've been to 3 weddings without assigned seating, and none were a good experience relating to that.  Since you have a small wedding, the seating chart should be pretty easy to put together, and Aunt X who hates Aunt Y won't get stuck at her table because it's the only table left with enough seats for her entire family, etc etc etc.</div>

saric83

I always prefer an assigned table!  With a smaller group, hopefully, it's easier for you guys to do. 

We had a small group since we had a DW, and we did assigned tables (and VERY glad we did!)   But we only assigned eight people per table of 10 and left two open spots at every table for us to sit at.  So no one could complain about who got to sit closest to us or whatever.  So we had a "sweetheart table" for the two of us, but we spent the whole time going from table to table sitting down and eating and drinking with everyone.  We loved it, and many people commented about how great they thought it was. 

MadiHanna

Assigned seating is the way to go.

I was just recently at a banquet where there was no assigned seating, and it ended terrible. There was alot of people we didnt know and some we didnt get along with (just like it would be at a wedding), but we sucked it up and sat next to some people we hardly knew. The meal was buffet style, so when  me and my boyfriend got our food and came back to our seat our spots had been taken and more people we didnt get along joined the table. So we were forced to find new seats, It got even worse when there were no more tables with 2 spots and we had to seperate. . . It ended up being a terrible time.

You always want to make your guests happy, youll want to do assigned seats.

joneka

I wouldnt go through the trouble of assigned each guest to a seat, but I would assign tables.. 42-50 people shouldnt take too much time since most of family members are invited in clusters anyway..etc..cousin steve and his wife..cousin steve's brother and his wife..people that are closely related in that fashion..you should be able to stick them at the same table..

I went to a wedding, and there wasnt assigned seating..just assigned tables..didnt have any problems..and this is the way that Im doing mine..Im also doing reserved tables for immediate family..may you could do 2 reserved tables and keep each dramatic family member to their own table...