Is a seating cart necessary?

lcorey

I am having a buffet and people have been known to switch seats anyway. I just don't want there to be any arguing or anyone feeling left out. Is it necessary to have assigned seats?

iamjoesgurl

The primary benefit of the seating chart (if you are doing buffet) is to try to seat people together at a table if they are coming to the reception together.  For example, if you invite a family of 4, you want to have a table that has 4 spots for them to sit together.  Otherwise  they may walk from table to table at the reception trying to find 4 seats together.  A lot of people prefer to have a place to sit and not have to find their own seat.  Then as the night progresses, they can move around as they want.

You don't have to have a seating chart if there are extra tables/extra seats.  But it is courteous to try to arrange it so that people have a place to sit together so I would either do a seating chart or have extra tables to make sure that none of your guests are split up. 

rlynn007

We aren't having a seating chart, it's just one less thing I need to stress about. We are also having a buffet and there will be more seating than guests.

girl2bewed

Seating charts are also more popular for sit down dinners, if its a buffet you wont have to worry about serving a specific meal to people as you charted them. I would say skip the seating chart, one less thing to worry about!

lcorey

Thanks for the tips guys. I think I'm going to skip the chart and add a table or two.

ashleypigletmom

I am sooo happy to read this, I spent over a hour the other day trying to draw up a seating chart. We are  having a small 75 people buffet style meal...so now I can ditch the seating chart idea,and set up a extra table.

xoxob

I personally think seating charts are important.  I see I'm in the minority, but it's thoughtful and really not that hard to do.

I get that it's a buffet so it's not as "important" but I feel like guests expect it and it's a great way to ensure that the two families mingle. ie: FI's Aunt Martha and your Uncle Al would have a hoot chatting, so you have the control to bring your families closer together.

khornack

Xoxob, I'm with you. I think table assignments are important. Do you really want your grandmother having to sit way in the back corner and not be able to see/hear what's going on because she couldn't beat your fiance's college roommate's girlfriend or your third cousin your mom insisted you invite to the table? People tend to want to spread out and may not want to sit right next to someone they don't know leaving lots of single seats that people then have to split up from their dates and not know anyone.

I personally think that unless you are having a really small wedding, as in 25 or 30 people, it makes it so that your guests don't have to have a cafeteria style free-for-all. It's going to be pretty stressful trying to balance family issues for me, but I think it makes things easier on the guests in the end,

lilcassers

I like seating charts because it is a way for me to pair up friends that are single, and then friends that are couples and also for those who completely don't know anyone and you can seat them with people you think they will feel comfortable with.

stefani103

We chose to do a seating chart because it meant fewer tables which meant more room and fewer centerpieces. We also both have large families, so this accomodates people sitting together. We also have some friends who don't see one another a lot, so we wanted to make sure they were together. I also wanted to keep FI's single guy friends away from our families. They can all get up and move after the eat, but this way they don't feel forced to sit with strangers or split up their groups.

You know your guests. How would they feel?

penad5

I think is depends on who you're inviting.  I wasn't going to have a seating chart - i was just going to reserve a couple tables for grandparents and parents to ensure they are near the front - but then I started thinking about the people who i invited who wouldn't know anyone.  I realized it could be really awkward for them if they ended up not gettting seats together or at a table with my loud mouth uncle, or something like that so, i'm going to do it.  

To make it eaiser on me i added an extra table so some tables will have 6 and some will have 8 - less hassle trying to place people

but if the majority of your guests will know each other I say add a couple extra tables and forget it

amy727

I agree with xoxob.

Think about the guests who may not know too many people. 

milak

In regards to not doing a seating chart and adding an extra table or two, my worry is that it looks kind of awkward to have a table with just two people at it, or an empty table, at the reception. But then I worry that if I DO do a seating chart, people will think I'm being too controlling and uptight about the dining (we're doing buffet-style).

khornack

Table assignments aren't controlling. You don't have to assign individual seats. All the weddings I have been to, I have never thought it controlling, but rather been relieved I didn't have to climb over people I didn't know to find a place. Escort cards don't have to be elaborate or expensive. Buy cardstock and get a few friends with pretty handwriting and buy food and get a movie and have fun with it.

Think about your ceremony...do you think it is controlling to have reserved seating for the grandparents and immediate family?

SuMmErKuTiE

We're doing stations but are still doing a seating chart. This way we don't need to provide extra tables and centerpieces and we know all our guests will be seated with their date/family and people they're comfortable with. We're assigning tables, not seats and I've never been to a wedding that didn't assign tables. I'd hate to show up and scramble to make sure I had a seat with my FI and not awkardly sitting with randoms.

lizziemoopsc

We are doing a seating chart because our seating is very limited. My sister didn't do a seating chart and it turned out fine because of the large number of extra tables she had, but I've been to weddings where wasn't one, and only one or two extra tables and it was terrible. People will typically sit with friends, regardless of if it's 10 or 3. That being said, a group of three will probably look for a brand new table before sitting with another group of three. 

My point is: you'll probably need many more than one or two extra tables (depending on the size of the wedding) should you go that route! HTH!

lcorey

All of your points are really good ones. Now I don't know haha. I know that his family, my family, and his military buddies will stick with their 'group' but the very few work friends will be left out. My problem is, I don't have very many friends, especially ones that live in-state because of moving from the military, so my family all know each other. I don't really know a lot of the people he's inviting so it's hard for me to pair them up. Heaven forbid I ask him to do something on top of work and school full time. I'm still trying to get him to put the bread box together.

Sorry about the small rant.