Yes or No!

JBornac

I was not planing on having seat assignments,but my sister is telling me I need too. I thought as long as I had tables for the bridal party and parents and family of both bride and groom that I would not need too. Please help me in telling me what is the best way to go. Its not a sit down dinner just buffet style.

aMrsin09

At least have table assignments.  This way you don't end up with one random seat at each table or a table that was meant for 8 having 12 people squished onto it.

ecsmiles

Definitely have seat assignments.  Well, not specific seats, but assign people to tables.  The reason is that the poeple who aren't the first to arrive may not be able to sit with their friends/family.  Plus it can add a lot of chaos becuase people will try to rearrange chairs to sit with their group.

However - If you do decide to do open seating, you'd need to have maybe 10% extra chairs (give or take) to avoid the above problem.

kellyjellybelly

I went to a wedding once and the only people I knew were the bride and groom.  They did not have table assignments.  Somehow, H and I ended up at a table ALL ALONE.  Yeah, I felt very awkward.  I would do table assignments.

Edit:  I meant I would do table assignments, not I would 'at least' do table assignments.  I've never heard of seat assignments

ootmother2

assign tables not seats

lauralaur

Assign tables to avoid situations like kelly's. We've been to a few weddings where we only knew the bride and groom, but the bride and groom knew which friends of theirs we'd hit it off with and sat us with them. Good times.

mica178

assign tables

mysticl

Assign tables. 

[Deleted User]

Yup, assign tables. That is what we did. Then your guests can sit anywhere they want at that table.

lilianne22

I'm going to go against the group here.  I would reserve tables for your WP and family but I'd leave the other tables alone.  I have never been assigned a seat or a table at a wedding and managed to find a seat and survive the evening just fine

allisong23

Assign tables.

damaless

Who sits at which table is a difficult optimization even if you have all the information, so your guests are not likely to get to a good solution on their own, so I think it's good for you to help them out and figure that one out yourself.  Who sits where at each table (once the tables have been assigned) is an easy optimization problem that the guests will have all the information for, so they can do that themselves.  That's how I thought about it, anyway. :P

emyinpink

I would definitely assign tables, like pp's said.

DeeMarie213

I went to a wedding a few years ago where there were a group of tables generally assigned as "family only" and then there was open seating for distant relatives and friends. This was also a "buffet style" dinner.

It worked out so well, even though my now FI and I only knew the bride, groom, and their families. We ended up sitting with an elderly couple that showed up to the reception when we did as well as a couple who had been married for about 10 years and another who was about our age. It was a very diverse table and we made great friends because of this open arrangement.

Honestly, when we talked to the couple later, she admitted that they had thought about assigned seating. She was so happy that she didn't since she heard so many stories of people meeting new friends and friends having dinner when she didn't even know they knew each other! They figured that the adult guests could find somewhere to sit on their own and make good conversation.

banana468

Please assign tables.  A buffet dinner *is* a sit-down dinner.  Your guests need a place to sit once they've filled their plates and it's so much easier as a guest to know what table the bride and groom would like you to sit at.