Placecards and Reserved Tables for Certain Guests

pakiprincess920

Hello Knotties!
So I am in the beginning stages of planning my reception. Both the FI and I are from the same Pakistani-Indian culture which means 90-95% of the guest list will be of that same culture. Because of the amount of guests we plan on having (400+) we have to do an open seating arrangement. However, not all of the guests are Indian and Pakistani. We have coworkers and friends however that are American and I would hate to have them feel awkward if they end up finding only ony open seat by some random old woman from the village back home asking them in a different language how the food tastes

Anywhose, my question therefore becomes, is it okay for my to have a few tables specifically reserved for them or would that be even more awkward by clumping all of the non-Indians/Pakistanis together?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! 

AmoroAgain

I think it would be more strange to have all the white folks clumped together.   Hopefully your non-Pakistani guests will have a sense of adventure and will enjoy the experience as it is.  If you know them well, perhaps just give them a headsup about the traditions and arrangements of your reception so that they can feel a bit prepared.

I always wanted to go to a Pakistani wedding.  I dated a guy from there for 3 years in college and had visions of weddings until he turned into a cheating sleazeball. lol

akhensley81

If you're going to have open seating, then I think it's best to have open seating for everyone. If I went to a wedding where some of the guests had reserved tables, and some didn't, I think it would be weird.

Trust that your guests can figure out how to mingle with each other, and don't worry about it.

aMrsin09

Amoro, the visual I just got from your post...

OP, I agree with the PPs.

AmoroAgain

What did it look like? lol

akhensley81

I don't know what your visual was aMrs, but I'm apparently dyslexic this morning. I originally read "sleating cheazeball" and immediately got hungry for cheese puffs.

Cheese puffs at 6:00 in the morning. Ugh. No, I'm not going out to get some.

aMrsin09

Oh the visual wasn't that bad, I just pictured 400 Pakistani/Indians having the time of their lives and this little 10 top table of white people sitting there all confused.

quotequeen

Your reasoning seems backwards to me.  I tend to think seating charts are more important the more guests you have.  But it's pretty much never appropriate to do something for one segment of your guests and not another.

Beachy730

I agree with quotequeen, I think assigned seating is more important with larger guest lists.  But if you are intent on doing open seating, then you need to do open seating for all.  The only people I think it would be okay to have assigned seating for is parents and grandparents, to ensure that they are up close to the action. 

As a PP said, you should mention to your local friends attending the wedding how it will work.  If I were them and you told me, I would make sure to get in there and claim a table with people I know.

LeeJane25

I agree with the other girls. It would be super awkward to separate everyone by race, which I know is not what you intend, but that's what you'd end up doing. Your heart is in the right place, but I would just let it be. They'll have a good time. 

squirrly

All or nothing.  But, I think every wedding should assign tables for every guest, pretty much without exception.  I know some people have done without and didn't hear of any issues.  But, at every wedding I've attended with open seating, as a guest, there have been issues and we've never told the bride - we just complained behind her back. 

Assigned tables are better.

pakiprincess920

Thank you ladies so much for your responses!! It definitely helps to hear all of these suggestions. Ideally I wanted to do arranged seating for all but there are just so many overlapping groups (relatives, community people, community people that are also relatives lol) that I wouldn't want to "force" anyone to sit with someone else. 

Pakistani weddings aren't all that Amoro, just colorful is all

Thank you so much ladies!!