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Assigned Seating...a must?

IngamckinleyIngamckinley
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in Wedding Etiquette Forum

So I tried to search previous posts but my questions are: Is Assigned Seating required? Are there rules? Exceptions?

I'm used to going to weddings where there is open seating and maybe 2 reserved tables for the family. But it makes sense to me to have assigned tables, not to FI though.

Help..?

Liz

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Re: Assigned Seating...a must?

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    cougarettecougarette member
    First Comment
    They aren't required.  We had open seating and it worked out great for us.  Just make sure there is plenty of extra seats.
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    LesPaulLesPaul member
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    Not required.  I would say it depends on the venue, size of the guest list, what kind of food (plated vs. buffet), etc.
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    EmmaBride2BEmmaBride2B member
    First Comment
    edited April 2010
    No, it's not required.

    At my family weddings I'd never seen assigned seating, but I chose to do table assignments (not specific seats) anyway. There were a lot of families invited and it's tough to find 4 or 5 seats together if it's just a free for all. Plus it takes away that feeling of "crud who do I sit with." I think people appreciated it, and it's not like you can't swap seats after dinner if you want.
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    banana468banana468 member
    First Answer First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment

    It's not required although if you're going to have open seating, you'll need to plan for extra seats and tables.

    And if you assign for only a few people, please actually name the people.  That gets sticky in itself but if you have a table for "bride's family" you have many people who think they're in that qualifying group.

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    sarabellamsarabellam member
    5 Love Its First Comment First Anniversary
    Definitely not a must, but it largely depends on the size of the wedding. Assigned seating would have been a bit ridiculous for our fairly informal wedding of 35'ish people, but would have been a logistical nightmare for my brother's 150 person lavish affair.
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    eav2ceav2c
    First Anniversary First Comment
    Defintely not required... Although, depending on the type of meal, how many guests, etc. sometimes required seating can be useful. In my case, certain family members wont want to sit near eachother--while I'm sure they wouldn't cause any problems, I'd rather just do assigned seating so no one ends up having to sit next to someone they aren't fond of if the seats fill up quickly. But, I've been to weddings where there was no required seating and there was a lot more mingling going on which was great.
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    JBTaylor1JBTaylor1 member
    First Comment
    I don't think it is necessary if you are not having a sit down dinner. 
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    impslaveimpslave
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    Since we had only 25 guests, I didn't see the need for assigned seating.  Our rececption was a sit-down dinner in a restaurant and it all worked out fine.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User]
    First Comment
    We didn't do it, we figured people knew how to seat themselves and sit with people they like. I've been to 1 wedding where I was sat with the WP (the B&G had a sweetheard table), but I knew most of the BMs and none of the other guests so that was fine.
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    stillundecided4stillundecided4 member
    First Comment

    I think assigned tables is just so much easier for the guests if it's a larger wedding. I went to a wedding once and my family (6 of us) had to fight for a table for all of us to sit together. It would have sucked if we all got separated. I would definitely do it if you have 75+ people.

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    Stallmanj1Stallmanj1
    First Comment
    edited May 2010
    We won't be doing assigned seating.  My reception will be at a dance hall that fits >400, and we're inviting about 300.  Most of the tables are the long rectangle kind, so "who sits at what tables" is an easier game to play for the guests than for me.  Also, the head table and two "special" tables (parents, officiant, really close family) will be on the dance floor for the dinner, and people will very definately know not to sit there. 

    If we have to, we will also have a couple of "reserved" round tables in the general seating area, and we'll just tell people to sit at the reserved tables who we want sitting there, like ushers or other people who were involved but won't be sitting near the head table.  Our family and friends are really laid back and can go with the flow, so there shouldn't be any problems.
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    diondrafdiondraf
    First Comment
    This topic was very helpful. Currently my fiance and I are planning anf finalizing the last details of our wedding in May 2012. I was contemplating if we should do assigned seating and now I think it maybe a good idea. Right now our guest list is approx 75 people no more than 80.  Great comments!
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