Wedding Reception Forum
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Best way to seat family?

This is probably going to sound way nitpicky on my part, so I apologize, but I would love any insight!

There will be 250 guests at my wedding, and my fiance and I are starting to lay out a seating chart. We have 29 tables, excluding the head table, in 5 rows of 5, and 1 row of 4.

We're seating our parents and grandparents at the center table in the front row, but I'm not sure how to go about the rest of the family. I originally thought just stretching them out across all the tables in the front row, but I didn't want any family members sitting on the end tables to feel "shoved in a corner" (this happened at my cousin's wedding and a lot of people were upset). The other option would be to cluster them at the center tables in the first two rows, but that could possibly result in family being upset that friends are in the front row (even if they're on the end tables), and they're in the second.

How did you handle seating at your reception? Any advice is so, so appreciated! Thanks so much!!!

Re: Best way to seat family?

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    Wow, those are some easily offended and detail-oriented people! You sound damned if you do (put family all in the front - and worry about corners) and damned if you don't (put them all in the center - and worry about rows).

    Whenever I can't please everyone, I just please the one person I know I can make happy - myself. Put family where they have the best view of the head/sweetheart table or cake table or dance floor. Put elderly relatives away from speakers (or near speakers if you're more worried about them hearing toasts than being blasted with dance music) and don't really worry about making them happy beyond these very practical, common sense considerations. It honestly sounds like you'll drive yourself nuts if you think about the relative honor of front rows v. central seating.
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    Have you asked your parents how they would like to sit?  We had each of our parents host a table.  My parents had my aunts and uncles (their siblings) at there table, DH's parents had some siblings and DH's grandfather.  My grandparents each had their own tables with relatives that they don't see that often.  
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