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Seating Charts

Xstatic3333Xstatic3333 member
First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer First Comment
in August 2013 Weddings
Do any of you early August ladies have wisdom to share about making the seating chart? I just took a first stab at mine and it was tough! Our venue allows tables of 8-12, but above 10 is crowded. Our friends, on the other hand, seem to come in units of six or seven. I hate to break up tight friend groups, but I also hate to sit one lone couple in a group that has known each other for decades. Any and all tips welcomed!
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Re: Seating Charts

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    SnowAngel9erSnowAngel9er
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    How many tables do you have and what is your total guest count.  My venue had up to 12 tables plus a head table...some tables were 10 guests max and three tables were 12 guests max.  I ended up removing two tables...so 10 total tables plus a head table for the bridal party for 105 guests (11 of us are at the head table).  Basically I started with the main people...the parents, grandparents and siblings...they all needed to be close.  I put most of the cousins at one table (basically the ones that were close).  I have several tables there were not full...7 or 8 guests.  What I did was put every guests name on a small sticky pad paper...I drew a chart on a small piece of paper, one table per table. And started placing sticky notes on my paper tables.  Had to make a few adjustments.  If you have any of those guests/couples that nobody really knows, you can always use them as fillers for an empty table.  What I also did was "group" those sticky notes of people that "HAD TO" be together...so couples, and parents with their children (if there were young).  What about the dates of those in your bridal party?  Are you having a sweetheart table or a table for your whole bridal party.  If you any of them have dates/significant others, those people can also fill those extra seats.  Thankfully mine wasn't too difficult.  Remember, don't stress too much about it...you can have your close friends sitting at nearby tables...but after dinner is over, people can move around and DANCE!! :-)
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    Xstatic3333Xstatic3333 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer First Comment
    I like the sticky note idea! I was color coding people in Excel but the stickies would be easier. We have a sweetheart table so the BP will be with their SOs. My wedding is about the same size as yours, but WAY below our venue's max of 200+, so my only rule is tables of 8 to 12.
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    lyntopherlyntopher member
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    I used my RSVP cards. We first grouped people together as logical groups: aunts and uncles from each side, various groups of friends, etc.. Then, within those, I looked at who could overlap some with other groups when necessary. I too had the 8-12 restriction and fewer guests than expected. Most tables have 8-10. We do have some tables of 11 though and one table of 6. Is it going to look a little unbalanced in that corner of the room? Likely yes. However, everyone is sitting with people they know and/or would have things in common to talk about (if they don't know too many people to start with).

    Good luck!
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    Jessica41381Jessica41381 member
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    I can't say I have any helpful advice because we opted to not have assigned seats.
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    lisabeatslisabeats member
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    I did mine over the weekend, and it definitely wasn't the funnest thing I've ever done. I've seen the stickies done, but I did it just as easily with just a pen and paper consulting my Excel file for about 180 guests. 

    I had similar fears with splitting up/combining random groups to fit accordingly, but I just eventually had to say that I did the best I could, and that these people are in no way chained to their chairs all night and only have to sit there during the actual meal. If any adult is going to throw a fit about that while they're served a hot meal, I wouldn't be able to do anything about it no matter my resources! Best of luck.
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    sparkellyysparkellyy member
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    I did the stickies first, a while back with all guests invited on it - my MOH & FG made a huge foam board with it organized. This was a good way to organize, however, I did find it easier to make circles in a Paint Document with table #'s and print it out. I handwrote guests names in the circles. It was easier to have something small in front of me. I printed out a few copies so when I make a mistake or need to move people, I just move onto a new sheet.

    I personally think that it was fun to do!

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    audubonbride2013audubonbride2013 member
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    I used wedding wire's seating chart tool, which was super helpful and easy to use.  We also have tables of 8-12 with 150 guests, and we're doing a sweetheart table.  

    I started with putting our parents table together, which for us we have one parents table with both sets of parents and a few aunts, uncles, and a grandmom.  That tables next to our sweetheart table on one side.  Then on the other side we have our BM and MOH together with SOs and other friends/bridal party.  

    Outside of those 2 tables I did a lot of splitting  up groups to encourage mingling (ie some of my cousins with some of his cousins that were close in age, some of my aunts and uncles with some of his aunts and uncles, & some of my friends with some of his friends).  We also had a few people that couldn't be at the same table since they dislike each other so we dealt with those situations too.
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    Betje81Betje81 member
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    I have to do my seating chart this weekend and it's the one thing I am dreading doing.  We are having a smaller wedding (65 people) so I took poster board I had laying around the house (I'm a teacher) and made circles for the tables and used sticky notes with peoples names on them so I can easily move people around if I need to.  They are even color coded with one color my friends and family and another for my fiance's (I'm nuts I know! It's the teacher/organizer in me! lol!).  Guess we'll see how it goes!  I also fear having that one lone couple at a table that knows no one else but we can't fit them at a table with the people they do know and who does that couple end up being, etc.  sigh  

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    TiffanyT816TiffanyT816
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    I'm steering clear of this and having open seating. I'll have more tables/chairs than I have guests to make it easier and am having a smaller wedding, which also lessens the headache of it...
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    xxstardustxxstardust member
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    I did mine in about an hour, but luckily most of the family that would cause drama opted not to come ;) That made it easier!

    I still need to do escort cards, ugh. THAT I am not looking forward to!
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