Seating chart 101

[zoebartlett]

Just out of curiosity, how did you handle/figure out your seating chart? It can be uncomfortable if you''re sitting at a table full of people you don''t know, and it becomes obvious pretty quickly that the table is full of people who are in the same position-- not part of a big group that would be seated together, and not family. I''m not complaining (it''s generally not hard for me to strike up up a conversation with people I don''t know), but I really don''t know what''s the best way to handle this.

I love the idea of having everyone mingle and eat what and when they please (and with whom they want to sit), but that''s not the kind of wedding we''re having. We''re having a plated, sit down dinner (not my first choice), which is more popular in the northeast I think.

 

[ladyciel]

Hmmm, well, I haven''t started mine yet, but here''s what I think my approach will be. I want my guests to meet new people at their table, while still feeling like they have the safety of being with people they DO know. First, I''ll group people on our list into the indivisible units - so husbands and wives, parents and their non-adult children, friends from college who haven''t seen each other in ages, people in the family who will never shut up if they don''t get to sit by so and so, etc. Then, I''ll start mixing and matching those units, keeping ages and interests in mind. I''ll probably mix some our cousins with some of our mutual friends, mix my college friends with FI''s college friends, etc. I''m still debating how much mixing of the older relatives to do, but I would LIKE to do so at least a bit, maybe with aunts and uncles. I know darn well that the numbers probably won''t work out perfectly given the limits of table size, but I figure if each person has at least 1 other person at the table that they know, and at least 1 thing in common with someone else at the table (even if it''s just age), then conversations should spring up pretty easily. Fingers crossed!

 

[sunnygirl]

I''ve thought a little bit about this and I have been to weddings where they have done it different ways. For me, as a guest, I always liked it more when I was sitting with people I knew and their dates. I mean, trust me, I love mingling as much as the next person but for a sit down dinner, I would rather be with people I know well especially if we have traveled to be there and we haven''t seen each other in a while. For example, my college friends are scattered all over the country. At my wedding, I will have them and their dates all sitting at one table. i won''t split them between two tables and have them sit with other people when I know that, aside from being my wedding, it is also a reunion! I might change my mind later but that is the plan for now...

 

[rainbowtrout]

very. very. carefully. friends are buffers, with all hostile parties equidistant from all other hostile parties. there might be an equation involved.


Seriously, we skipped an omlette chef to avoid any hostiles confronting each other in line.