Wedding Table Planning In 6 Easy Steps

The Hungry Plaice • March 28, 2021
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Wedding Table Planning does not need to be a difficult job and can easily be achieved in a few short steps without getting too bogged down in the detail.


At The Hungry Plaice we have devised a 6 step strategy to make the Table planning straight forward to give you more time to plan everything else!!

6 Steps For Planning Your Wedding Tables

1. Write the Full Guest List


Have your wedding invites gone out to the guests? Yes good, you have covered off this part already.


If not do not fret you might be planning how many guests you can have for the venue you have chosen and so have not sent out the invitations just yet.


Either way you must have some idea of who you wish to invite to your wedding and have a rough idea of numbers.


Take care to include any personnel who are working on the on the day for example you may be paying for your photographer to have a meal as well as any bar or entertainment staff so you should account for those seats too.


2. Work Out the Number of Tables


An important point to note here is that you may not have exactly the same number of people at every table, there will of course be a maximum prescribed by your venue so you will have an average at each table to work with.


Give some thought to the fact that some tables will be closer than others and you need to ensure that all guests seated have a good view of the top table.


3. Top Table Layout


The most important table is the Top Table where the Wedding Couple will sit, there is a traditional formation that has the Couple seated in the middle chairs with the senior bridal party members on either side of them but this can easily be adapted for a modern wedding for today.


The Traditional Formation seats the top table like this;


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However, taking a more modern approach to the traditional seat plan where there are same sex couples or separated parents the formation should be changed to suit.

It may be that you choose to have immediate family only on the top table or just the members of the Bridal Party or you decide to only have yourselves as the Wedding couple on a table by yourselves or you want to seat yourselves amongst your guests which may help to avoid any uncomfortable situations.

4. Allocate Seats

Now comes the tricky part working out where you want to seat all of your guests.

The easiest way to do this would be to simply get the number of tables together and let your guests decide on the day, sounds easy but it could lead to odd numbers on tables, chairs being moved around when you don’t want them to, caterers not being able to follow set table number patterns and some people being uncomfortable sitting by themselves.

Now if you have area having a really informal day with no real seating for the main meal this won’t be much of a problem you might have an outdoors reception with lots of hay bales or picnic tables around for guests to sit on.

If you are planning a more formal sit down meal a plan is the way to go to ensure it flows smoothly.

Firstly think about the flow of your day and your guests, do you have relatively relaxed guests who would be happy to sit with strangers or are your guests want to sit with people in their own families or with people they know?

If you pick the stranger option work out who knows who and randomly allocate seats with people that don’t know each other sitting together. You could seat the single people together, males next to a female, a female next to a female or male to a male or just go wild and be completely random with the seating plan.

Should you pick the option of seating people with others they know be tactical and prudent in your choice of guests at tables, consider any large families that may wish to sit together and think about family squabbles, who gets on with who or could potentially gel and be amicable so that the majority of your guests are happy with your plan.

Of course you won’t be able to keep everyone happy so be prepared for the odd mishap in your seating plan but remember it is only for the period of time covering the meal, some people will automatically switch seats with others for various reasons and most people get up and mingle anyway.

Keep in mind that some of the tables will be further away from others and some guests may feel left out if they are placed on a table far at the back, try to overcome this by mentioning them in speeches or making sure as a couple you walk round and talk to everyone so that everyone gets to feel like they are part of your day.

5. Allocate Table Numbers/Names

You could just number each table or you could have more fun and give each table a name, try to think of something fun and meaningful to you both or use a theme as your naming convention.

You could tie the naming convention in with each allocated seat if you really wanted to but try not to overcomplicate things.

6. Make Wedding Seating Plan and Display

Once you have finished arranging your seating plan turn this into something visual that you can display for your guests to find.

You could make a table plan yourself by using an old pallet or wooden ladder, perhaps you want something more formal and you could mount table cards onto a mirror or you get something made professionally if your budget allows.

Whatever you decide ensure it is on show on the day close to the entrance of the dining area so that everyone can see it clearly you might want to put one of the ushers nearby to help anyone who cannot find their seats so that no one feels uncomfortable with the whole process.

Try to make it easy for your guests to find their seats and arrange the table plan just as the room is laid out obviously this doesn’t need to be to scale but should be easily recognisable. 

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