Seating Charts for Your Wedding Guests http://partyideasbuzz.com/seating-charts/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyfpYAQ-5qE Seating charts and escort cards might seem like something only for formal weddings. But when you think about it, it’s a great way for friends and relatives of the bride and groom to get to know each other and mingle. Face it, even if you grew up in the same neighborhood and graduated high school together, between that time and the time when you get married, you’ll probably have added a lot more friends to your circle. Also, even if the bride and groom know each other from school, that doesn’t mean the parents and the rest of the family have had a chance to meet, unless you’ve been able to have an engagement party to break the ice. Seating Charts for Your Wedding Guests http://partyideasbuzz.com/seating-charts/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyfpYAQ-5qE

1. Seating Charts for Your Wedding Guests
creativepersonalizedkeepsakes.com/seating-charts/
Do you really need seating charts?
Seating charts and escort cards might seem like something only f or f ormal weddings. But when you think about
it, it’s a great way f or f riends and relatives of the bride and groom to get to know each other and mingle.
Face it, even if you grew up in the same neighborhood and
graduated high school together, between that time and the
time when you get married, you’ll probably have added a lot
more f riends to your circle.
Also, even if the bride and groom know each other f rom
school, that doesn’t mean the parents and the rest of the
f amily have had a chance to meet, unless you’ve been able to
have an engagement party to break the ice.
We weren’t going to have seating charts at our wedding and
reception because we were having a buf f et. But then I
thought, well, depending on the ‘normal’ way people like to
stick together with the people they already know, there are
going to be some f amilies that might end up having to split up
to get a seat.
I also wanted to avoid that awkward conf usion where guests arrive and stand there looking around and saying
to each other, ‘Well, where do you wanna sit?’ It’s so much easier if they already have a seat assigned. Then
they only have to look f or a table number.
I think of ‘assigned seats’ as being considerate of the guests.
Af ter all, everyone in the bridal party all knows where they’re
sitting, so why shouldn’t the guests know where to sit too?
Charting Out Who Sits with Whom
It’s best to set up a diagram and then put the names in
spaces. I used an Excel spreadsheet and had a list of the
tables and seats available at each table. That way you can
see where you’re putting people.
You can actually start assigning the seats as soon as you
send out the invitations, since most of the time you’ll have a
f airly good idea of who is going to be there and who isn’t.
Then as the responses come in you can move people around
if you need to.
Tips for Friendly Seating Arrangements
The bride and groom should do the seating chart together to
avoid seating people together that may not get along.
Remember, you may be inviting f riends and even f amily members who don’t tend to get along in the f irst place,

2. so you’ll want to put them at separate tables.
Especially today when a lot of f amilies are broken up, with divorced and remarried parents, step-siblings and
half -siblings, there could be some long-standing animosity that actually screams ‘separate tables,’ and even on
opposite sides of the room might be in order.
You can always f ill in the seats with other f riends or f amily members that they don’t know or that they already
get along with.
The idea is to mix and mingle, get the f amilies and f riends of the bride and groom chatting and socializing with
each other without creating any undue tension amongst your guests.
Kid-Friendly Tables
Kids are an important consideration too. So if you have a f amily coming with a couple of kids, you may want to
seat them with other people who either have kids or love kids. It’ll keep the children occupied and give the
parents other parents to relate to.
Some guests not responding?
Not a problem. Don’t stress. Just allow f or some extra seats to be open in case you have
guests showing up that didn’t respond.
It never f ails that you’ll have guests who respond that they are attending, and then never show
up anyway due to other conf licts.
Eventually, af ter everyone’s f inished eating and most people are up dancing and mingling,
people pretty much end up playing ‘musical chairs’ anyway. But having the seating charts done
helps get through the ‘traditional’ parts of the reception with little to no stress.
How about using bookmarks with seating charts?
Also known as “escort cards,” guests will pick up their bookmarks as they enter the reception
and they’re know where their seats are.
These bookmark escort cards will also double as a part of the f avors that your guests will take
home.
One one side of the bookmarks will be a photograph and a thank you saying, and the on the
reverse side will be their names and table number.