Seating Charts
Yes. You must have a wedding seating plan. No good party ever started with people trying to find a seat with their BFFs. This is the time to get creative, have fun, and incorporate something personal into your day. There are 3 kinds of wedding seating charts, each with pros and cons.
- A sign, on an easel. Lots of online places have templates to use, such as Vistaprint or Etsy. Please take the advice of this planner…make your sign alphabetical…not by table. Seriously. The templates for thousands of wedding seating chart signs are wrong. As a guest, I can easily find my last name, but standing in a crowd trying to sort through table numbers to find me is a hassle, inconsiderate and time-consuming. The downside to a sign is once it’s printed (usually about 10 days out) it cannot be changed. Your wedding planner should have your up-to-the-minute seating spreadsheet on hand to help out with guests who have last-minute changes, however.
- A tangible, on a table, with a linen and a sign. This is my favorite way to get your guests to their seats. Make it personal….a custom-blended bottle of wine with each guest’s name on a tag; a jar of honey with a sign “meant to bee”. Set the tangibles in alphabetical order on a table. This item serves as your guest “premium/gift” and is a great way to get those gifts in hands.
- Escort cards….in a tray/box with an edge…on a table….with a linen…and a sign. Do not do this unless absolutely the only way you can think of to get food choices indicated (as in “beef” or “chicken”). These little cards blow in the wind, slide off tables, and are a real hassle to deal with on the wedding day in all the chaos. If you need to indicate menu choice, I prefer (if you are inside with no wind) to pre-set them on tables rather than expect guests to grab them neatly from a table where they are sliding all over the place. Be sure that the writing is on the side facing the guest so that wait staff can easily read the menu choice. And make sure that in dim light, the menu choice is easily readable.
RSVP lists are due to catering and venue typically at 14 days out. Be sure to plan this important part of your wedding day appropriately and properly for maximum success.