5 Ways to Make an Awesome Reception Seating Plan

Making a seating plan for your wedding is no easy feat. There are many guests, personalities, and physical details to take into account. You have to deal with last-minute RSVPS, and potentially feuding family members. Here are five easy ways to simplify this daunting task.

Seating style

There are endless ways to arrange your reception seating. From round and square tables to u-shaped banquet tables, or a mixture of both, you’ve got creative options to work with. If you’re have an intimate wedding, arranging your tables in a u-shape will give guests more of an opportunity to interact. If you’re having a larger wedding, round or square tables allows people to spread out a little more. It’s important to nail down this aspect of the reception before moving on to placing guests in specific spots.

Newlywed seating

Seat yourselves first! You can opt for a sweetheart table to enjoy some time alone, sit with the wedding party at a long table, or dine with your immediate families. No matter what you decide, be sure to figure that out before you seat everyone else.

Wedding Party and Family First

Your relatives and friends should be the first guests you place. If you aren’t sitting with your immediate family, ask your parents and in-laws where they’d prefer to sit and with who. Do they want to sit with your extended family or would they prefer to be with close friends? Seat your wedding party with their dates, and feel free to break them up between bridesmaids and groomsmen if they can’t all fit together at one table.

Group guests

Think about what major category each guest falls in. Groups such as high school friends, work friends, college friends, etc are a good starting points for breaking up the guest list. You may have multiple tables for each category and that’s totally fine. Put your cousins together at one table, and your neighbors at another to make sure everyone feels comfortable and ready to converse!

Special attention required

Think about where you should place the elderly (we recommend seating them far away from the band or DJ), and if you want to have a separate kids table or if you want to keep them close to their parents. When you’re looking back over your finalized list, make sure you haven’t accidentally placed a single friend at a table of married couples or that your co-worker didn’t end up at a table with just your family members.

Photo by Renee Clancy Photography