Figuring out the seating plan for your wedding can be a bit of a nightmare, that’s why we’ve created a helpful diagram using Canva, that you can also use to tailor your personal seating chart.

We have also come up with some planning tips for organisation, and ways you can go about seating everybody.

 

1. Make a digital seating chart

©weddingsandhoneymoons

A good way to organise where to seat everybody is to create a digital seating chart like we did. Using a free software such as Canva allows you to envision how the seating would look and imagine everyone sitting in their groups, that way you can get a feel for it.

 

2. Decide on table shapes

This one is quite an easy task to do, decide whether you want round or square tables, or both! What we’ve done in our seating chart is used a square table for the married couple, and round tables for everyone else, so the newlyweds can have a section apart from everyone.

 

3. Friends & Family

A good idea is to seat your family members and close friends near to your table. That way they can feel more involved, especially if you have older family members who are hard of sight or hearing, you don’t want to seat them too far from your table. This will allow them to feel more comfortable when it comes to speeches and announcements.

 

4. Mix it up

Instead of putting all the singles on one table, and married couples all on another table, mix it up, with married guests and single guests all being able to mingle, you don’t want to embarrass your single guests by putting them all on one table.

 

5. Consider a kids’ table

If you’re having a lot of kids at your wedding, it might be a good idea to have them sit at a designated kids’ table, that way they are less likely to get bored sitting with all older people, and you’re less likely to have to entertain them if they’re around other kids.

Extra tip: dot some colouring pencils and paper around and they’ll likely enjoy this addition.

 

6. Formal or Relaxed

Decide whether you want your seating to be formally decorated or more laid-back and rustic looking. This can be done after you’ve chosen your catering style, as you wouldn’t want a relaxed menu being served on a formal dining table, and vice versa.

 

7. Take from the venue

If your venue has a specific theme, take from the venue by adding items that tie in, for example if you’re having a shabby chic wedding in a barn, you could incorporate up-cycled mason jar candle jars and wooden chairs, or if you have a bohemian style venue, you could dress your table with pampas grass and colourful tapered candles.

 

8. Invest in a nice seating plan poster

This is an important step to organise a seating chart, once you’ve done all the other steps you can now invest in a seating plan poster to display on a nice frame for the wedding service. Some posters are decorated intricately, some with an ocean sea-scape design, some with an illustrated winery in the background and some with classic flower illustrations, choose gold foil for extra extravagance. Hitched does a great job of creating elegant seating plan posters. 

 

Hopefully some of these steps will help in the process of seating your wedding guests, we know how confusing it can get to organise everybody and planning it in ways like this can make it seem less daunting and make more sense.