Seating plan - how did you do yours?

[aly888]

I can't avoid it anymore. I need to get a handle on it. But where to start!!?

How did you do yours? Good old fashioned pen and paper? Paper labels? Did you colour code male/female? Or brides/grooms guests? Or family/friends? Did you use one of these fancy online planners? And if so, do you have any links to some good ones?

 

[emyandpotato]

I am getting a large old chess board and have collected wooden chess pieces and cutting very thin slices in the top to put paper in. As for the name tags themselves, I'm thinking the same handmade paper I used on the invites ( https://www.fredaldous.co.uk/nepalese-paper-tsasho-54x80-90gsm.html ) and just writing the names on in calligraphy. We're having two long tables, so I'll put the chess pieces in the exact order that they'll be in the room, does that make sense? I'm not having any definition between men and women/friends and family on the escort cards.

In terms of who I'll sit near each other, I'm gonna make sure each person knows at least one person next to or opposite them closely, and hopefully that the people around them will get along well with them. I'm not gonna sit people in groups of who knows who because there will be some guests who don't know many people at all so it wouldn't be fair, plus I think it's nice for people to mix at weddings.

 

[candeur]

I'm dreading this part so much!! I'm probably going to get a massive sheet of paper, draw the tables on it, and write everyone's names on little pieces of paper, and move them around until I'm happy, which I will probably never be lol x

 

[Lauren25]

We done ours the other day, we had a few random go's before and couldn't get our heads round it but the other day we put everything to one side and focused on doing it and got it done!

I would decide how you want people to sit, we wanted people to be together, e.g. My Mums side of the family together, My Dads side etc etc! Or you can mix people up the traditional way!

Because we wanted people sitting together the best we could I decided everyone up, so worked out how many was on my Dads side, Mums side, MILs side, FILs side, then how many family friends and how many friends!

We just done it on one of Bobbys big pieces of paper off his easel and just wrote it table 1 and then the people!

Good luck

 

[aly888]

Lauren, did you find it got messy writing it all on paper? Or did you have the people on seperate pieces of paper like Kelly?
I think I'm gonna have a go on an online one first. My house has enough clutter without adding paper to the mix. When it comes to the final one I might do it in paper

 

[lozzy21]

I think im going to to a table plan rather than a seating plan, i dont care who sits next to who, not worked out how yet lol

 

[Lauren25]

It only got messy when it got to OHs massive group of friends, apart from that we managed to keep it quite together! We also had a seperate 'messy' sheet to try different combinations out when we got stuck!

Do you know how many sit at each table, how many tables you'll have etc ?

 

[Zebra2023]

Hitched (website) has a seating planner you can use, I have used that, much easier and simple to use

 

[lozzy21]

Hitched! I totally forgot about that

 

[aly888]

It only got messy when it got to OHs massive group of friends, apart from that we managed to keep it quite together! We also had a seperate 'messy' sheet to try different combinations out when we got stuck!

Do you know how many sit at each table, how many tables you'll have etc ?

Yeah we're having 5 or 6 tables with between 8 and 10 at each

 

[aly888]

Hitched (website) has a seating planner you can use, I have used that, much easier and simple to use

Aahh thank you now I just have to remember my Hitched login details. Haha

 

[Zebra2023]

You're welcome

 

[wishuwerehere]

To actually plan it - spread sheet! me and OH don't really work on paper...
To show it to our guests, just a fairly plain board with our little motif on it which our friend designed.
And who we're sitting together - we've tried to group by age, so we're mixing ohs cousins who are in their twenties in with friends rather than putting them with their parents, having the grandparents together, that sort of thing.

 

[Lauren25]

How did it go ?

 

[aly888]

Err, not great! I've not finished seating everyone yet. The hitched website doesn't seem to agree with my laptop but I've been whittling the list down and I've still got 65 in total and the MIL is at the top table...between my dad and my step dad, which she won't be happy about!!!!

 

[Lauren25]

Well she desperately wanted to sit at the top table she can't complain now

 

[aly888]

She better not complain. I've spent all day today getting the seating plan done to a point where we are both happy with it I can't decide whether to tell her where she's sat or to just leave it as a 'surprise' on the day. Is that mean? Haha

 

[lozzy21]

Id keep it as a surprise.

 

[MummyToAmberx]

I think i use confetti website planner.

I'm very much shaking it up, think we are having 6 tables of 8.

x

 

[DonnaBallona]

Aly I wouldn't tell her either. I'd just tactfully ignore the seating plan
discussion up until the day, and then when dinner is served at the wedding itself you won't be about anyway to get it in the neck! she wanted to be up there sooooo badly, and you have granted her her wish!