by Kristen J K

Created on: February 26, 2009   Last Updated: March 01, 2009

Perhaps one of the most stressful parts of planning a wedding is deciding where to seat everyone at your reception. As we all know, as a guest, the people you are sitting with can make or break your evening. There is so much to consider; who is coming in a group? Who is getting along? Who is not? What about singles? How do I decide who gets to sit close to the head table and who has to sit in the back corner?

1. First of all, don't stress! This is your big day and people are there because they love you, no matter where they are sitting.
2. Decide on a general floor plan. Start with deciding where you want your head table; at the front of the room or somewhere in the center. Think about having your head table elevated, this makes you much easier to see from everywhere in the room. The venue coordinator should be able to provide you with options for the floor plan. Lots of places also have different table sizes and shapes for you to choose from. You can choose to have all guest tables the same, or have a combination of different sized to accommodate smaller and larger groups. 3. Start putting groups of people together. If you are like me and need to visualize things, print off your guest list in a bigger font and cut out the names. You can then physically move them around the table as you create your tables.

4. Start with the easy ones. Put families and groups of friends together that you know will get along and have a good time. Then work your way to the trickier people. I found it worked well to create tables of 8,9, or 10. Most venues will have round tables in a smaller size (good for 8) and a larger size (for 10). Both sizes can fit 1-2 more people if they sit closer together (up to 10 or 12). This comes in handy when putting together tables of younger people or children since they don't mind sitting a little closer and it keeps you from having to break up a group! 5. Once you have your guests arranged into table groupings, get out your floor plan. Start with people that are very important to you and your partner such as immediate family and close friends. You want to seat these people closest to the head table, preferably in the centre. Friends of friends will be OK closer to the back. Make sure you think about the proximity on tables; try not to put a table with a bunch of kids right next to a table of elderly people. 6. You can either choose exactly where everyone at the table sits, or just assign people to a certain table and let them choose their own spot. I found it worked well to assign people to a certain table and then they could sit next to who they wanted. 7. Enjoy your day! Unless you have a ridiculously huge guest list, everyone should have a great view of you and your wedding party, no matter where they are sitting!

A few other things to think about: - keep in mind people that have made a long trip to be at your wedding, it is nice to show your appreciation by giving them a good spot - older people and generally more hard of hearing and eyesight so you my want to seat them closer to your table - kids are usually pretty loud and have a hard time sitting for a long time so it may be better to seat them close to the back or side of the room so they are less distracting and have room to get up and move around if they need to

Happy planning!

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