Don't Tell the Guests; The Seating Plan

Who ever knew that choosing a place for people to sit could be so stressful?

Yup, the wedding seating plan.

You've got Great Aunt Martha who doesn't talk to her ex husbands family, so you can't sit Martha anywhere near (and I don't mean just at their table) that side of the family.

You've got fighting brothers, and girls who are likely to start a bitch fight when you throw a belly full of bubbles into the mix, you've got Great Granny Joan who has to wear a hearing aid because she's as deaf as a bat, versus the young and roudy who can't wait to get stuck into the open bar tab and who need to be at opposite ends of the room, and you've got divorced ex lovers who definitely don't want to see x, y, or z, let alone be in the same venue as them.

Okay okay, so I've made up all of these characters and probably over exaggerated a little, but I think every family has a little bit of tension in the room, and when you mix a wide range of friends all together you're bound to get some clashing personalities, so just how do you decide who sits with you?

Do you put family on some side of the room and friends on the other?

Who do you sit closest to the bridal table?

Do you mix friendship groups to encourage mingling or do you try to put people who may have been introduced at some event a couple of years ago together so that they might have something in common?

Do you hide the roudy down the back corner or do you have them right in the middle to stir it up a little?

Do you have odd numbers of people at each table or do you keep the numbers even?

So many decisions, and certainly ones that you have to have a bit of a laugh at, like imagine sitting granny next to so and so!!!

The seating plan is something you have to leave reasonably until the last minute, or at least until you get your RSVPs back.

It's important to check with the venue to see what types of tables they have and how many people can fit at each table, before deciding who fits where.

We are having roughly 140 guests, with round tables that seat 10 each, so 14 tables of 10 people.

Michael and I have decided to do things completely different and we're sitting on the bridal table by ourselves. There's so many reasons that we chose to do this, but mainly because we have such a large bridal party that we'd end up taking up one whole side of the room!!! Haha no, the real reason is because we wanted a chance to spend some time together during the day, and figured that it'd be lovely to be able to sit and eat our meals, and to let it all sink in together! It also gives the bridal party the opportunity to sit with their partners, which is always lovely at a loved up occasion.

We still haven't decided our setting plans, despite messages and discussions with our parents over their table preferences, who we should and shouldn't sit together in the family,and sketching up something ourselves.

So far we've got 2 on one table and 24 on another haha

We're still working out how to split the room, and exactly where the tables will fit and which groups of people should be seated in close proximity to others, but we're getting there!!!!

Do you have any tips or tricks for the seating plan?

Look after yourself and those around you,

Kirsty xxx