Assigning Seats at Reception?? To do it or not to?

[vfinder1]

Is it a good idea to assign seats at the reception or not?? What did everyone do?

Thanks

 

[lurkyloo]

It can depend on how many people you have and how formal the event is, but ultimately it's up to your personal preference.

We only had 34 guests and we wanted the brunch to feel casual, so we didn't do it.

However, if you have a lot of guests, it can take the pressure off them to know where they are "supposed" to sit - especially people who maybe don't know a lot of other guests at your wedding and wouldn't feel comfortable asking to join another group at a table.

There are several ways you can do it, too - you could assign people specific seats at a table, or you could just have them sit anywhere they like at a certain table.

I've seen a lot of really creative ideas on this board - I'm sure someone will be along shortly to give you a few pointers!

 

[beachprincess23]

It all depends on the kind of wedding you're having. I went to a wedding with 30 people, so there really wasn't a need for assign seats. It was also really informal. But, when you have 100+ people you really do need it to avoid confusion. It also helps you organize favors, to be sure people show up since you may be paying per person, etc.

For us, we are assigning seats. Personally, I think it looks nicer and I like to be organized. It also helps so people aren't moving chairs around, etc. We also need to assign seats because we have to have our guests choose their meal ahead of time and are letting the wait staff know.

It isn't bad to not assign them. You will save money on table numbers, escort cards, etc. The choice is really up to you and what you want to go for.

 

[caryndisneydiva]

i really didn't want to do it, but my planner talked me into it by saying that i'd have to pay to decorate less tables if i assigned seats...

 

[SarahInMN]

We weren't planning on assigning seats but our coordinator encouraged it at our planning session. I'd rather just let people free range but does take away some of the confusion, allows a balance between the tables, and avoids having people feel "left out" if there isn't enough room.

We're having 45 guests at the reception and they will be assigned based on their Mickey Mouse wine stoppers with a table number.For us, it has worked out to a table with close family, a table with "old" people (ie over the age of 50), a table of my grad school friends, a table of my DF's grad school friends, and a table of my DF's work friends.

 

[ElleBren]

I did do table assignments, not seat assignments. It was pretty easy, I just made sure that everyone knew at least one person at the table. Most everyone had their little groups anyway.

Also people are not stapled to their seats. Once food is over its practically a free for all. If someone wants to go over and sit with someone they are free to. Its really for like the first hour or so. I did it mostly because I didn't want people to have to break up their family because there wasn't enough room at a table. The last two hours we had no one sitting at their tables because they were all up dancing.

 

[lpizzuro123]

I did do table assignments, not seat assignments. It was pretty easy, I just made sure that everyone knew at least one person at the table. Most everyone had their little groups anyway.

Also people are not stapled to their seats. Once food is over its practically a free for all. If someone wants to go over and sit with someone they are free to. Its really for like the first hour or so. I did it mostly because I didn't want people to have to break up their family because there wasn't enough room at a table. The last two hours we had no one sitting at their tables because they were all up dancing.

We are also doing table assignments - not seat assignments. We are keeping our bridal party together at two tables, my side of the family, my DF's side of the family and then assorted friends. We are have 50 people and 5 tables - along with our sweetheart table.

We are at ADH and I love this location because besides the large tables on the dance floor that we will be assigning people to - there are smaller tables a few steps up from the dance floor for four people. Hopefully after everyone is finished eating they will be up mingeling and dancing. But I think everyone will like having a "home base" to go back to or leave there stuff at.

Linda

 

[DisneyBrideToni]

If I was having a larger wedding I would but in the Attic its just not worth it. There aren't many seats to choose from. The only thing that we did do is reserve the tables closest to the sweetheart table for our parents/grandparent

 

[ElleBren]

It really does have to do with how many people you have. We had 70 people. We might not have done the table assignments if we had 30 people. For our group we had about 7 tables of about 10-11 people per table. Although what we did do for our parents and my grandparents I had little reservation cards so they had good seats even though they were the last ones to enter.

 

[StitchBride]

We had 56 people and did table assignments, but since the favors also indicated menu choice, it was kind of assigned seating. Personally I think assigning a table is better since we were able to group people together and no one got left out. I made sure to put people at tables that would know each other and it made it more organized when they came in, plus no one was left with a "I don't have anyone to sit with" kind of feeling because of a lack of room at the table or whatever

 

[Lynn5700]

I did table assignment but not seating...I ddn't want to but it can cause a lot of confusion for people.

 

[Anna2984]

I am so going to print this thread & let me DF & Parents read it!!!

Our guest list is about 170 & my family does not want to do seating! I think its a MUST with over 150 people, but they are totally protesting! Im hoping @ our planning session my Planner will talk them out of this & I win!