reception seating ideas
This is a method for how to tackle the potentially arduous task of designing seating arrangements for your reception, that I graciously borrowed from my office-mate Jessica. One might say that I did a lot of extra work for our wedding to reduce the environmental impact, and keep within a tight budget, and perhaps because I just like making things too much. One thing that I did not want to make though, was individual place cards for each seat, nor did I want to spend the time deciding exactly where everyone was going to sit. But we didn’t just have a free-for-all. Instead, we did the hybrid method: assign each person to a specific table, but allow them to sit anywhere they like at that table.
This took so much less time than assigning everyone specific seats, and I feel that the freedom it gave our guests to sit where they like at their table was welcomed. Instead of needing to make individual place cards, we only needed table cards to identify each table, and then a seating chart which showed the layout of the room, where guests could find their name and their table.
As a fun little detail, we decided to divide our “love story” from our wedding website (which has “Gabe’s version” and “Thryn’s version” side by side) into sections, and print part of the story on each table card. Each table was named after a highlighted noun in the story, giving them odd names like “pajamas”, “drums”, and “chemicals” which our guests found amusing (so we hear). They had to visit each table in the room if they wanted to read the whole story.
Stumble it!
March 20th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Hello! I am such a fan of your site! My name is Carlene and I am the author of itsheavenly.blogspot.com. I am leaving this post because I would love to find a way to link up with you. Let me know if you are interested. You can reach me on my site by leaving a comment. Thanks in advance! Have a great day! <3Carlene
May 19th, 2008 at 11:21 am
I attended a wedding with the same system of organisation, which was great. I loved how they incorporated ‘national symbols’ into their table themes… the couple was from New Zealand, as were the majority of their guests (originally), however, many of them were travelling from a distance (bringing non-NZ folk), or were people they had met well working /living abroad (Australia, England). Each table was ‘named’ on the seating chart, and each table had a bright image on a folded card, along with the name of the icon. I was sooo excited to be at the ‘Buzzy Bee’ table - a beloved wooden bee pull toy that most children have had since the 50’s. It was great to see that sort of playfulness and creativity.
May 28th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Carlene,
Your blog is great! I’m adding it to my blogroll.
That reception sounds really cool. I like the “international” theme of the tables a lot. Thanks so much for sharing the story!
August 18th, 2008 at 9:27 am
i love that easel. where did you find it?! i’d love to add, that i love your blog as well!!
August 19th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Thanks!!! The Marion Hatcher Center had the easel, I think. I don’t remember…it’s hard to believe that it was almost a year ago!
October 27th, 2009 at 12:54 am
Great idea with the seating chart. Thank you for sharing!