First off, you may be asking yourself, Do I really need a table plan? But trust me, the benefits far outweigh the work involved.
Your nearest & dearest are seated exactly where they should be, surrounding the top table, no random plus ones hogging these front row seats!
There’s no stampede of guests frantically looking for seats together. And from a venue’s perspective, leads to a very smooth and stress-free seating process, with a room set for the right number avoiding lots of empty chairs.
Tip 1
Start early. Might seem obvious! But I’ve had 1 couple email me the table plan at 5am on the morning of the wedding, as they had been up all night finishing it off. A situation you most definitely need to avoid. Once your guest list is complete, play around with a few ideas on seating arrangements. You can tweak this as you go along.
Tip 2
Be organised. No loose pages covered in scribbles, keep everything in one area. An Excel spreadsheet or Word document are perfect for this job, even save the list to the notes in your phone so that you have it at hand whenever you need it. I absolutely love this idea by wedding stationer Lauren Daisy
Tip 3
Keep it to yourself. The less amount of people involved in the process the better. Too many opinions will drag the life out of this job. Don’t fall into the trap of letting others see your table plan, unless you are prepared for a whole host of opinions & suggestions that you might not agree with.
Tip 4
Name your tables. Table numbers can imply a hierarchy so think about using table names instead.
It’s definitely hard to keep everyone happy when planning a wedding, but this avoids anyone feeling like they were on the bottom of the list.
Tip 5
Be prepared for last-minute changes. You may have your table plan 100% complete 2 weeks before the wedding, but there will always, ALWAYS, be a last-minute dropout. Once you are prepared for this, a last-minute cancellation won’t cost you a thought. We only print out table plans the night before a wedding, so last minute changes are always catered for.
We love a good table plan! it’s the one thing that EVERY guest needs to look at, so worth investing in something beautiful that reflects your style.
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