Deciding on the seating plan for a wedding is a very important part of wedding planning. It’s always a huge dilemma deciding where to seat whom, and a whole host of questions arise at this stage – will the guest feel comfortable in their seat? are they on good terms with those sitting around them?, how far away will they be from the bride and groom?, who should we seat closer to the band or the speakers? etc. This is always a real headache for couples getting married genius. Of course, there’s also the option where everyone sits wherever they like. The advantage of this is its informality, but there are also many drawbacks, e.g. relatives and friends end up too far away from the couple, or two people who aren’t on the best of terms end up sitting next to each other, and so Read more.
To avoid these problems, the couple have various organisational options available to them.
Forming groups of guests
It is a good idea to seat clearly defined groups of guests at each table. These might include friends, relatives, colleagues, and so on. This determines who will sit where, but does not impose strict constraints on the seating arrangement. For example, we can draw up the seating plan by writing the name of each group on a table name, e.g. friends. Of course, once the number of guests exceeds a certain limit, or given the specific constraints of the venue, this is not feasible.
Developing a specific planting scheme
A more refined version of the seating plan for groups of guests is to hang a list at the entrance to the venue or write the guests’ names on a board, organised by table, so that everyone knows exactly knows, to find out which table you can sit at.
An even more precise solution is to have the seating plan worked out for each chair, with the guest’s name displayed on a place card next to or in front of the place setting on the chair itself. With this version, the guest list is just as important; it should be displayed by the entrance, indicating who is seated at which table, so that guests can easily find their seats view.
+tip
A truly 21st-century solution! You can send out the seating plan even before the wedding. This way, you can be sure that no one will worry about not having a seat, and if you’ve made a mistake and left someone out, they’ll let you know, so the problem can be sorted out before the big day. In a later section, we’ll showcase some superbly stylish designs created using seating plan software, which are, for example, absolutely perfect for this purpose!
Planting patterns
In the case of a long table seating arrangement, the young couple sit in the place of honour, which is in the centre of the table. According to tradition, the following should be borne in mind when seating the guests:
- it is customary to seat married couples separately
- couples who are not yet married side by side
-The families of the young couple and the witnesses, standing opposite the main table and looking from left to right, are seated as follows: the witness, the bride’s mother, the groom’s father, the bride, groom, the groom’s mother, the bride’s father, the best man
This is the traditional seating arrangement. Of course, you can also choose a different seating arrangement. Customs are never binding; the most important thing is to organise the seating arrangement in such a way that everyone is likely to feel comfortable. Another important consideration is who the couple would like to spend the most time talking to. At a wedding, the couple – although this is also just a custom that isn’t compulsory – often go round, trying to exchange a few words with everyone, and guests also often approach the couple – beyond the formal congratulations – to offer their congratulations, express their joy or simply have a little chat. When arranging the seating plan, we should not only consider who is sitting next to whom, but also who is sitting opposite whom.
Alternative planting pattern
It’s also important to bear in mind that the wedding is all about the newlyweds! So, naturally, it’s a good idea to seat that guest or group of guests closer to us – the ones we’d like to chat to a little more than others during the evening.
In any case, it’s very important that, when organising the wedding, the couple make decisions that suit their own needs. The wedding is all about you! The main thing is that you like the decorations, that you enjoy the food, and so on. Of course, it’s also important that your relatives and friends have a good time, but that isn’t the main priority! We’d like to draw the attention of every lovely brides and grooms currently organising their wedding: you, too, must feel really good at your wedding, as this is a very important day in your lives! J
How can we draw up a planting plan?
Of course, a seating plan sketched on a piece of paper will do, but in the 21st century we have plenty of options for this too. In the next section, we’ll introduce the MAGIC Table Planner seating plan software, which you can use to easily create a seating plan that’s also very visually appealing.
MAGIC Table Planner
A brilliant programme in English. You need to register, but it’s completely free. It’s very easy to use: you enter your guests’ names (under the ‘Guest List’ tab), then switch to the seating plan view (under the ‘Table Plan’ tab). Your guests will already be listed there; you just need to drag their names onto a seat.
You don’t have to type the guests„ names in one by one under the ”Guest List„ tab; you can also import them from an Excel spreadsheet or your Gmail inbox. You can also specify their gender, in which case they’ll be marked in pink or blue; you can add contact details, and everyone can be assigned to groups, so you can easily keep track of who you’d like to seat at the „family’ table or, for example, the ‘friends’ table , and you can see their contact details right next to their names. You can not only import the guests’ names, but also export them; in this case, you’ll receive an Excel file listing all the names entered into the programme.
The image shows a screenshot of the programme. You can clearly see the „guest list” and „table plan” tabs are clearly visible at the top. You can see that you can drag tables of various shapes onto the plan. When you drag a table onto the plan, you can click on it to set the number of seats, name it and even rotate it.
The guests’ names are displayed on the left until we assign them to a seat.
The programme also allows you to position flooring, speakers and other objects; you can also indicate the location of the entrance and the washing machines, so if you really want to create a truly stunning design, you’ll be able to do just that with this programme!
Another major advantage of the MAGIC table planner is that it allows us to manage the planning for several events at once.
As you can see in the previous screenshots, at the top, to the left of the „guest list” tab, there is also a „dashboard” tab. Here, we can manage several events at once.
You can share the plans created using the programme with others, or print them out in PDF format or on paper. Of course, in today’s world, we always have a mobile phone, laptop or tablet to hand, on which we can view the plans just as easily.
The programme here can be found.
Planting cards
There are countless options these days. The primary purpose of place cards is, of course, to provide information, but their design is also very important. A well-designed place card reflects the atmosphere and style of the entire wedding. Calligraphy is very much in vogue at the moment, which is understandable, as it looks stunning when paired with a well-thought-out background and layout. If you’re not feeling particularly creative, simply writing the guest’s name in calligraphy on the place card, adding a nice background or some sort of motif, and you’re all set!
Creative plant labels
It’s always a pleasure to come across a truly creative idea that reflects the couple’s personalities, brings to life one of their shared hobbies, or simply looks absolutely brilliant. Here are a few creative ideas we’ve come across recently:
-beer mat – this could feature not just the guest’s name, but, say, the couple’s names in calligraphy – many people take their place cards home with them, so a place card that’s not only a keepsake but can also be used later on will make everyone even happier J
- a plant label attached to a cork – if anyone in the family is into wine, this is a particularly clever solution; it’s also an excellent low-budget option – if you keep the corks after your wine-tasting evenings, you won’t even need to spend any extra money on it
-names written on leaves, pine cones and small stones – perfect for a nature-inspired wedding
Other creative plant label ideas
Origami planting card
-small items brought back from a trip e.g. a shell, a starfish
plant label attached to a napkin
+1 Creating a DIY planting plan
DIY – that’s ‘do it yourself’! It’s very trendy at the moment, really creative, and of course you make it yourself, which is a big plus
Floral-design place cards for spring or summer weddings
Resources:
-thick wrapping paper – colour: as desired (shown here in gold)
-glitter
-adhesive tape
-scissors
-glue
-yarn
-small glass jars
-sponge
-flowers
Method:
Step 1
Stick a strip of adhesive tape onto each glass jar, roughly the same width and height as shown in the picture.
Step 2
Using the sponge, apply glue to the base of the glass (this refers to the area beneath the strip of glue).
Step 3
Sprinkle the glitter onto the area where the glue is, then give the glass jar a little shake so that any glitter that hasn’t stuck properly falls off. TIP: Place a white sheet of paper under the glass jar so that the glitter falls onto it. The glitter that falls onto the paper can be reused.
Step 4
Let’s make the cards out of thick wrapping paper, write everyone’s name on them, and then tie the cards to the flowers using the string.
Step 5
Remove the adhesive tape from the glass jars once you feel the glitter has dried completely. When you remove the adhesive tape, you can see that the tape has helped the glitter to spread out nicely.
Place the flowers in the glass vases, then tie a piece of string around the rim of each vase to act as a hanger.
Once you’ve attached a hanger to each guest’s glass, hang them up by the entrance to the venue and voilà – your homemade seating plan is ready!
