Seating is one of the few wedding tasks where beginning too early is actually harmful. If you create a seating plan before most RSVPs arrive, you will have to change it over and again. A better rule is to draft a seating plan only after you have received about seventy to eighty percent of the RSVPs. Keep that draft open, and change it until the final numbers are confirmed.
Round tables that seat eight to ten people are the common choice for Irish wedding celebrations. They are simple for guests to talk across the table. Long banquet tables look nice, but they make it harder for people at opposite ends to chat.
Whatever shape you pick, decide it before you start placing guests. The shape of the table determines how many people fit comfortably, which in turn changes how many tables you need.
For scale, the average Irish wedding now runs to around 141 guests, per the most recent industry survey, which works out to roughly 15 to 18 tables at eight to ten seats each. Worth knowing before you commit to a room size.
Divorced parents, family conflict, or guests who really should not sit together are common problems. You do not have to feel embarrassed about arranging them around the table, just put them at tables that are close to each other in the room, rather than forcing everyone together just for looks.
If you must seat a large or blended family at one table, start by putting a few people who are naturally easygoing. They will keep the conversation flowing. Do not leave it to chance.
Decide your plus-one rule early. Keep it the same, since making exceptions one by one at the minute is the usual source of seating stress.
A kids' table is good if you have children of about the same age. If you only have one or two children, it is usually easier to seat them with their parents.
The choice between a top table or a sweetheart table for the couple alone is yours. A sweetheart table takes the wedding party seating problem out of the picture, so consider it if that puzzle is hard.
Your caterer needs the guest count and all dietary needs well before the wedding day. Treat that date as your real deadline, not the wedding date.
MarryHQ's seating planner is a drag-and-drop tool with no limit on tables. It also pulls dietary information straight from your guest list, so the plan you create will match what the caterer needs, and you will not have to enter the same details twice.
Tasks, guests, budget, and suppliers in one place, free to start.