Buy or Sell New & Preowned Wedding Items

When you are planning the all-important reception, there are many things to keep in mind. The visual part is very important, and certainly the food, drinks and music. But what will ultimately create the ambiance is how comfortable your guests are and how quickly they begin mingling and making a party out of this.

It is for this reason that seating should be paid special attention to.

Traditionally, the bride and groom sit at a table of honor where they might be accompanied by their parents and perhaps grandparents. This table of honor is typically placed so as to have a perfect view of all the other tables, and so that all guests can look onto the new couple and easily follow any speeches, toasts, and other collective participations. There is really not much more science to seating this close nucleus of people.

When it comes to your guests, space availability, personal relationships, the presence of children, coworkers, relatives, and many different groups of acquaintances and friends, who may or may not know each other, makes the “perfect seating” configuration quite a challenge.

First of all, keep in mind that the number of guests determines your most important variable in this whole proposition: space.  As a reference, seated guests need about 14 square feet of space in a circular table, and 11 square feet in a rectangular table. Standing guests need 7 square feet. So you need to figure out your dance floor and other spaces that won’t be occupied by tables or chairs, and then find an adequate venue for the size of your guest list.

Once you have the venue, the real challenge comes in. How do you place everyone so they’ll be comfortable and enjoy themselves?

Much can be said about this, but here are the tips we’ve found most important to achieve seating nirvana:

• Try to seat colleagues and families together
• Try to create tables with equal number of males and females
• Avoid seating ex-partners together unless you absolutely know it’s o.k. with them
• Sit young children with their parents, and older kids in tables assigned especially for them
• Avoid the “table from hell” where guests who didn’t fit anywhere else are all sent. Try to spread these people around evenly in all tables
• Try to sit everyone with at least one person they know

This is in terms of seating arrangements. Don’t forget that flowers, table centerpieces, and other decorative items must have their own arrangement, as well. You must allow for enough space, but also make sure they can be placed artfully around your seated guests. That’s the beauty of working with wedding vendors; they will not only supply the items, but also help you decide where they should be placed so as to give your guests plenty of room to mingle  and enjoy themselves.