How to seat the guests at the wedding?

Seating guests at the wedding table is an important organizational moment. The psychological comfort of the guests and the general mood of the holiday depend on a properly prepared seating plan. Therefore, this event is paid the closest attention, and this takes into account all sorts of related factors.

Before you begin planning and charting the seating of the guests, you should decide on the location of the festive tables. Here there are lots of options and which one to choose depends on the number of guests, the area of ​​the banquet hall and the personal preferences of the groom with the bride. The first step is to inspect the venue of the future banquet and draw up an exact floor plan. It is desirable to display on it differences in floor heights, the location of windows, doors and DJ table, as well as the presence of columns, their location and number.

You should also ask the staff of the institution, what form and size will be the tables, and whether the administration allows them to move. This is due to the fact that in some cafes and restaurants tables are already set up taking into account the architectural design of the room and the convenience of the staff and it is not allowed to rearrange them. If the manager of the institution is not against the movement of the tables, then you can proceed to the choice of their layout. Below are the most popular locations. among which there are both traditional options and new ones, and sometimes unexpected ones.

• The classic scheme. This method is considered the most simple and is used at solemn banquets with a limited number of guests. The hall has one long table made up of several small tables adjoining each other closely. The perpetrators of the celebration are always seated at the head, and the young spouse is seated to the right of her husband, and on both sides of the newlyweds are their witnesses and parents. When seating guests around the table use the traditional scheme, in which alternate men and women.

• T-shaped way table layout for a long time was the most common option. Such an arrangement is the best suited for ceremonial banquets of up to 25 people, held in small halls. The bride and groom sit at the head of the table, followed by witnesses and parents, and the rest of the guests are seated as they are comfortable, as the T-shaped arrangement contributes to good visibility of the guests, and allows each guest to see and hear everyone from those present.

• U-shaped way Arrangement of tables is suitable for more numerous weddings, in which the number of guests reaches 50 people. This also includes the W-shaped arrangement, which is used in cases where the number of guests exceeds 60 people. However, with both methods of placement, great attention should be paid to seating the guests and in no case letting it go by itself. This requirement is due to the fact that a significant part of the invitees will be placed back to each other. This will seriously impede communication between close people who do not have space behind one “arm” of the table, and will force them to eat and communicate in half a turn.

This is followed by the European versions of the location of the tables, which were quickly adopted by Russian restaurateurs and event organizers and were widely used during ceremonial banquets. The main feature of the European scheme is the presence of detached tables in the hall, acting as an alternative to the common table. This method is very convenient for seating people according to their interests, age and degree of kinship.

Young spouses also sit at a separate table, while the witnesses and parents are located at adjacent tables. However, this innovation, along with admirers, also has opponents who assert that such an arrangement makes it somewhat difficult for the guests sitting at adjacent tables to communicate, and if they are sufficiently remote from each other, it completely nullifies it. In order to avoid such moments and not turn the wedding into several completely independent and not intersecting with each other "clubs of interests", the toastmaster is involved. And if the guest organizer is really a master of his craft, then he will be able to properly and skillfully organize joint competitions, games and quizzes, and it is easy to get acquainted all the guests among themselves.

• Italian way involves the arrangement of square tables on four persons, staggered. The tables should be installed in such a way that guests from any place can freely see the main table where the young ones will be. For a better view, the table of the newlyweds is placed on the stage or elevation, which allows them to communicate freely with the guests, and those present can clearly see and hear the spouses.

• English version involves the use of round or oval tables, behind which sit on eight people. According to most European psychologists, this is the number of people who are most comfortable for communicating in a narrow circle. The English style also includes another interesting way in which guests are seated in such a way that none of them have a back to the young. For this purpose, the chairs are placed only on one side of the tables, seating them in a semicircle. For the similarity with the location of the chairs in the eponymous institution, the method was called "cabaret".

• Christmas table arrangement represents the average variant between the European and traditional methods. In this case, the young are also seated at a stand-alone table, and the remaining tables, usually for 8-12 people, are placed diagonally from the main table, parallel to each other. Guests at this location should sit down along the two long sides of the table, while the side parts remain unoccupied.

• American way the arrangement consists in the fact that along the perimeter of the room they set up long tables with dishes placed on them, and each guest comes up and chooses everything he likes. Two long tables are set in the center of the hall and placed parallel to each other. Guests, taking the dish they like, sit down at any of them and eat. The newlyweds while sitting at a separate table, located perpendicular to the two guest.The advantage of the American version of the "buffet" is a significant reduction in the cost of products, and the disadvantages include the need for self-service, which many guests may not approve.

• Arrangement "buffet" it is used in the case when the organization of a magnificent banquet is not planned, and the couple immediately after registration departs for a honeymoon trip. Under such circumstances, the ideal option would be to install stand-up tables without the use of chairs. The tables usually have drinks and snacks, and the event itself resembles a short party.

Before you begin planning your seating arrangements, you must write a complete list of guests and send them invitations. After the answers are received, you can begin to draw up a plan. In order to avoid confusion during seating, and each quickly found his place, a colorful stand or an easel with a picture of the seating scheme is placed in the lobby of the banquet hall. Cards with the names of guests and indicating the number of the table and the landing place are attached to it.

The form of the information poster and its layout must be thought out in advance, this will allow you to create the necessary props without haste and to arrange it beautifully. So, for weddings held in country style, it will be appropriate to make a poster in the shape of a window and place it on a tripod. If the wedding is held in vintage style, then you can take a stylized board and write all the necessary information on it with chalk. An interesting option would be to write the numbers of tables and guest names with a marker on a glass stand.

However, you can decorate an easel or a poster not only with a list. It can be a beautifully drawn plan for a banquet room. According to it, guests will easily find their bearings and will know in which part of the room they will pass. In addition, if the tables are arranged in European style, then each of them can be assigned its own original name. Options can serve as varieties of wines, the names of garden flowers, precious stones, dances or shades. If the number of invitees is more than 15 people, then you need to make 2-3 identical copies and place them in different places of the hall. This will save people from having to stand in a queue in order to find out their place and will contribute to a quick and quiet seating.

Each number on the stand corresponds to its own card with the desired number or guest name. They are placed on the tables, and guests can easily find the right place and sit down. When creating a layout of cards, you need to take into account that the guest's name looks much more impressive than faceless numbers, so it’s best to further bother and make them personal. In addition, such cards continue the line of the general style of the event and show guests how important each of them is for young people.

The design of the cards should repeat the design of the invitation cards and closely intertwine with the decoration of the hall and the color trends of the celebration. The names of peers are written without indicating the patronymic, while for the older generation it is necessary to write it, but it is better not to write the last name in both cases. The exception is the presence at the banquet of two or more people with the same name. In this case, the spelling of the last name is necessary.

A stand with a list and nominal cards can be ordered at the printing house, whose specialists will help you choose the design you need, corresponding to the main style and idea of ​​the holiday. However, the printed matter, no matter how beautiful it is, has become a bit boring and is not particularly impressive to anyone, therefore, with free time, it is better to arrange the requisites yourself. Self-made cards look much more sincere printed on the printer and will be remembered for a long time by the guests of the holiday.

The technology of making cards with your own hands is as follows:

• cut out of cardboard cards of 10x10 cm and fold them in half;
• one piece is glued with a figure cut out of colored paper with a number of a seat and a table, and the other is written with a beautiful font in the name of the guest;
• the background of the postcard should correspond to the general color scheme of the holiday, and the numbers should be the same color spectrum, but slightly darker;
• then the edges of the card are decorated with satin braid, which is tied in a bow and decorated with a bead;
• the upper left and lower right corners of both parts of the card are made with glitter, the main thing is that there should not be too many of them and they should not cover the number and name.

You can arrange the cards in different ways: it can be a classic house or a heart or a circle, incised below and put on a wine glass. If time and money allow, instead of a card, you can put each guest a small gift box with the name written on top and some kind of symbolic surprise inside. Origami cards arranged on plates and decorated with sweets or flowers also look great.

After the table layout scheme and the method of specifying seats are selected, you can begin to draw up a list: which of the guests will be sitting next to whom. For this you need to use simple recommendations which will help to accommodate each of the guests as comfortably as possible, thus selecting interesting interlocutors and a pleasant company for him.

• With any arrangement of tables, it is desirable that all guests have the opportunity to see the heroes of the occasion.
• Parents and close relatives are seated as close as possible to the young, taking into account the age and degree of kinship of relatives.
• If there are high-ranking persons at the banquet, they are recommended to sit at a separate table, as close as possible to the newlyweds. Moreover, they should not be seated at the same table with their parents: this will lead to the fact that both of them will feel uncomfortable and will not eat anything properly. The best option would be to seat them with close friends of the newlyweds. At this age, the guys still feel quite relaxed, and the presence of high ranks will not confuse them.

• Divorced couples should be seated away from each other, and each of them should be warned about the presence of their former spouse at the banquet in advance.
• Guests who come alone should not be accommodated to couples or groups of old friends. It is better to find such a lonely interlocutor, which, however, often leads to new long acquaintances, and possibly the formation of new relationships.
• An inseparable company of colleagues from the side of the spouse is better to sit next to the same friendly company of friends or classmates from the wife. As a rule, these two teams quickly find a common language and have fun enough time.

• People with cheerful and perky temperament are recommended to alternate at the table with shy and calm guests. Otherwise, there will be a great fun at some tables, and at others, the banquet risks turning into a silent meal. In addition, the interests and hobbies of those present are also desirable to take into account.
• Children, if there are more than three people, it is desirable to place at a separate table with food and drinks adapted to their age. This is due to the fact that not all the guests are ready to be moved by the presence of small children, and being at the common table of a screaming toddler can bring discomfort to many people present. Children's table is recommended to be located away from the newlyweds and sound equipment. The last norm is especially important, as the musical accompaniment of the holiday is often quite loud and can harm children's hearing.
• It is better to arrange foreign guests with people who speak a little of their native language, or with English-speaking guests.

On how to properly seat guests at the wedding, see the following video.