Please Be Seated

I attended a wedding a few years ago where the bride decided not to assign guests to tables. Big mistake! Two or three aunts of the bride arrived first and “reserved” their seats by placing handbags and shawls on the chairs and table. Since it was too early to sit down, they went to get a drink. Someone from the groom’s side decided she wanted to sit at that table and shoved their things aside and tipped up chairs.

The aunts returned to the table just as the waitstaff was telling the second woman, “you cannot tip up chairs, it’s dangerous.”

Fortunately, the aunts decided to sit someplace else instead of causing a big scene. The moral of the story is, if you’re having a formal wedding with a sit-down dinner, you will be smart to have a seating chart before the big event. It’s time consuming, but your guests will appreciate being told where to sit. You also have control over who sits at which table. People who know each other are assured of sitting together. You can make sure the couples from out of town who don’t know anyone are sitting with out-going and friendly people.

There are several ways to let your guests know which table to sit at. The most common is with place cards or “escort” cards, as the brides are now calling them.

Look for small picture frames from Goodwill. Very little work involved and you save lots of money. Each of these was only 49¢! Why not mix and match?

Collect only silver or gold, wood or ceramic. Almost anything can be painted to coordinate with your color scheme.

Print or write the name of the guest and their table number; you can even include their entrée choice if you have more than one option. Use colorful or printed papers. There are so many styles available.

Or get really creative and decorate your escort cards to reflect the color or theme of the wedding party. For this event, I used black and white plaid ribbon, pinking shears and red raffia.

Line up your place card on a table near the reception hall entrance. Ask a friend or family member to help guests find their place. Be sure to have a floor plan with the table layout, so everyone can find their place.

Email me at askmerri@goodwillsew.com or post a comment on our Facebook page.

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