Deciding on the seating arrangements for your wedding day can feel overwhelming. Some couples will tell you this is where things get a bit heated and it’s one of the most stressful parts, but fear not, if you’re organised and you have all the information you need, you can make it fun! As a photographer and onlooker at weddings, I do, however, (in my opinion) see some rookie mistakes that could easily have been avoided. Here are my top 3 mistakes to avoid when making your wedding seating plan, which will hopefully mean you’ll have it in tip-top shape in no time! Here are 3 Mistakes to Avoid When Making Your Wedding Seating Plan
1) Don’t Mix People Up Too Much
It’s your wedding day. I repeat, it’s your wedding day, but you obviously want people to enjoy themselves too! Try and group people together before arranging them on tables, and steer clear of a ‘singles’ or ‘kids’ table. Once you’ve grouped people up in families or friends’ groups, you can then start adding them together onto assigned tables. Try to put people with people they know, know of, or you think they will get on well with. Doing this will make your wedding room electric and help capture some fun photos if guests really hit it off. Plus, if people have got on like a house on fire, the party later on will be even better!
2) Don’t Separate The Important People
From a photographer’s perspective, one of the biggest mistakes is the placement of important people! At previous weddings, I have attended the important people have been separated far and wide! This means that when things like the all-important speeches happen, it’s impossible to catch all of the emotions in the room. Speeches are a time when emotions will be riding high, there will be lots of laughter, joy and sometimes sadness too. When it comes to photographing them, it’s great to be able to capture the speaker and the receiver in the same frame for maximum emotional impact, and it creates a true reflection of the story of your wedding day.
3) Don’t Rely On A Paper Seating Plan
Key to making the first two points a whole lot easier is to make sure you have all your RSVPs back before even attempting to draft a table plan, and speaking from experience, this is not always as easy as it sounds! People either forget or just think, ‘Well, surely they know that we’re coming. ’ Make sure you have everyone’s response first, and it will make it easier.
Once you have everyone, you can devise a digital seating plan. Compared to having it on a paper seating plan, it will make changes easier. It means you won’t have to try and look through the crossings out, and it means you can move people around with ease if you’ve forgotten a certain aspect (or a certain someone-eek!). It will also be a lot clearer for the venue/stylist to put names and places out, AND for you or your stationer to make your table plan board. You can also send this to your photographer, so they know where the important people are placed, too!
Whether you’re planning a relaxed wedding day, your wedding seating plan is an important part, and most people will need one! Check out the rest of my advice for your big day over on my blog or get in touch to chat about your wedding photography. I shoot weddings in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicester as well as the whole of the UK.
Cheers!