Imagine a flurry of hungry wedding guests entering the reception not knowing where to go, where to sit, what to do. Worse yet, picture your grandmother scrambling for a table only to be seated with your hard-partying college roommates or next to the band's speaker. Now, doesn't that make you realize the importance of a proper seating plan?

The Head Table

The head table is wherever the bride and groom sit and is the focus of the reception. It usually faces the other tables, near the dance floor. The table is sometimes elevated, and decorations or flowers are usually low enough to allow guests a perfect view of the bride and groom.

Traditionally, the bride and groom, honor attendants, bridesmaids, and groomsmen sit at the same table. While you can always adopt the “rules are made to broken” mentality, tradition dictates that parents, spouses, or children of attendants, and child attendants do not sit at the head table. The bride and groom sit in the middle and everyone clusters around them.

Rather than hosting a traditional head table, many couples are opting for a sweetheart table, which is a table just for two … you and your new husband. Many couples prefer this option as it lets them have a little time together to eat their meal. The wedding party would sit at one or two guest tables designated for them, and often are able to sit with their spouses or significant others for the meal service.

The Seating Plan

A seating plan falls just short of being considered a necessity, but it is a courtesy and convenience for your guests. Guests, especially those who don't know many people, often feel uncomfortable without assigned seating. If you're planning a cocktail party, or not planning to serve a full meal, a seating plan isn't necessary, but you should have enough tables and chairs to accommodate all of your guests.

HERE'S HOW TO FORMULATE A SUCCESSFUL SEATING PLAN:

• Get a floor plan from the venue. It should outline the layout of the room (dance floor, bar, guest book, gift table, etc.).

• You need to decide where you will be sitting, as well as where the other tables of honor with the wedding party and your families will be positioned.

• Ask how many guests may be seated at each table. A general rule is eight to ten guests at a sixty-inch round table. This will determine the number of tables you will need for dining.

• Decide if you are going to solicit input from your families when determining who should sit where.

• Begin matching guests by families, where you know them from, or by similar interests. From here, you will be mixing and matching until you have the right guests at the “right” seats.

• Place people in the room to best accommodate their special needs. Chances are Grandma doesn't want to sit by the band's speaker and the kid's table shouldn't be next to the head table. Think also about wheelchair accessibility.

Places, Please

Now that the importance of the seating plan is clear, you need to decide how to let guests know where they are seated. The easiest way to indicate the guests' table assignments is to have escort cards (folded tent cards with the guest's name and table number printed on them) situated near the reception room entrance. Guests pick up the escort card to find their table assignment. If you are only assigning guests to a table, they may then find any seat they wish at that table. If you would like to designate a place setting, you will also need place cards on the table.