wedding reception last minute seat plan
Everybody’s heard of the rumors about Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen’s marriage. People are saying that they’re no longer together. One of the “many” proofs that people have is the wedding that Tom Brady attended recently, that of New England Patriots owner, Robert Kraft, where he was seen alone. NO Giselle on sight. But imagine the tension if she was there? I’m pretty sure a lot of the guests know what’s going on already, since it’s all over the news. It’s going to be hard to put on a show for everyone. Or think about this, what if they’ve been separated for a long time already, and they had to seat together for that event? That’ll be very awkward and uncomfortable for both parties involved.
The reason I am mentioning this is because I’ve recently attended a wedding of the son of our family friend, and I helped in the arranging of the chairs in the reception hall. It was such a time consuming task, because although there was already a seat plan printed and everything’s been arranged, there were recent “developments” on some family members attending that we had to rearrange the whole seat plan at the last minute. When I say developments, I meant like “real big fights” amongst the relatives. Certain people suddenly could not be seated together because a fight might erupt. This is the reason why I always tell my friends, when I help with their wedding, that they should have a back up seat plan, in case something happens. I am not talking about just relatives fighting, but also if people don’t show up due to emergency or some other valid reasons.
How do you plan for last minute wedding reception seating arrangement changes?
Have a backup seat plan. Like I said earlier, it wouldn’t hurt to have another seat plan on hand in case of emergencies, it is better to be prepared than to be rushing on the day of, like what happened to us. We were able to pull it off, but man, I was so tired from thinking of how to accommodate everyone, and then we had to move tables and chairs.
If the venue the big, make sure there is an extra space for a table in case of extra people showing up. Sometimes, no matter how much you stress the importance of RSVP’ing, some people still don’t. Then they show up and you end up not knowing where to put them. Make a list of the people that didn’t RSVP and you’re not sure if they’re coming, or maybe a list of people who haven’t decided at the last minute. I know it sounds impossible that people would do that, but trust me, some relatives might, because they think that you’ll understand. Have an table space ready in case you need to put another one for them.
When you do your seat plan, group together one or 2 families only. Let’s say a table can seat 8 people, then only put 2 set of families there, if there are extra chairs left, you can put a random couple on there, or other people that are not family. DO NOT PUT ALL THE “OLDIES” ON ONE table. In so many Filipino weddings I’ve attended, they always tend to put the Aunts and Uncles on one table, then all the cousins and younger ones, on another, separate table. Stay away from that arrangement, because although it might seem like a fun way for them to get together and catch up, you never know what might happen or where the conversations can lead up to. I’ve witnessed a few fights erupt from tables due to drunk conversations during the last part of receptions.
Do not print a big seating chart with all the tables and chair and names on there. IF you do that and you have to change some seats at the last minute, then you just wasted your time having that printed and blown up. Just do a print out for every table, that way, it’s easier to change if you need to.
Lastly, if you have a small wedding, with a limited number of guests, I think the best way to go is to have long, rectangular tables instead of scattered round, or square ones. That way you can easily just move the names to a few seats down or up.
I know it might seem like extra work to think about this unforeseen things, but trust me, it helps eliminate future stress. In the event that an emergency happens, and you can’t really seat a few people together, at least you’re prepared. You are not scrambling on the day of, because you already have so much things on your mind.
Plus, the last thing you want for your wedding is some commotion or anything that might dampen the celebration. Right?
