Seating Plan

by **deb0705** » Tue Jul 05, 2022 3:50 pm

The seating plan is driving me mad. My side is mostly family and irish; his side is mostly friends and french. Most of the irish don't speak french and most of the french don't speak english so if I don't try to mix them they'll stick to the own even though I know the french rugby lads are keen to chat to the irish girls. When it comes to it the chickens will be all frog talk and no action and spoil the athmosphere. I'm getting everyone down to the pub the night before to get the 'conversation' flowing. Then at least they'll have something to start conversations with the next day when I force them together. If only I could just figure this plan out. Are there any school secretarys here? Those class timetables must give good practice.

by **yadayada** » Tue Jul 05, 2022 4:55 pm

We kept them seperate. I prefer to sit with people I know at weddings. I find the conversation can be a bit stifled..or maybe I'm just no good at smalltalk :lol: . Any mixed dos I have been at, as soon as the meal is over people migrate back to their own familier faces anyway.

by **Guest** » Tue Jul 05, 2022 5:03 pm

No way am I mixing - it is excruciating to have to sit beside total strangers and make polite conversation for 2+ hours. Anyway, my uncles will no doubt be telling scandalous anecdotes after a jar or five, neither they nor I would care for complete strangers (to them) to hear some of what they'd come out with!

by **Grainne20** » Tue Jul 05, 2022 5:03 pm

Definitely mixing, think its a great way to get everyone going and to allow them all to mingle. Luckily we know who to mix who with as we both know our families well enough to know who to put with who and vice versa!!!
With my friends I am keeping them together for the most part - its easier like that i feel!!!

by **maria123** » Wed Jul 06, 2022 8:59 am

I think that we are going to keep familly together and then we are going to put the rest together by age group.We have a very mixed group alot from the USA a group from UK and I want to try and mix them.Is this a bad idea?

by **mjm** » Wed Jul 06, 2022 10:00 am

Will keep families (Aunts and uncles etc) Separate. Might mix the work crews and our mother's friends. Am also thinking of mixing my single friends and his single friends and seeing what comes out of that?? Will run it by a few of my mates first in case they'd hate the idea but H2B has some quality single buddies. (Its the match maker in me, it'll get me in trouble yet).

by **ClareWedding** » Thu Jul 07, 2022 12:17 am

To mix or not to mix, I say mix - for the most part anyway.

Besides the table for the bridal party, we had two extra “top” tables - one for my mom and her sibs/spouses and one for H2Bs aunts and uncles. Since my mum was the only parent with us (in person, anyway), top table would have been unbalanced so she was much happier with this arrangement.

I had 7 sibs at the wedding, one was at the table for bridal party, and no two others were together. They “anchored” tables so that almost every table had a family member. Not as many sibs in hubby’s family but we used cousins etc. to mix it up. Almost everyone had at least a few people at their table who they knew and with whom they were pleased to sit.

As I have posted elsewhere in the forums, we had table plans but not seating. It was quite a bit of work but worth every bit of the effort. I live in New York and hubby is from Clare, guests were from all over (US, England, and all parts of Ireland). Mixing them at the tables encouraged people to mingle and then after dinner, they introduced each other to those they knew from other tables - a sort of domino effect (in a positive way). The hotel (Oak Wood Arms Hotel in Shannon - excellent) posted the seating charts in the bar and reception areas. We also provided place cards with guest names and table names (we used names not numbers) which the hotel arranged alphabetically on a small table in the drinks reception area. People were then easily able to locate their names and cross check the table location on the seating chart. Hubby was not 100% sold on table plans beforehand but agreed afterward that it had worked like a dream.

For tables, we used place names instead of numbers. We used towns or addresses where we or our parents were from or had lived and places significant to us along the way. It was a huge hit as it was a great conversation starter for the mixed groups at the tables - at least one person always knew why a name was included.

I’m not saying the table mixes we planned were flawless, but they were pretty darn good and people seemed to appreciate the effort.

by **malteser** » Thu Jul 07, 2022 8:15 am

keeping people together is great if there is a nearly equal amount of guests from each side, but if one family is significantly larger than the other you might have to mix the tables a little more...it's only fair on which of the bride and groom have the smaller family and stops them from feeling like a guest at their own wedding, with the other side all ganged together and the smaller side in the cheap seats. Just a point.

Also, if people are not on speaking terms it wont always be as easy and separating them might be a better idea..

by **2557** » Thu Jul 07, 2022 8:52 am

Hi

We're not mixing at all....it would be far too awkward. H2B's family far outnumbers mine and from personal experience, there is nothing worse than having to make small talk with strangers for a couple of hours at a wedding.

Once the drink starts flowing, the suit jackets will be off and the mixing will commence. Our families have never met and I know that everyone would be more comfy. Also, we have a couple of aunts coming from abroad from my side and I know that if they're only home for a couple of days they'd like to spend as much time as possible with their siblings and family....and not H2Bs!! :wink:

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